The Definitive Emotions of Publishing a Book

Over the past couple weeks, I have been going through basically every emotion possible. And I'm not kidding. I'm kind of already an emotional person, and this whole publishing a book business is just making it worse :). So I'm here to prepare you/ enlighten you on how this whole emotional book roller coaster works!

1. STRESS - that is literally the number one emotion that stays constantly in your heart and mind throughout this entire process. You have stress of getting a publisher to accept it, stress of editing, stress of re-editing, stress of it not getting done as fast as you want it, stress of something going wrong, stress of final copy edits, stress of waiting for it to be printed, stress of marketing, stress of fearing people won't like your work. Stress. Stress, stress, stress

2. JOY - You're finally getting a book published! Exult! Be merry! Do a little jig. Now it's over, time to get to work.

3. Determination - You are determined to get those edits in, and by golly they are going to be perfect, even if it means staying up all night for a week. You're going to get it done.

4. RELIEF - Those edits are in! You can relax, chill, take a step away. Read a book, watch a movie. Just don't even think about it.

5. DISTRESS - Yeah, those edits weren't perfect. You've got some more work to do. So hop like a bunny and get moving.

7. HAPPINESS - You're done! It's going to the copy editor, so now you can relax again. Take a BIG breath, drink a cup of coffee, pet your dogs/cats.

8. UTTER MISERY - Guess what. They found a GIANT plot hole during copy edits. Ha. Hahaha. Time to get back to work. But always remember--this is fun work. We love what we do. So is it really misery at all?

9. DISBELIEF - You're copy edits are done. You have a beautiful cover. You're looking at your final typeset, reading it through for errors. This is real. It's not just an idea in your head anymore. It's a book, and it's about to be a real, solid thing in just a few months

10. OVERWHELMING HAPPINESS - Tears. Crying. Lots of crying. You're holding your book proof in your hand. This overwhelming happiness is mixed with disbelief. Because this is your book. This paper is not from your printer. You're holding a 3-D version of your full cover. As in. This is what it'll look like, only with your book in it. And this is the face you make:

So that's where I am right now. OVERWHELMING HAPPINESS. Now I get to stress about the release and reviews and what people will think about it and if it will sell! 

but for right now, I'm just going to focus on the happy tears and the joy and the excitement and all the good stuff! 

Ascension. 8*27*16

With tears in my eyes, 

      HER