 | 6 Jan 09 |
Okay, my latest release is on the bookshelves! FIND ME from St. Martin’s Press. I worked hard on the novel as well as on the research for the story. That’s my job and I take it very seriously. My family and I, three dogs included, moved to the coast of Maine in the dead of winter for me to write the story. I’ve talked about this before in a previous post so I won’t bore you with it again. It was, for all the inconvenience and stress on my family, an amazing and interesting adventure. We had a great time and I believe the story benefited from that move. St. Martin’s did a fabulous job with editorial suggestions and with the cover. Now the book is out and only time will tell how well it does in sales. 
As writers we have very little control over how a book is marketed. Where it ends up and where it doesn’t. We hope for the best. Pray it gets into all possible outlets. Urge our readers to look for the book and hopefully buy it. But, in truth, other than various trial and error methods of promotion that may or may not help, that’s all we can do.
That being the fact that it is, after we’ve written the best story we feel we can why do we worry that our best efforts alone won’t be enough? The answer is painfully simple. Because we know that, in the publishing industry, a great story isn’t necessarily enough by itself. Our babies are only as good as the final sales numbers say they are. So we stress. We fret. We grind our teeth and pull out our hair. We wonder and whine about whether or not we’ll make a list–not necessarily THE list but any kind of list. Will the reviewers be kind? Will they toss out tantalizing tidbits that will entice readers? We cringe with each email from a reader who can’t find the book anywhere. Then we comfort ourselves with the idea that if they can’t find the book it must be sold out. If only…
Again, you might ask, knowing how much of all this is out of our control, why even sweat it? Just write the story and get on with our lives, right? Ah, but that is humanly impossible–at least for me. I watch the Bookscan results each week. Check RWA’s website for the Border’s bestseller list, as well as the USAToday and New York Times lists. I check Amazon.com and BN.com at least twice per day to see how my book is doing there. There was a time when I was convinced that an incredible ranking on Amazon was synonymous with making THE list. But that theory has proven unreliable. Ultimately, for the next four to six weeks I will wear out my computer keys checking those numbers. I will nervously await the lists and the Bookscan update. I’ll drink wine and swear I don’t care–what is…is.
But I do care. I love writing. Being a published storyteller is the single goal I’ve had my entire life–even as I pounded the keys of that old manual typewriter as a third grader. This is who I am. I’ll worry and obsess and hope for the best. Then, no matter the results of each book’s sales, I’ll sit down before the computer and type those daunting words “Chapter One” for the next story. And the cycle will begin the slow, painstaking process of repeating itself.
I’m a writer…this is what I do. How do you deal with stress at work?
© 2009, Debra Webb. All rights reserved.
Debra Webb, born in Alabama, wrote her first story at age nine and her first romance at thirteen. It wasn’t until she spent three years working for the military behind the Iron Curtain—and a five-year stint with NASA—that she realized her true calling. A collision course between suspense and romance was set.
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I’m a nail gnawer. I don’t actually bite my nails, but my cuticles are usually a mess. And I fidget. Probably, if I’d get my bootie in the chair at the keyboard and write, I wouldn’t have time to gnaw and fidget.
I still remember mumbling “Maine? In winter?” when you told me you were moving. Here’s to FIND ME’s success!
by Marilyn January 6th, 2009 at 6:17 amThanks, Marilyn! I’m not an actual nail biter either but I brutalize my cuticles!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 6:43 amCongrats on the release of Find Me. I’m just waiting for Amazon to deliver my copy of Find Me.
I’m a custom research analyst and the way I deal with stress on the job is to not care and somehow everything is allright with the universe.
by Dru January 6th, 2009 at 6:43 amDru, thanks for the order! I honestly believe if you can let it go and allow things to take their course that it IS somehow better. My dear friend Vicki Hinze always tells me to let it go, expect the best, and the universe will do the rest. That should be my New Year’s resolution–let it go and EXPECT the best!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 6:48 amFind me looks great and just went on my amazon wishlist along with Faceless. I have a few books on my tbr pile to get through first.
I have wonderful employees who willing listen to me vent after getting off the phone with yet another ‘full moon’ call. Beyond that, my stress reliever is reading and shopping. We fortunately have a great used bookstore next to our business. He supports local authors and he also sells some new, especially Brenda Novak and Allison’s. Allison may be familiar with the store – bookloverscafe in sacramento. Brad had several new copies of her killing fear series which I just bought. He has a great romance section which is where I discovered your books for the first time last year.
Looking forward to reading “find me”
Robin of mytwoblessings
by Robin of mytwoblessings January 6th, 2009 at 8:27 ambookloverscafe sounds great! I’ll have to visit next time I’m in California. Thanks, Robin. Friends are a great support!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 4:29 pmI think there are two kinds of stress: one is due to circumstances beyond our control and the other is self-induced. Sickness, accidents, tornadoes, etc. fall under the first category. We survey the damage, pull up our boot straps, say our prayers and welcome our friends and neighbors who come to help us deal with it. But self-induced stress is insidious; the more we agonize, the worse it gets.
by Peggy Webb January 6th, 2009 at 9:38 amAll you’ve said about great books and haphazard marketing is absolutely true. Ultimately, though, we can only control the writing. Not one tear, one drop of sweat or one sleepless night will change the fact that we have little to no control over the outcome of our books. I try to do what Vicki does, let it go and expect the Universe take care of the rest.
Congrats on the release of FIND ME!
I don’t know how to deal with the stress–coffee and Advil? Hmm, being serious, I’d have to say all my friends and my husband help me deal with the stress.
by Jen Lyon January 6th, 2009 at 9:44 amI run a construction business (have for 26 years) and every morning, there are things to do, generally urgent because someone needs something or something (or someone) hasn’t shown up or the weather has turned bad or is about to and is going to cause a lot of problems. I do as much as is humanly possible to prevent these scenarios–with experience, I can look at a job now and figure out what’s the worst that can happen and plan preventative measures accordingly. But there is just a certain amount of stuff beyond my control and I’ve learned that I’ll hurt myself if I stress over them. If I’m stressed, I’m not at my top form and I’m not enjoying life, and really, unless someone is dead or dying, everything else is fixable. Or we can live with it.
It was very difficult for me to make the transition of always being the boss (and being the tough one) to being in a position as a writer where I can control almost nothing beyond the writing. In the construction business, I can control who we work for and how much we charge and when we show up and how we do the job and how we get paid. I can control the number of jobs we do. Very bizarre for me to go from that to not being able to do a damned thing to make people actually get their wallet out and buy a book. [Ironically, I deal with the stress by reading good books.]
I’ve gotten used to it, but it wasn’t easy. However, when I become SUPREME COMMANDER OF THE UNIVERSE, things are changing, baby.
by Toni McGee Causey January 6th, 2009 at 10:19 amAmen! I want to be co-commander of the universe!!!! Go, Toni!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 11:06 amEloquently put, Peggy. I must use this as my mantra!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 11:04 amJen, I, too, would be lost without my husband and friends! I just need one of them to learn how to give really good neck rubs!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 11:05 amI think you just gave yourself the idea for a new villian – or victim? How about a sneaky bookseller who has taken a personal dislike to your heroine – a writer – and hides all her books deep in children’s fiction instead of romantic suspense/murder mysteries! When he goes missing, our heroine is the chief suspect – and must learn the truth to clear her own name! Might keep you from wearing out the floor on the way to the keyboard!
by Mike January 6th, 2009 at 11:53 amMike, I think you need to write that story! You could be the legal eagle that proves the writer didn’t do it! Or maybe she did…after all, such a maneuver would mess up her numbers!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 4:32 pmYou’ve gotten some good advice–I’m going to borrow some of it when my next book comes out at the end of the month, lol!!!
I try to let things go, I really, really do (stop laughing, Toni! I can hear you!!!) but somehow I can’t shake the feeling that I should (not could) be able to do something to make things better.
So I feel your pain, Deb! Best thing I’ve found is to take a long hot bath, fall into a good book, and pour a nice glass of scotch!
Good luck with FIND ME!!!
by cj lyons January 6th, 2009 at 12:49 pmThanks, CJ! I need all the luck I can get!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 1:37 pmPeggy, like you I deal much better with “Acts of God” than other stresses. Northridge Earthquake? Was there. With newborn. I didn’t cry, didn’t scream or stress over my broken house and stuff, because my baby was unhurt and we found our cat and dog who ran away through the broken glass window. We cleaned up and dealt with it. When the same baby was 2, she had major surgery and I didn’t cry or stress until AFTER she was okay, out of surgery, and the doctor said she was great.
You’re absolutely right about the stress we heap on ourselves being evil. It’s like we feel this need to punish ourselves.
Deb, know that you are not the only one who stresses. I have a very hard (read: impossible) time writing during release week. I worry about the book. I worry about why it’s not at my local Borders. I stress over the lists. AGONIZE when the lists get all screwy. I stress over my current book, thinking “I’ll never be able to write a book as good as the last.” And I stress over whether people will like my latest book.
Margaritas, baby. They’re the only way to go. Until Toni rules the universe, we need fortification!
(P.S. I usually treat myself to something on release day–a pedicure or a lunch with friends or something to get my mind off The Book.)
by Allison Brennan January 6th, 2009 at 1:26 pmThanks, Allison! Come to think of it, I still need that pedicure I was complaining about weeks ago!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 1:39 pmI eat, drink and smoke.
by Karin Tabke January 6th, 2009 at 6:29 pmHa, Karin! I do all of the above!!!!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 7:34 pmStress is bad!! My cuticles hate when I stress. I’m not a nail-biter, but my cuticles bleed on stress days. I hate that I can’t just let go of those things I can’t change or fix. Must be a Virgo thing, or maybe a woman thing. LOL
by Amanda January 6th, 2009 at 7:27 pmMy cuticles sympathize with yours. Yes, definitely a woman thing, I think. I’m a Scorpio!
by Debra Webb January 6th, 2009 at 7:35 pmMy job is very stressful at this time of year, so I sneak in reading whenever I have the opportunity. I’m currently reading Find Me & just wish I had time to read it straight through. Man is it good so far.
by Steff January 7th, 2009 at 7:04 amSteff, Thanks so much! Now that definitely relieves my stress!
by Debra Webb January 7th, 2009 at 7:09 amCongrats, Deb! FIND ME just moved to the top of my TBR pile! I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed your books since we met! Again, congrats, and much luck in 2009!
Hugs -
by Suzanne Barr January 7th, 2009 at 7:38 amSuzy
Thanks, Suzy! I look forward to seeing you again soon! The ladies in black need to get together!
by Debra Webb January 7th, 2009 at 9:58 amAbsolutely a must in 2009!
by Suzanne Barr January 7th, 2009 at 10:10 am“Find Me” Is fabulous! I stayed up all night reading! Do you like to write these new “stand alone” books or do you like to have your characters re-appear in new books and “continue” a story line like you did in the Colby Agency books?
by Candice Thies January 7th, 2009 at 12:16 pmHey Candice! Thanks for stopping by! I enjoy doing the big standalone type stories, but my heart is really in connected stories, like my Colby Agency series with Harlequin Intrigue. So, when my summer release, EVERYWHERE SHE TURNS, hits the shelves readers will get to meet the heroine of the book to follow that one. I like creating “families” with my characters and that’s where I’m hoping to go with the stories to follow.
by Debra Webb January 8th, 2009 at 7:40 amDeb, at this point, there’s little you can do but focus on the next book. I love the cover of FIND ME and I *know* the story is going to be awesome. Can’t wait to read it. (As soon as I turn my book in!) And can I say that I LOOOOOVE your new publicity shot! I love bangs!!!
by Roxanne St. Claire January 8th, 2009 at 7:24 amThanks, Roxanne! Very good advice!
by Debra Webb January 8th, 2009 at 7:40 am