At this moment, there are 8 days left until we turn the calendar over to August. Seeing as how my second book, Beyond the Doors, will be published on August 1, this is kind of a big deal for me.
Also, not to be forgotten or left out, but the paperback of Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom will be released on the same day. Two releases on one day! That’s insane!
I remember a year ago when I was nervously counting down the hours (“only 423 hours til release!”). I was certain Dr. Fell would debut on the New York Times Best-Seller List. I was full of that “new author” confidence. The sky was the limit. The book was great, I’d gotten a lot of great reviews, how could this possibly not climb the charts? I asked my publisher how big the initial printing was, then scoffed, well aware that I’d be in a third or fourth printing in a month.
Then reality set in.
Now here I am, waiting patiently for my second book to arrive. In many ways, it is like when the second child comes. You know what the reality of the situation holds. Sleepless nights. Constant diaper changes and feedings. Projectile vomiting. You’re thrilled, of course, to welcome your second child into the world, but be honest, how many of you have even half as many baby pictures or digital rolls of film for your second child as you do for your first?
I am well aware that my book will almost certainly NOT debut on the New York Times Best-Seller List. I will NOT be getting a call from Oprah because she’s made it the Oprah Book Club book (is that still a thing?). Random House will not be taking out a full-page ad or putting up a billboard in Times Square advertising my book.
If this is going to sell, I’m going to have to bust my patootie.
(By the way, if you’ve ever wondered if Spellchecker knows the word patootie… it doesn’t)
I call the stores to arrange in-store visits. I arrange to get myself ‘invited’ to book festivals. I beg people to write about the book, blog about the book, tell their friends to go and buy the book. I’m nervous. I’m excited. If I think about it too much, I’ll be sick.
Will it do as well as Dr. Fell has done? Better? Worse? And will Dr. Fell being in paperback suddenly push sales into a higher gear? Time will tell.
But you should definitely go and buy both of them right now. 🙂
The official website of author and storyteller David Neilsen! 
Hi David, I really like the book and am sitting here staring at my door wondering how to write a review which will convey how much I enjoyed it. Perhaps I should open the door and peer through….