Publishing books never gets old. The excitement that occurs each time a new one comes out always catches me by surprise (don't ask why). It doesn't seem to matter if it's a book that I've worked on for years or for weeks, it's still exciting to see it go live on Amazon and to read the reviews that people write about it. I got to experience that again last week. My latest book "Book Marketing 101" came out last Friday, and the funniest thing happened. In the introduction, I had written about how publishing a book was like child birth. Because they really are quite similar. Let's look at it together:
An author usually spends quite sometime writing, planning, and developing a book. This is like the time a woman spends pregnant and even trying to conceive. While it might look easy to outsiders, any woman can tell you that pregnancy is work - just like authoring a book. Next comes the tedious labor of giving birth. For women, that can amount to some of the most painful hours of our lives. Likewise, the publishing process for authors is probably one of the most painful parts of being an author. Editing, formatting, re-writing, etc. And then of course when all of that is over, the real work has just begun - whether you are raising a child or marketing a book doesn't matter.So the funny part? Even knowing all of that, I never even considered the emotional side of things. Author's love their books even before they are born, and it's so thrilling to see others enjoying them as much as we do. And we're proud. Not necessarily sinfully prideful, but we are proud of our books when they do well, just as a mother is proud of her children when they achieve great things. There truly is an emotional bond between an author and their book, that I would never be able to put into words.
Do you remember the first time you held your book in your hands? I still remember opening the package that mine came in. It's an amazing feeling. But once again, just like with child birth, it doesn't matter if it's your first book or your third, each book is special and holding each one for the first time is a beautiful experience.
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The main reason I write is to help other authors. I would love your feedback or suggestions for future posts or devotions. You can leave a public comment here, or use my contact form to send me a private message.