By: Joelle Charbonneau
The last couple of days have been a bit surreal. On Friday, the trailer my publisher created
for THE TESTING was revealed on EW.com. Um…wow! (Entertainment
Weekly? I mean, that’s just…yikes. I don’t even have words to describe how
stunned I was to learn that was happening.
In addition to the trailer, the website, thetestingtrilogy.com went live
and the e-book prequel has been released.
I’ve also had bracelets that say THE TESTING delivered to my door as well
as a glimpse of all sorts of other cool stuff the PR and Marketing teams are
planning for the release on June 4th.
To say I am delighted is an understatement. To say I am scared is even more of one.
Every book that
publishes brings worry and angst. Will
readers like the book? Will they hate
it? Will anyone ever want to read
anything by me again? This Tuesday, END
ME A TENOR (Glee Club Mystery #2) will hit bookstore selves and I am gnawing my
fingernails off as I wait to hear if readers once again connect with my heroine
Paige and her colorful supporting cast.
But those nerves don’t compare to the ones that I feel when
I think about The Testing launch.
I am scared.
I love my publisher.
I love this trilogy of books. I
did my utmost to write the best stories I could and am so fortunate that my
editor and everyone at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt believe in this series with
such incredible passion. It is an
author’s dream.
But as wonderful as it is, I am scared.
Getting a book published was my first dream as a
writer. I wanted to see my name on a
book. I wanted to see that book on the
shelf of a store or in a library or even more exciting in the hands of a reader
sitting on a park bench somewhere. My
second goal as an author was to make a moderate career out of it. Maybe be able to publish two books a
year. To make a financial contribution
to our family with my writing and maybe…just maybe hang around as a midlist
author for a while.
My expectations as an author weren’t huge. I wanted them to be realistic. And in many ways they were one important
thing –safe.
Each time a book is read by a reader, authors put a piece of
themselves on the line. And in the age
of social media and blogs where everyone says anything they feel, authors (whether
they want to or not) are forced to see and face the reaction of those
readers. The more notice a book gets, the
more push by the publisher and buzz it receives the more vocal readers
are. And people often forget that their
words can bring the highest of highs with their praise or feel like attacks and
bring an author down low.
With the release of the trailer of The Testing, I have
gotten a small glimpse of what might be coming.
The first comment on EW.com was someone who was angry that the author
quote on the cover said readers of Hunger Games would like it. On facebook, I watched my friends post the
link to the trailer only to have their friends say that I had clearly ripped
off other books and that I probably didn’t deserve to be published.
And the ride is just beginning.
I don’t want anyone to think this post is about wanting
sympathy or pats on the back or even a hug.
(Although I like hugs. I wouldn’t
turn one down!) I am the luckiest girl
ever to have this opportunity and to have the full weight of a publishing team
behind me. No, this isn’t about feeling
sad or unhappy or wanting people to be nice to me. (Again…I like when people are nice, but I can
take my licks like anyone else and get up to fight again.) This is a post I needed to write because I
have now seen several sides of publishing and am continuing to learn how to
deal with the aspects I have seen.
As authors, we often talk about the choices we need to make
for our careers. We discuss whether we
want to self-publish, traditionally publish, have an agent, control every
aspect of our book or search for channels to aid us in publication. People discuss how to find readers and
promote their titles. There are lots of
discussions about monetary compensation for authors. How much should a book cost? How much should an author hope to make? How much should authors spend on
promotion? What are the best books for
editing? What is the best method to
improving our craft?
But something I have realized more and more as the release
of The Testing grows closer is that as authors we often forget to talk about
the emotional cost that comes with publishing a book. It’s natural for us to want people to like
the work we have done. Clearly, we did
or we wouldn’t have written the story.
But while we want people to like what we have written, there will always
be those who do not. Some will love what
we have created. Others will attack it
from every side. And the higher and
bigger the release, the more those attacks will come.
So while an author needs to improve their craft and learn
the business, one of the most important things perhaps an author can do is
develop a very thick skin and the ability to turn off Google Alerts. Ego is often a dirty word, but an author
needs one every time a book is released.
Rejection is hard at any point in a career. If this is going to be your career…if this is
going to really be mine for the long haul…building armor against the naysayers
is perhaps the most important thing that can be done.
I loved writing The Testing.
I love my publisher for believing in it.
I loved watching the trailer…it’s pretty darn cool. And in the months ahead, I will prepare
myself for this interesting and incredibly fortunate turn that my career has
taken. The book could succeed. The book could fail. But I will grow the armor I need to
appreciate every moment of the ride.
And if I’m really, really lucky, there will be readers who
will enjoy it with me.
