Dealing With Pre-Release Nerves

On the surface I’m as cool as a refrigerated cucumber.

I’m making the final edits. I’m organising the blog tour. Writing guest posts, taking pre-orders, prepping media kits…

Inside, though, all I’m thinking is:

AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH OMG OMG EEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!

Why on earth am I publishing Above Ground? Why am I drawing SO much attention to its release? What if no one likes it!? Above Ground is so different in terms of style and content to my previous release; no one who enjoyed Hungry For You will enjoy this!

Pre-release nerves have hit me hard over the last few weeks, in a way that they never did with Hungry For You. I’ve been wondering why I’m so much more nervous, and I think it’s for the following reasons:

  • Now I have something to prove.
    I had nothing to prove with Hungry For You. I had no prior releases, nothing for people to compare to, and no reputation to live up to.

  • Above Ground is a novel.
    Hungry For You is an anthology, so I was fairly confident that everyone would enjoy at least one story. With Above Ground you either like it or you don’t.

  • Above Ground is my baby.
    I’ve been writing it for 3+ years and have re-written it twice. (To put that into perspective, I wrote Hungry For You in 6 months.) Letting go has been very hard.

  • Above Ground has more “baggage”.
    Due to its webfiction roots, I have readers who’ve seen the story’s entire progression, from terrible rough draft through to today’s version. They’ve encouraged and supported me, and it makes me feel like I have a lot more people to disappoint.

I know, I know. I’m being silly.

All writers have their little insecurities, and it is important not to get overwhelmed.

Here’s the tactics I’m trying:

How To Deal With Pre-Release Nerves

  1. Ignore them.
    They won’t go away, but that’s not going to stop me!

  2. Admit you’re nervous.
    Hence this blog post. :-)

  3. Make to do lists.
    Tackle one thing at a time to stop yourself from getting overwhelmed.

  4. Don’t panic.
    By now your book is coming out whether you like it or not. So there’s no point worrying!

  5. Stay positive.
    There are a LOT of people in the world. Someone will definitely like your book.

Any suggestions to add to the list?

The Coffin Hop Horror Web Tour Begins!

The Coffin Hop Horor Web TourHalloween is upon us, so what better time to celebrate horror?

I’m pleased to introduce The Coffin Hop Horor Web Tour!

Organised by Axel Howerton and Julie Jansen, Coffin Hop is an annual tour where horror writers crawl out of their coffins to spread the Halloween spirit.

From October 22nd to 31st, across countless blogs, there’ll be great horror fiction and spooky goodies up for grabs, and a host of featuerd authors… including yours truly!

That’s right, on the LAST day of the tour (October 31st!) I’ll be featured on fellow author AF Stewart‘s blog, with a wee guest post about how my nightmares have come true.

Don’t miss it!

The Gory Details
1. Have a spooky fun time!
2. Invite your friends and spread the word!
3. The tour starts on October 22 at midnight PST and ends on October 31 at midnight PST. Winners will be drawn and posted November 1.
4. Meet and mingle with the authors! Experience a new destination at every stop! Participate in every site’s contest and be entered for chances to win multiple prizes! Every blog visited is another opportunity to win!
5. Participation at all the sites is recommended but not required. The more sites you hop, the better your chances of winning prizes.
6. Did I mention to have a spooky fun time?

For more information, visit coffinhop.wordpress.com.

How to Win Prizes In November

Two weeks to go until the Above Ground blog tour begins!

Now, I’ve been dropping hints about the fact that there will be a MYSTERY RAFFLE.

Yes, mystery.

And there are going to be a whopping ELEVEN PRIZES up for grabs.

Before you think I just pulled the number eleven out of a hat for absolutely no reason whatsoever, please count the number of letters in “above ground” (including duplicates).

That’s right. I am giving away one prize for every letter in Above Ground.

Now, I am not going to tell you what these mystery prizes are until the tour is over. However, you are more than welcome to guess… and here’s a clue:

There is one prize per letter. Each letter is the first letter of that prize’s name.

In other words, the eleven prizes could be: apples, bananas, oranges, vanilla beans, elderberries, grapes, raspberries, olives, ugnis, nectarines, and damsons.

Here’s another clue:

None of the prizes are edible.

So. That’s all I’m going to say.

Are you going to risk entering the mystery raffle?

Three Very Cool Indie Book Covers

I’ve been talking about book covers quite a bit lately, so today I thought I’d share some awesome book covers by my fellow indie authors.

Here’s three of my favourites… and let me tell you, it was a hard choice to make.

Stories About Things by Aelius Blythe

Death preserved forever in drops of maple syrup — a name just out of reach — a bear’s growl — a door that leads to… nowhere, and a man who walks through it. These are the stories of things: some just this side of reality, some just that side of… somewhere else.

I reviewed Stories About Things way back in February, before Aelius got herself that shiny awesome new cover. Boy has she upgraded.

I want to own a print copy of this for that cover art alone — not to mention, I know the stories inside are worth reading again. (Psst, it’s free on Smashwords!)

Irregular Creatures by Chuck Wendig

Contained within are nine stories featuring bizarre beasties, mythological mutants, and overall “irregular creatures” – including flying cats, mermaids, Bigfoot, giant chickens, and mystic hobo hermaphrodites.

Horror, fantasy, science-fiction and humor.

This is another excellent anthology which I reviewed in July 2011. True to its name, the book cover also has a slightly irregular (more square) shape, however I adore the aged effect, the corners, the little cat with wings (featured in one of the stories), the swirly bits… well, everything.

How To Disappear Completely by David Bowick

Sitting at the top of a Ferris wheel overlooking the Boston skyline, Josh’s life takes an unexpected turn, and things will never be the same. Along with the many surprises on his life’s new path, he’ll come to take life advice from a family of ducks, get in a bloody war with a dog, lose his job over a spilled drink, wake up in the hospital, apply to work at an adult-themed novelty bakery, and find out that people often aren’t what they seem. When you’re at the top of the world, there’s nowhere to go but down.

This cover is far too quirky to resist. (And yes, I’ve reviewed it too!)

That’s only three, but there’s countless other great indie covers out there.

Go on, share a few of your favourites in the comments.