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?