Disappointment and Thank Yous

In my December 2016 Writer Can Be… e-letter, I talked about the calm before the calm, that period right before a book comes out when you have absolutely no idea how it’s going to do. (And I rounded up some of the reasons one book might get big buzz over another book.) It is just so hard to predict how other people will feel about your book.

My newest picture book, which I’m not even going to name here, because, frankly, I don’t want this to be the sob story people find if they Google it, is not getting much review buzz. It got a very nice Kirkus review and a good online-only review from Booklist. But nothing from several other review journals.

I was expressing my disappointment to someone in marketing, and she said that yes, it was kind of disappointing, but at least I was getting good buzz on some blogs. Which was a good reminder to me that I should be saying thank you instead of whining.

Writer friends, thank you.

If you featured my new book on your blog or on social media, thank you.
If you reviewed it on Amazon or Goodreads, thank you.
If you mentioned it in passing to other writer or teacher friends, thank you.

I appreciate your support so much, and each of those things helps. It adds up to help spread the word about a book you like, bit by bit.

And, in the tradition of supporting other writers, I want to mention three new picture books by members of my critique group. Joyce Sidman has the gorgeous and thought-provoking Round out. And Tracy Nelson Maurer has two fantastic picture books out this week—John Deere, That’s Who! and Noah Webster’s Fighting Words. They are all lovely books, and they also make great mentor texts if you’re working on lyrical, nonfiction, biography, refrain, or unusual format picture books!

Save