Linda K Sienkiewicz

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Books
  • Blog
  • News
  • Etc.
    • Press Kit
    • Events
    • Art
    • Publishing Credits and Awards
  • Social Media
  • Email
You are here: Home / It's Personal / Countdown to Publication – 30 days!

Countdown to Publication – 30 days!

August 9, 2015 By Linda K Sienkiewicz

authorThirty days till my book release date. After years of writing and editing, just one more month until September 8th will be here. I’m super excited, but I didn’t expect to feel this anxiety that makes my stomach flutter and my brain spin.

I guess it’s not hard to understand. For a writer, a novel is more than words on paper. In the Context of Love represents a writing dream I’ve nurtured for years. Obsessively. It followed me around all day. At night, it lay next to me in bed, breathing and grumbling long past lights out. It contains my heart and soul. It’s personal, not because it has anything to do with my life (it’s fiction, after all) — it’s my livelihood. Publication means I am giving the world the opportunity to take it home… and judge it. Will readers cry? Will they rejoice? Will they be angry with the characters for the things they do and say? They have sex! They curse! They make a mess of their lives! Will readers be angry with me? Will they judge me by my characters’ behavior?

I try to keep in mind that readers will either love or hate the book, and it’s likely they’ll love or hate me, as well. Or they’ll simply say “meh.” It feels incredibly personal, yet I’m not supposed to take it personally. Easier said than done.

I don’t mean to whine. I’m busy planning a launch party, writing postcards, getting ready for a blog tour, working on promotion, and trying to arrange readings, but this also adds to the stress. I contacted my hometown library, hoping to book an appearance. I got an email that reads like a form letter: The library receives numerous requests from local authors to speak here and we cannot possibly accommodate all the requests. Thank you again for contacting the library. Yikes. I have to remember I’m one of many. Somewhere between 600,000 and 1,000,000 books are published every year in the US.

At the same time, having your book published is a little like having a baby: you can’t help but feel you’re the first woman in the world to give birth, and your baby is the most precious baby ever. 

What do I expect will happen on September 8th? Probably very little. I’ll be at home in my drawstring pants and t-shirt. I’ll tweet. I’ll post on Facebook. I’ll take Clementine on a walk. An extra long walk. One that relieves stress. Maybe I’ll ask the husband to pick up champagne and cupcakes. Maybe we’ll get carry out.

Then I’ll go back to writing.



small

In the Context of Love: a new contemporary fiction about love, lust, and family secrets.

Angelica Schirrick had always suspected there was something deeply disturbing about her family, but the truth was more than she bargained for.

“Linda K. Sienkiewicz’s powerful and richly detailed debut novel is at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey.” ~ Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage, and critically acclaimed Once Upon a River, and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters

Buy now: Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • More
  • Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Filed Under: It's Personal, Publicity & Marketing Tagged With: anxiety, publication

Comments

  1. Mariam Kobras says

    August 9, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Calm down, everything will be FABULOUS! Your book is brilliant, you’re a great personality, and you have an amazing publisher! 🙂

    • Linda K Sienkiewicz says

      August 9, 2015 at 2:36 pm

      Thank you, sweet Mariam, for your support every step of the way through the publishing process! xo

About Linda

Award- winning writer, poet & artist. Cynical optimist. Super klutz. Corgi fan. Author of two novels, a children's picture book, and five poetry chapbooks. More here.

Follow this Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to Linda's blog...

Categories

  • Agents & Querying (7)
  • Art & Crafting (20)
  • Books (70)
  • Grief and Loss (19)
  • In the Context of Love (14)
  • It's Personal (229)
  • Publicity & Marketing (33)
  • What, Why, How (163)
  • Writing (111)

Let’s Connect!

Subscribe to my newsletter and never miss a giveaway, fun event, or an announcement!

Search this blog

Top Posts

  • Proper use of "I" and "Me" - Grammar Basics
  • Book Art: Crafting Paper Roses
  • Blackout Poetry - as creative as you want to get
  • Gen Z “Chaos Theory” Fashion
  • Quick Bicycle Helmet Visor How-to
  • What's so special about Howard Street?

Blog Tags

Agents anxiety art books children's books childrens books Christmas Clementine corgi crafting creativity Detroit dogs family fantasy Fiction grammar grief Historical Fiction humor idol talk loss love marketing memoir motivation Music mystery nonfiction novel pandemic poet poetry Publishing reading romance sewing sexual assault shame short stories social media storytelling suicide writing writing tips
  • Home
  • Bio
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Recent News
  • Social Media

Recent Blog Posts

  • Romance rides high on the genre wave. Maybe.
  • 10 Character Tips Every Novelist Should Know
  • Not Everyone is Going to Like You
  • What, Why, How: Poet Karin Hoffecker
  • Dinner with Elmore Leonard (sort of)
  • Beyond the Smile: Elevating Character and Emotions in Writing
  • A (Mostly) Clean Challenge: Writing a Novel with Minimal Profanity
  • The entertaining side of Chat GPT

Blog Tags

Agents anxiety art books children's books childrens books Christmas Clementine corgi crafting creativity Detroit dogs family fantasy Fiction grammar grief Historical Fiction humor idol talk loss love marketing memoir motivation Music mystery nonfiction novel pandemic poet poetry Publishing reading romance sewing sexual assault shame short stories social media storytelling suicide writing writing tips

Search

Let’s Connect!

Subscribe to my newsletter and never miss a giveaway, important event, or publishing announcement!

  • Home
  • Bio
  • Books
  • Blog
  • News
  • Etc.
  • Social Media
  • Email

Copyright © 2025 · Website design & development by Little Leaf

%d