The voice of the masses, those glorious bastards

“Being an author of a book is like being a mother of a debutante in the Middle Ages. You have to present your baby to society and provide her with dowry, and in your heart, you hope that some royalty spends a night with her and ensures her way to success.” ― Elvira Baryakina

I suppose one of the scariest things a writer can experience is that space in time between having a book published (be it one of the "Big 7" or Indie publishing) and waiting for someone to read and review your book. I suspect it really is as Ms. Baryakina mentions in her quote in that it is your baby - no, it's more than that. A baby is something you're proud of, but not because of any work you did to create the baby. Please note that I'm not belittling the effort and pain women go through to give birth; I recognize how difficult and rewarding it is.

The writing of a novel, while not nearly as physically painful, involves its own set of trials and ordeals. A typical 80,000 word novel takes an average of 12-18 months to complete. This is particularly difficult for us part-time writers who spend their days at regular jobs, then spend their nights in front of a keyboard. There's the first draft, raw and unrefined, and that is a great accomplishment (one that I have yet to experience). Then there is the 2nd run through it, where we cut and trim and "Kill Your Darlings." After that, you're working with your editor (assuming you have one, please tell me you do!) to trim your novel up even more.

Finally, you get the thing published. You're proud of what you've completed. You're officially an author! It's time to show off your work. Your publisher sets it out to be printed and hopefully sets you up for advertising, book and blog tours and the like. Amazon has your book on their shelves, and you sit there all day hitting reload on your browser, waiting for the reviews to come in. For me, I think that bit of time right there, as I'm nursing both my carpal tunnel pain and a nice strong drink, that I would experience real fear. It really boils down to finding out if anyone else loves your work as much as you do.

Still, even if that first novel isn't as well liked as we'd like it to be, it will still be our baby. The people may think it homely, but it's beautiful to us. The great news is, we don't have to rely on genetics to make the next baby more beautiful. We can use what we learned from the first baby to make the next one something everyone will love.

We Hope.