Book launched! Um… now what?

Writing and publishing a book is a lot like making a pizza. You decide on what kind you’re going to make, then knead it until it’s ready to rise. Next comes the secret sauce, followed by the intricate layering of perfectly placed ingredients (and don’t you dare say pineapple) in order to give it just the right flavor — and finally, sprinkle it with herbs… like it’s fairy dust!

All DONE!

Well… sort of.

I mean, technically, you could eat it at this point.

But you really should bake it first. So, now you need to decide what temperature? How long? Pizza stone or sheet pan? And after it’s done baking, should it be cut into 12 pieces? 10? 8? Folded over and eaten like a giant calzone dripping down your shirt? What about ranch dressing? Pepper flakes? Parmesan?

Your completed book manuscript is like the uncooked pizza; all the ingredients are there but, until it’s baked and cut into publishable slices, no one is going to read it without running the risk of salmonella. (Did I mention I was a chef for 10 years back in the ’90s?)

On Aug. 16, my Northwest-based mystery/suspense novel No Safe Harbor officially went from pages of paper manuscript to 297 pages in a hardcover novel. It was initially met with the level of fanfare one would expect for a humor columnist releasing his first self-published crime novel [insert crickets here]

[NOTE: No crickets were harmed in the making of this blog post]

I say “initially” because, when the official launch came Aug. 29, I was overwhelmed by the turnout of folks from as far away as Eugene, Ore. — including my 11th-grade English teacher! (Who immediately took a copy so she could finally give me extra credit for that missing assignment in 1983.) Nearly 150 people showed up for the event, which was held in one of the theaters at our local cinema house. There was a slide show explaining why it took 23 years to complete this first book in the series (I promise the rest won’t take as long), a Q&A and, of course, a chapter reading.

By the end, I had the privilege of talking with — and signing — 140 copies during that initial kick-off, which was amazing and more than a little humbling.

But it was only the beginning. In the weeks since the launch, the real challenge has been keeping some semblance of momentum going by recognizing, creating and making the most of opportunities to get the book in front of people. That means everything from finding an in-road with Barnes & Noble (check!), to having copies carried in local beauty shops; as I’ve discovered, people apparently really love reading about crime and suspense during their “Me” time.

Who knew?

As my friend and fellow writer Ross Murray recently said after launching his new book Smileyville: “This writing, publishing and promoting thing can be a real bitch!” However, in his native Canadian tongue, his exact words translated to: “I appreciate everyone for their support of my book.”

Tomato… Tom-ahto.

In the end, the only real question a writer needs to ask themselves is a simple one: Knowing everything that it takes to get a book from idea to printed pages bound together in someone’s hands, will I still do it?

Given that I’ve already started on the next book in the series, the answer is pretty obvious. And I’m glad to see so many others out there coming up with the same answer.