Thank You for the Book Launch

+ the many feelings of publishing in today's market

Thank you for helping me launch The McNifficents into the world!

If you’re a subscriber, then I know you’re invested in me and my writing. Ya’ll are basically keeping me alive! Your support and positivity is a tremendous serotonin boost (I’d say dopamine, but serotonin is attributed to longer lasting happiness than the temporary hit of dopamine :)

Thank you. It’s good to be alive and loved.

I enjoy hearing about how books come into the world, so here’s the short story on The McNiffs. I’ve been working on this story for over a decade; the first draft was begun in 2012! At the same time I was sending McNiff queries to literary agents, I was also querying Guinevere, which sold first. After that there was more interest for Ten Thousand Tries, so The McNiffs got bumped again. But here she is, finally a book!

A personal note of advice: my “sure-fire” ideas are most often met with a lukewarm response. TAKE HEART! You know what a good story idea is. Stick with it. Be so good that they can’t ignore you.

Amen.

I would love to write three more McNifficent books (one for every season). We shall see - it all depends on how well this first book “performs.” Ugh. It’s a hustle out there, I tell you.

Still, launching a book is pretty thrilling. When Guinevere St. Clair came out, I remember thinking I can never be unhappy again. Ha ha. I really did think that. Life was just so so good and dreams had come true. Was that dopamine or serotonin - or a combo?

Spoiler alert…that feeling lasted for months, but (shocker), didn’t last forever.

Instead of being happy about that achievement, I simply moved the goal posts further - now I could have angst about something else. I have theories about this: there is something about humans that likes to live in a state of unattainability. On the other hand, if we stopped striving, life would be dull and pointless. We would never “become” anything.

Here’s

Lian Cho

drawing Am I Doing This Right? I feel you, Lian.

Here’s a little drawing I did on my own feelings from the past week:

My biggest negative feelings were (unsurprisingly!) fueled by posts I saw on social media. There were happy author pictures and conferences and big awards ceremonies that inevitably led my brain to compare (THE THIEF OF JOY!).

Wonderful Simon and Schuster editor Justin Chanda once told me, “don’t worry about any of that stuff. Just keep working and write your best book.”

And yet, sometimes…I guess I’m a human. Or maybe I’m Ariel the mermaid, I want mooore…

While reading Yellowface by R.F. Kuang, I came across this all-too-accurate passage:

“People always describe jealousy as this sharp, green, venomous thing. Unfounded, vinegary, mean-spirited. But I’ve found that jealousy, to writers, feel more like fear…jealousy is constantly comparing myself to her and coming up short; is panicking that I’m not writing well enough or fast enough, that I am not, and never will be, enough…”

Oof.

And so, while comparing myself to others, my brain chemistry dipped…until I got a big serotonin spike when literary icon Ann Patchett recommended McNifficents on an Instagram reel. I can never be unhappy again!

YES! Ann Patchett is holding The McNifficents!

Heavens. And so it goes, the roller coaster ride of publishing.

Must get a grip (but isn’t the Ann Patchett thing so cool?)

So while trying to make a living off of selling books (largely out of my control), I’m working on learning to be content with doing my best and knowing that it’s enough (but please let me get a paycheck to pay for groceries).

Contentment. Or, in biological terms, Homeostasis: when the body is in perfect balance, physiologically. When life throws us curve balls, we react, but scramble to balance as soon as possible. Our body likes to feel like a balanced seesaw.

I’m trying to be a balanced person and not an up-and-down psychopath (she said lovingly :)

In conclusion, together we launched a book into the world! Wow. GOOD WORK. And: Dear Universe, please let me write the next good thing.

I leave you with baby Jack, who reminds me of Harold and the Purple Crayon. He is most definitely a serotonin boost in life.

Forget your book, can I just walk Lord Tennyson around the store?

Amy ❣️

p.s. I’ve run out of time, but next week: book recommendations, a great television series, and a movie I loved!

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TONIGHT:

Tuesday, June 27, GIBSON’S BOOKSTORE Join me and picture book author, Kari Allen for a book signing meet and greet. Concord NH, 4:30-6pm.

Or…Saturday, July 1, 2023, 2pm Wellesley Bookstore, Meet & Greet Book Signing, Wellesley MA.

Hope to see you there! I’ve got bookmarks, pencils, and story maps for you <3

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Hey friends. If you ordered the McNifficents, would you please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads? The algorithm pays attention and then recommends the book to more people. THANK YOU!

And if you like the book, thank you for recommending to a friend, library, school, or social media. I see your posts and am so thankful.

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