Unboxing hesitation and other surprises in the lead-up to publication

Pre-release activities (and nerves) build

Author copies of All You Took From Me on my bookshelf beside the jacaranda seed pods I collected to remind myself to keep the faith when I was seeking publication

Today marks one month until the release of my debut novel, All You Took From Me, so it feels like a good time for another heart to heart about the first-time publishing experience. These updates have been less frequent than originally intended, in part because I took a wonderful extended pre-release holiday that reset my priorities, and in part because I’ve been occupied working on another manuscript, lining up publicity opportunities and processing unexpected emotions over the past few months.

I knew I would be busy as the release date approached, but I wasn’t sure exactly what that would look like. I’m still figuring it out, to be honest. Discussions among the Debut Crew have shown me that no two debut author experiences are the same. In many cases, including my own, authors must organise at least some of their own publicity opportunities. Rather than a negative, I see this as an opportunity to strengthen connections with my existing network, build new relationships with booksellers, librarians and festival directors and gain new skills in the process. And opportunities are everywhere if you look for them.

Here are a few pre-release activities that have been occupying my time over the last few months in no particular order:

Pitching for events: I am indebted to author Matthew Ryan Davies, who generously spoke to the Debut Crew last year about pitching yourself to literary festivals, and my friend Donna M Cameron, who gave me solid advice about how to write a pitch. Although many festivals, like publishers, will not take direct submissions from authors, I have had good success so far with the ones that do. On top of that, many bookshops and libraries are open to submissions from authors who want to hold events, although as I’ve recently discovered, libraries often book out up to six months in advance.

I’m delighted to announce that I will be fan-girling appearing alongside Benjamin Stevenson, Tim Ayliffe and Siang Lu among others at Mudgee Readers’ Festival in August, with more exciting festival announcements to come. I also have in-conversation launch events coming up in Sydney, on the Central Coast, in the Blue Mountains and in Brisbane, with others in the works. I will add booking details for all of my upcoming events to my website and social media channels as they are confirmed. Please come along if you can – I live in fear of nobody turning up!

Pitching podcasts: Like event venues, many podcasts book out months in advance, so I decided to be proactive by sending pitches to a few of my favourite writing podcasts, and I’m thrilled to have secured several interviews already. I’ll share more information when the episodes are released, but I want to express gratitude to the podcasters, bloggers, bookstagrammers, Goodreads reviewers and everyone else who volunteers their time to support authors. Book people are the best people and should never be taken for granted.

Planning for events: Aprés-launch celebrations need to be booked, catering needs to be considered, in-conversation partners need to be lined up (this is where an author network comes in handy), hotel rooms reserved and so on. If you’re coming to one of my launch events, please join me for a drink afterwards – I’m going to need it!

Writing opinion pieces: One excellent way to build interest around a new release is with an opinion piece in a newspaper or magazine. Unknown debut authors are rarely commissioned to write these articles, but it’s a good idea to have a couple of pithy, interesting personal pieces peripherally relevant to the book ready to pitch in the month prior to release. I have been working on a few of these with the view that even if none of my articles are published, the process of writing them has helped me craft an interesting narrative about the story behind the novel that will be useful in interviews.

Signing bookplates: In hugely exciting news, Molly’s Cottage, a boutique business based in Tasmania, has selected All You Took From Me for their August Reading By Candlelight gift box, which is an enormous honour. My book will be paired with a bespoke handmade candle, a bookmark embedded with seeds from the area in which the book is set, an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage and a matching treat. Each book is autographed, so I had the joy of signing 150 book plates – which it turns out is quite a lot – especially when I had to concentrate to avoid lapsing into Doctor writing! Look out for the accompanying podcast episode in early August.

Graphic design: A surprising element of bringing a book into the world has been the need to create social media assets, flyers, banners etc. for my own social media channels as well as for time-poor bookshops and other venues. If you are releasing a book, it’s worth learning how to use Canva or a similar program and upgrading to the paid version if you can afford it – you’re going to be using it a lot.

And finally, the unboxing video: When my author copies arrived on the doorstep two weeks ago, I was surprised by my reaction. I’d thought I would be so excited that I’d want to tear into the box then and there, but instead I found myself paralysed by a cocktail of emotions. Here was this physical object that represented the realisation of a long-held dream; what if I opened the box and instead of elated was disappointed? I had built this moment up to such an extent that I was worried that there was no way my response to holding my book could match my expectations.

In the end, I waited until the next day, when I’d had time to process my emotions, and filmed the unboxing – does it even happen if it doesn’t go on social media these days? – with no script and no idea how it would turn out. I needn’t have worried about my reaction: the book is beautiful and I couldn’t have been more thrilled to hold it in my hands.

That’s it from me until my next Debut Crew update in mid-July, which will feature more information about All You Took From Me alongside interviews with my fellow August debut authors. For the latest on upcoming events, keep an eye on my website and social media channels, and if you want to help a debut author, consider preordering a copy of my novel from your local bookstore or online.