Victoria Scott | 8 Shameful Things Authors Do on Release Day
May 15, 2017
After publishing seven novels, you’d think my eighth release day, this time for
VIOLET GRENADE, would go
differently. I’m a seasoned vet, after all. I keep my expectations manageable, I
drink my coffee black and get a damn fine massage and don’t worry about Amazon
rankings. And I do not—I repeat—I do not obsess about my reviews.
Just kidding. I have done—and will do—all those things.
In fact, here are 8 things all authors do on release day (on every
release day)—
Secretly hope our books will be bestsellers.
Even if we are self-publishing our first book, have the world’s worst cover and
blurb, and have told exactly no one about our novel, we secretly pray the book
will instantly hit the New York Times bestseller list. Because magic
exists, right?
Refresh Amazon a thousand times.
Because rankings totally tell the whole story, right? Wrong. We all know that’s
wrong. And yet…
Celebrate hitting a subcategory Amazon list.
OMG! I’m a bestseller for Fiction > YA > Romance > Family > Horse
Heads > Yellow Monkey Feces > Anti-Bestsellers. This means I’m winning!
Try to play it cool.
Make plans to not worry about your sales, or reviews, by
penciling in fun engagements. Oh, look at me! I’m eating French fries with
friends and sipping champagne with my man and not at all worrying about whether
people hate my book or me. *checks phone*
Linger on social media way too much.
Wait, are these people talking about my book? Yes?! Cool, cool, cool. I’m cool.
*RTs every single thing said about my book ever because that’ll totally move the
needle*
Ugly cry.
Okay, so maybe you don’t cry on release day. And when you do, maybe it’s not
ugly. But on almost every release day, I get the blues. What am I expecting? To
break the effing Internet with my book?
I’m expecting to break the Internet with my book.
When that inevitably doesn’t happen, I get sad. Because that’s totally normal.
Be grateful.
Go to the bookstore. See your book on shelves. (Or don’t, get pissed, and demand
ask the bookstore
associates to get your damn
books out of the back and onto the shelves.). Realize that your dream has come
true, and remember there is hundreds of thousands of people fighting to do the
same thing you have done.
Lie to Yourself.
Go to bed with a full heart. Convince yourself that your next release
day will be different. You will relax more, and worry less. Wonder if your book
has already hit a bestseller list. Drift off to sleep imagining it has.
DOMINO (def.): A girl with blue hair and a demon in her mind.
CAIN (def.): A stone giant on the brink of exploding.
MADAM KARINA (def.): A woman who demands obedience.
WILSON (def.): The one who will destroy them all.
When Madam Karina discovers Domino in an alleyway, she offers her a position
inside her home for entertainers in secluded West Texas. Left with few
alternatives and an agenda of her own, Domino accepts. It isn’t long before she
is fighting her way up the ranks to gain the madam’s approval. But after
suffering weeks of bullying and unearthing the madam’s secrets, Domino decides
to leave. It’ll be harder than she thinks, though, because the madam doesn’t
like to lose inventory. But then, Madam Karina doesn’t know about the person
living inside Domino’s mind. Madam Karina doesn’t know about Wilson.
Young Adult
[Entangled Teen, On Sale: May 16, 2017, Hardcover /
e-Book, ISBN: 9781633756878 / eISBN: 9781633756885]
Victoria Scott is the acclaimed author of eight books for young adults. Her
novels are sold in fourteen different countries, and she loves receiving fan
mail from across the world. Victoria loves high fashion, big cities, and pink
cotton candy.