Those insidious imps...

I really should stop reading book blurbs from other authors.

It's one thing to know I'm going to be published, but now I've received my release date, know my line edits will be sent soon and once those are done, it's DONE...everything goes into the final stretch and a 26 year dream of mine becomes reality...

That sinking feeling, the gut churning, abject terror of being published is hitting me.

Those pesky imps called the "What if's" are invading my brain. Even my internal editor cowers in fear.

What if no one likes the novel? What if I bomb as an author? What if the reviews come back as horrible? What if...

And I read the blurbs of other books coming out in my genre and I'm thinking, "Crap...no one's going to want my book compared to this..."


Then, I look up and see the awesome cover art Renee Rocco did for my novel and I'm reminded that if I did suck as a writer, Lyrical Press wouldn't have accepted my submission. I would have, if I was lucky, received a polite email stating they were passing on my submission. If I was lucky, they would have given a reason why. To be honest, I fully expected THAT email and not the one I did get...

Each time I remind myself that my story was accepted because it was liked, it's being published because someone saw potential in it, and in me...I remind myself with every piece of feedback from readers who read my other work stating they love my work, that I should be published, they're surprised that I'm NOT already published, one of those insidious "What If" imps are vanquished.

*Smile*

Does it get any better? I don't know.