Why is it a secret gem?
Let me explain.
I have been advertising my book, Lancaster House, like crazy. I feel confident about Lancaster House. I know it's a good book, (in spite of one bad review, but we won't talk about that now). I had an agent who signed me as a client all because of Lancaster House. He sent it to several different publishing houses. Unfortunately, it didn't sell. But, it gave me confidence to know how much my agent loved it. The funny thing is, I never thought it was my best book. As a matter of fact, I sat on it for half a year before I even began to query agents about it. I even wrote another book and queried it first. Why? I'm not really sure. I think it was because of the paranormal craze. I figured I'd just be one among millions joining the bandwagon. In my mind, I wasn't really positive that it was all that good. When you become a writer, you become your own worst critic. And it can paralyze you if you let it. I was unsure, hesitant to make the jump. However, I was given validation through my agent.
I've never received that kind of validation with Sierra. It was the one book my agent and I never got around to reviewing. It's my personal favorite of my books. My sister, who HATES romance novels, says it is still the best book she's ever read, to this day. While I've received mixed reviews on some of my other books, every family member and friend who has read Sierra has loved it. I learned a long time ago that not every one is going to like every book. And that's okay. Not every review is going to be glowing. And that's okay too. (not really, but you know what I mean)
So, why haven't I tried to advertise Sierra the way I've advertised Lancaster House. I LOVE this book. It's my personal favorite. It's the first novel I ever wrote. It's been edited to within an inch of it's life.
It's ready to see the light of day.
The problem is that it's my baby. My first book. My first love. My secret gem.
What if people hate it? What if they laugh at it? Presenting a book to the public is much harder than I'd ever imagined. It feels as though you are letting people inside of your psyche, inside of your brain, inside of the very things that make you who you are. It's so personal.
But, it's time to let my baby go. It's time to see if anyone else will fall in love with Sierra. Whether it's loved or hated, accepted or mocked, it's time. Writing this book was an amazing experience. I learned so much. I love it. Maybe that's all that matters in the end.
But I want other people to love it too. So far, I have only one review of Sierra. I held my breath as I read it. Literally! It's from a Goodreads giveaway winner. Here's what she said about it:
This was a GOODREADS win, and I loved it, I just recieved the book and starting reading before I went to sleep. I didn't want to stop. Their was fear, sadness, my heart broke for Alyssa, it was horrible what happen to her, I loved Alex, doing whatever he could do to avoid the pain in his life. Great love story...Thank you Goodreads and thanks to the author...great story :)
Love that review. Time to quit being a wimp and advertise Sierra.
Take a chance.
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