My Book Is Coming Out in Two Months
So little to do, so much time to do it in
I once heard a witty editor describe the period before a book comes out as The Storm Before the Calm. It’s funny because it’s true! If you’ve ever wondered what a novelist is doing two months before their book comes out, I can brief you on this urgent matter fairly quickly. They are:
chasing their tail in circles, faster and faster, until they melt into a pool of butter
ruthlessly reducing their social media feeds to a crude slurry of self-promotion. Will it help?! No one knows
doing tiny bits of actual work: figuring out tour dates; arranging interviews; signing pages; checking jacket copy for errors (I am crap at this, which is why a recent edition of The Magicians went out with a line on the back about the adventures of Quentin Clearwater)
discussing the fact that their book is coming out in two months with their family and friends, until their family and friends can’t stand it anymore, which is usually about 30 seconds
buffing up my Pokemon1 and then losing to Giovanni a hundred times in a row
What an amusing Trainer. mumbling the early reviews (early reviews for The Bright Sword have been good—not always the case!—so they make for quality mumbling)
checking their phone for news—about what? what news would there be?!—you’re in Australia man, everybody’s asleep
no Goodreads, no Netgalley, no Google—no! No Google! Bad author!
starting work on a new book, which will definitely take less than 10 years this time
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