The one where I celebrate publication day for a brand new series and have a cover reveal, but my imposter syndrome has been mocking me
Yesterday was the publication day for The Start of Something Wonderful - the first book in my brand new 'Escape to the Lakes' series.
How do you imagine authors spend publication day? I'd love to say it's doing something really exciting and/or glamorous but the reality (for me anyway) is a day spent on social media, sharing publication day news across a range of platforms, sharing related content, and responding to hundreds of messages against each of those posts. In the early days, I didn't get many messages and could easily devote most of the day to writing, but I learned several books ago that I just need to focus on the socials now.
It's lovely getting so many supportive comments and hearing how excited readers are about diving between the pages of a brand new story, but it can be intense trying to keep up. I always worry I'll have missed a comment or post in the influx – very easily done – and can't bear the thought of anyone taking the time to congratulate me and thinking I've ignored them. So if you have posted something and I've missed it, my sincere apologies – it absolutely isn't deliberate.
Hubby knows how much I love cake so he suggested we nip out at lunchtime to a cafe in the countryside not too far from us. We've never been there before but it looked like the sort of place that would have a wonderful cake selection. I'm really partial to a sponge cake and my needs are simple - you can't go wrong with a Victoria Sponge – but this cafe only had one sponge cake and it was coffee. Not a fan. There were mainly tray bakes so I went for a caramel shortbread which was ok but not amazing, although I'm forever spoilt because my mum makes the most incredible caramel shortbreads and no others have ever compared. I also ordered a 'large cheese scone' and the greedy piggy in me was excited about the word 'large' but it was what I'd really call 'fairly small'. So not massively successful on the food front.
We had a seating trauma too - or, rather, I did! We sat outside and I feared I may not be able to get up again. The chairs were more of a deckchair style and definitely not designed for larger posteriors so, as soon as I sat down, I discovered I was wedged! I couldn't move the chair either as it had sunk into the grass, so I was well away from the table and stuck! Just as we finished eating, it started raining, so it was time to leave. Hubby had to help me out of my chair but fortunately the rain had distracted the other outside diners so nobody noticed the ungraceful being hauled out of the chair situation!
Not the most successful lunch but the thought was there. And hubby bought me publication day flowers, bless him. He does look after me. Although he did laugh at me when I was looking at the menu at the cafe. I need glasses for reading and I have very light-sensitive eyes so often have to wear sunglasses on a dullish day, but I don't have any prescription sunglasses. I therefore did what any sensible person would do and shoved my sunglasses on over my reading glasses. Style statement eh? Do you think it'll catch on?
As well as being on the socials (nearly) all day, the other thing I do throughout publication day is obsessively refresh the chart rankings on Amazon. In theory, they're meant to refresh hourly. In practice, it's not nearly that frequently and sometimes hours and hours can pass before anything moves. There can be quite a lag on the charts too with Amazon being a US-based company so the pre-order volume might not have an impact until the afternoon or even the early evening in the UK. Yesterday was one of those slow-updating lag kind of days.
When I went to bed late last night, The Start of Something Wonderful hadn't broken into the Top 1,000. I have to admit, this put a bit of a dampener on the day for me and let my imposter syndrome rear its ugly head and say a few nasty things:
Your readers aren't interested in a new settingand the chart position proves it. What were you thinking of, trying to introduce somewhere else?
You didn't get nearly as many pre-orders as for your last ten books so what do you expect?
You've had a nice run of 19 books but game's up and this is the one that's going to fail
Told you you can't write – no more Top 100s on publication day for you
I don't like my imposter syndrome. He's not very nice. I'd love to say I've woken up feeling all happy and positive about it but, unfortunately, my imposter syndrome's taunts kept me awake most of the night. I struggled drifting in and out of troubled slumber for several hours, was wide awake at 4am, gave up fighting sleep at 5am and poddled down to my office to crack on with work. I'm sooo tired now.
The logical side of me is saying that it is an Amazon glitch and a massive sales lag, especially as an Audible chart position isn't even showing and I know I've had pre-orders and on-the-day Audible sales, but it doesn't help calm that voice of panic.
Somewhere in the early hours of the morning, the Kindle UK version did finally break into the Top 1,000 to #520 and across the morning so far, it has gone up to #446 and now #323 so it is finally moving although I think this might be the first book for which I'm not hopeful of a Top 100 position (or at least not at this point in time). This is where it is in the 'movers and shakers' chart at the time of writing this post …
I've been spoilt. Seven of my last eight releases (not including this one) made it into the Top 100 on publication day, most of them getting into the Top 50, so I do perhaps have an unrealistic expectation of this happening and there's always the hope that the 'new book' will be the one which gets the highest charting ever (current record held by Chasing Dreams at Hedgehog Hollow with #23 on publication day in late June last year).
When I was a struggling indie author, Top 10,000 would have been a dream so it seems ridiculous that not hitting the Top 100 could unnerve me. How expectations change! Hubby is convinced that this series is going to be my most successful and that The Startof Something Wonderful will be my bestselling book so he's full of calm reassurance. I just need to tell my imposter syndrome 'shush your mush' but he's not a very good listener and being assertive never was a strength for me!
The daft thing about all this is that whether readers love my characters, love my setting, and long for more is way more important to me than chart positions but, until readers have had a chance to get through the book, I don't have that feedback so the inclination is perhaps to place a little too much emphasis on that visual of chart position.
When I was a child, we'd often travel to see my grandparents and other relatives on a Sunday. The journey was maybe 45-60 minutes and, on the way home, we'd listen to the UK Top 40 on Radio 1. In those days (1970s-80s), chart positions were based on sales alone – no such thing as streaming – and most records steadily climbed the charts towards the top slot. Some didn't even make it to the coveted #1 position but were phenomenal sellers, sticking around in the charts for months. The occasional track would go straight in at #1 but it was much rarer than it is today where new releases can be considered unsuccessful if they don't top the charts on immediate release. I told my imposter syndrome that The Start of Something Wonderful is going to be my 1980s-singles-chart-esque steady climber. My imposter syndrome laughed at that and reminded me that I was the person who missed out on celebratory cake yesterday, had a tiny scone, and got wedged in my deckchair. Such a meanie!
The Start of Something Wonderful embarked on its blog tour yesterday with 48 stops planned over 16 days. The first three reviews in were all 5-star bundles of gorgeousness so that's a huge tick in the thing that's really important to me – the reader reaction to the book. Thanks to Rachel Gilbey of Rachel's Random Resources for organising another fabulous tour, and to all the amazing bloggers/reviewers taking part.
As well as publication day, we had an official cover reveal for my next release. Christmas at the Cat Caféis out on 15th September and sees a return to Whitsborough Bay's Castle Street, a reader favourite. It's a standalone story but, as it's in a business on Castle Street, some of the other business owners will make appearances, although I'm not going to see who. I've put the blurb below my sign-off.
I've had some gorgeous comments from readers who love cats and are really excited about this book. I'm sure there will be some readers who are not fans of cats but, if you're one of those, please don't let that put you off because there is a human story at the heart of this so, if you've enjoyed my other books, I'm sure you'll enjoy this one too.
I'll be back soon with further posts on the inspiration behind my brand new 'Escape to the Lakes' series, but I want to give readers a chance to have read the book first before I share those.
Thanks for being here while I offload. I know I am exceptionally fortunate to do what I do and to have the amazing success I've had with my books since joining Boldwood, so I don't really have anything to complain about. But I always promised I'd be honest with my blog posts and show the highs and lows of being an author – helpful for other authors/aspiring writers and proof to readers that I'm a real person who has good and bad days. I'll be absolutely fine tomorrow – or when The Start of Something Wonderful hits the top spot later today, hee hee!
To everyone who pre-ordered or purchased/downloaded The Start of Something Wonderful yesterday, I'm incredibly grateful. Thank you to anyone who has also pre-ordered Christmas at the Cat Café. It's only available for pre-order on Kindle at the moment but other eReader providers and other formats will follow.
Big hugs
Jessica xx
It's the most wonderful time of the year on Castle Street, and there's a paw-some new business opening....
It had always been Tabby's dream to work with cats and an inheritance from her beloved nanna has finally made that a reality. Idyllic Castle Street in Whitsborough Bay couldn’t be a better place for pastry chef Tabby to open a cat café with her boyfriend, Leon.
But when Leon leaves her in the lurch, the pressure mounts for Tabby. With Christmas fast approaching, she has to open the café on her own – a daunting prospect, especially when she's been hiding her health issues from the ones she loves.
Faced with local resistance to the café – and somebody seemingly determined that she won’t succeed – Tabby will need her friends, family and cats more than ever to recover her broken Christmas spirit and pull together for a Christmas miracle.
Will the cat café bring the festive joy to Castle Street as Tabby had hoped or will it be a cat-astrophe? And can the magic of Christmas on Castle Street mend Tabby's broken heart as well as her business?
Escape with million-copy bestseller Jessica Redland this Christmas for the purr-fect festive treat!