I'm Freaking Out.

I just uploaded my first book to Amazon KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

The thought of my writing being viewed by so many people in the U.S. and around the world makes me nervous even though my test readers have all given me very positive feedback.

While I realize that this feeling is primarily nothing but nerves, knowing that does little to help me relax.

What if people think the book sucks? What about getting poor reviews?

I know that even the great authors have critics; I guess I just don't want to feel like a failure.

Honestly, I don't know what kind of response I'm looking for here. Most likely, I just needed to have a little public panic-fest.

I have used some amateur writer forums to post some of my writing in the past.

They can be a great resource and confidence builder, you get to see how people respond and even gain a small following.

You could always try that and see how it goes, Going straight to kindle is cool as well nothing worth doing is without risk.

Good for you putting yourself out there I wish you the best.

If people think it sucks, then people think it sucks.

You will receive negative feedback no matter, every author does.

It is you however, who fulfilled the accomplishment of authoring a book! No matter the quality/length/story, few is the percentage of people that can say they have written/published one.

Best of luck to you!

-AA

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Overcoming stagefright ( which is, essentially, what you've got ) requires two things:

1) Focus on the positive way that whatever you happen to do makes YOU feel. No matter what, it's your party.
2) There is no such thing as bad criticism. Even if it comes packaged in angst and vitriol - it's still often usable. Predispose yourself to seeing all negatives as positives.

If that doesn't work, as your doctor for Inderal - or drink liquor. Both of those work for performers on a regular basis.

Moby Dick got turned down by every legitimate publisher (8 if I remember correctly) and it didn't get published until after he died.

They thought it sucked.

I certainly hope you fair better but the larger point is that these guys can easily be wrong so don't take their critique to heart.

Believe in yourself and keep plugging away and you'll get there.

Best of luck to you!

Focus on the accomplishment! Look at what you just did! YOU wrote and published a book.

Congratulations!

Are you able to share the title of the book in U2U with me? I am an avid reader of fiction written for kindle only.

I'd love to read and give you some feedback!

Thank you all for the kind responses! I think I just needed a little talking down from the ledge.

At least I've managed to get past the hump of getting the first book uploaded and that should help when it comes time for the second.

Thank you all again!

reply to post by ProfessorChaos


Remember, even the best writers had flops too....so even if you don't get good reviews, no big deal. The flip side is, there are some authors like JK Rowling who went from living on State Aid to now being richer than the Queen...so you know...there is that...

You realize of course though, that when reading your posts, it's in Butters' voice in my head.....

reply to post by Gazrok


I love that you hear Butter's voice when reading my posts! It puts things in perspective that way.

By the way, J.K. Rowling is one of my favorite authors.