Celebrating your book - by Liz Carter

I don't know about you, but I so often get caught up in the whole grind of being an author. The writing itself is the fun part - where creativity can be set free, and all your days and nights are entirely caught up in the excitement of your idea (for some reason, my mind likes to write scenes in the middle of the night - anyone else? I always keep my phone by my bed so I can make notes on that midnight inspiration!) 

Then comes the editing. There's the self-editing, then the sending out to external editors or your publisher, and all the waiting that entails. The frustration as you work out what words and even entire chapters you need to cut in order to refine and polish your work to the highest possible standard. The pain as you murder your darlings and then realise the book is all the better for it. Then the proofreading - how did you not spot that typo? It seems so obvious now! We've all been there...

Then there's getting the book out. If you're being traditionally published, it's waiting for the publishers to design the book and release it into the world. There's a strange feeling of detachment around all that - you've done your bit, and now it's a waiting game. If you're self-publishing, you have more control at this stage, but that in itself can bring so many frustrations - formatting? Trim size? Font choices? Uploading to KDP? It can be like a complicated maze at times and it's easy to get so bogged down in it all we forget to be proud we've written a book.

Then there's the marketing - sigh. It doesn't come easy to most of us authors, who generally like hiding behind our monitors, not flashing up on them. Even when you're traditionally published I'm afraid you have to put the work of marketing in (as many of you will have seen the last couple of weeks with my new book - sorry for the bombardment, friends!) There are some of us who love the whole process, but if you're anything like me you just want it over and done with, much as you massively appreciate the blog posts, reviews and photos people kindly provide.

Amidst all of this, you're exhausted. You might just want to run away and hide. You've worked flat out to get your book baby out there. But what if you've forgotten to celebrate it - to celebrate you? What if the grind of it has worn you down so much you are too tired to shout with excitement that you've written a book?

This weekend I had a launch event for my new book, Valuable. I went for an afternoon tea with an interview about the book, a quiz and giveaways, lots of Pimms and Prosecco, and then selling signed copies. It was a big celebration, and I was thrilled with it all, from the turnout to the beautifully decorated hall (for which I thank some wonderful friends of mine). But you know what? I nearly didn't do it. I'd not managed an in-person launch before, due to illness and the pandemic blighting my last two books, and I found myself thinking 'Why bother? No one will be interested. It's too much work. I don't want to be seen. It's not very exciting, anyway.' All those kinds of thoughts. But friends and family encouraged (more like strongarmed) me to go for it, and they turned out to be right. It turned into a big celebration, a party I will always remember. Finally, I got a chance to stop. To celebrate. To say 'Hey, I've done this. And it's worth celebrating.'

I want to encourage you today to celebrate. We need joy in this world, and we sometimes forget to take hold of it in the moment. Maybe we think our book isn't worth much; maybe it won't sell many copies, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate it. It's an incredible achievement, friends, to write a book. I salute all of you who have done so. 

You may think, like me, that you are too tired, or ill, or just down, to celebrate. But celebration can take many forms. An online launch from your sofa? Fabulous. A get-together with your dearest friends and a glass of fizz? Perfect. For my first book, I was in hospital for the launch, and friends brought me cake and balloons. We still celebrated, even in the midst of pain.

You can celebrate with friends on the ACW page - we will raise a glass to you. You can celebrate with a meal out with your spouse or a fun day out with the kids. There are a multitude of ways - but do celebrate. Do take that time, seize that moment, tell the world. You are a writer. You are worthy of celebration. You are reflecting the creativity of the One who created you to write - so you'd better believe there's a celebration going on in Heaven for your book and for you.

Tell me in the comments about how you celebrate your books. Have you done launch events? How have you found them? What would you do differently?

Liz Carter is an author, poet and editor from Shropshire. She loves to write about the difficult and painful times in life, and how we can find gold in the mess. Her new non-fiction book with The Good Book Company, Valuable, is now out. Her other books Catching Contentment and Treasure in Dark Places are available in online bookstores. She works freelance to proofread, format and design books.

You can find her at www.greatadventure.carterclan.me.uk