For being a moment I pictured so often and for so long, the actual moment in time when I realized Lease on Love was going to be published was in itself quite a blur. There were a lot of emotions, obviously, and the whole thing felt surreal and unbelievable and overwhelming and I kinda wish I had a snapshot of that moment so I could go back and relive it. As the news sunk in, and I started to realize this is actually my life and my book is actually going to be published, I started to take note of some of the unexpected (and some expected) highlights of the journey. I want to acknowledge and remember these moments because I worked really hard to get to this point, and there is so much stress and anxiety involved that I want to focus on the good feelings whenever I can. I will have another list after pub date, but for now, these are the best moments of the publishing journey (so far)!
Seeing my cover for the first time. This is probably one of the more expected ones, but even still, I wasn’t fully prepared for what it would feel like to have the elusive cover shaped thing in my inbox. I remember opening the email from my editor and literally releasing a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I am so in love with my cover and so grateful and thankful to the amazing team at Putnam who designed it and put it all together. All the heart eyes and squishy feels!
Reading my first positive review. Enough time has passed that I have stopped reading reviews altogether, but in the beginning, I was foolish and I read quite a few. Luckily, most of the early ones were very nice and it was really uplifting reading positive reviews from people I haven’t met before who have no connection to me and aren’t being forced to say nice things about my book (unlike my friends and family ;o))!
Seeing my page design. After seeing my cover, I didn’t think there would be too many other breathtaking reveals, and then I saw the page layout and design and I just about cried. I remember exactly where I was when I opened the email (on a mini vacation in Solvang, sitting down to write because what’s a vacation without a little work). I absolutely fell in love with all the details and I so cannot wait to see them in print!
First DM from a happy reader. A couple of readers have reached out to personally let me know how much they enjoyed Lease and it never gets old. Pretty sure I cried the first time I got one of those messages too! All I want as an author is for readers to love my work and hearing someone connected with my book is so freaking cool! So if you are debating whether or not to let an author know you loved their book, please do it! It’s the best!
Getting my first blurbs. The act of asking for blurbs is terrifying. Even though I was only tasked with reaching out to authors I have a connection to (mostly on social media), it was still so scary to reach out to some of my favorite authors and be like hi can you read my book and hopefully say nice things about it? Luckily, everyone I approached was SO NICE and even those who couldn’t manage to read due to schedules (which I totes understand) were so supportive. And then I got my first blurb and my second and my third and my fourth and each was so special. They all made me cry and I am so thankful for all of them!
Getting asked to blurb another author’s book. This one was super unexpected because I still don’t feel nearly important enough for people to care about my opinion! But I’ve been asked to blurb a couple of books and it is so exciting each time! One because I get to read awesome books ahead of time, and two because I absolutely love my writing community and I want to do everything I can to support my fellow authors!
Baby’s first Instagram post. Imagine my delight when I logged onto the ‘gram one day and saw I’d been tagged in a super awesome photo posted by a reader! I love seeing Lease on Love out in the wild and it is so cool to see it show up on bookstagram. I know how hard it is to take beautiful book photos so I’m so appreciative of those who do! (Though just a reminder, please do not tag authors in negative reviews :o))
We’re still a few months away from Lease on Love being out in the world, and I’m so excited to see what positive moments pop up next! And of course, if you feel like preordering Lease on Love, I would so appreciate the support!