Thursday, February 28, 2013

The Buggy List: eBook Launch Reflections and Confessions

The Buggy List


The Kindle version of The Buggy List launched on Valentine's Day, and it has been an amazing couple of weeks coming out of the starting gate!

Confession: I didn't technically mean to launch this book. I wrote it, sent it out to a ton of agents, had many bites but no takers, and finally just threw it up on Amazon so my mom could read it. (Yes, I still get excited about showing my writing to my mom. And if she could figure out a way to hang my eBooks on her fridge, she totally would.)

Anyway, I ended up enrolling it in Amazon's KDP select program and made it free for the first five days. At the end of the five days, The Buggy List had a readership of about 10,000 and counting!

Another confession: This was both exhilarating and terrifying to me. I mean, on the one hand, awesome! But on the other hand, I didn't realize it would become a thing. I didn't even have an editor. I did my own editing, sure, but how meticulous can you really be on two hours of sleep a night as a first-time mom who is (very slowly) learning to care for a newborn? Exactly.

But I'm here now, and I'm thankful for each and every reader. Now that the launch craziness is over, I thought I would take a minute and share a few quick tidbits about the story:

1. The Inspiration: This story was inspired by a conversation I had with a good friend, who took the advice of her sister and made a "baby bucket list" of things to do before having a baby. I remember this conversation very distinctly. It was November of 2010 and I had called my friend while on a long drive (using my hands-free earpiece, of course). We were just chatting about this and that. She mentioned the baby bucket list and I said, "I'm going to write a book about this." For a long time, I had really wanted to try my hand at writing fiction. I had been looking for a good premise for my first go at it, and this seemed like the perfect fit. As a Creative Writing Minor in college, I remember registering for classes during Senior Year. My mouse wavered between Poetry and Fiction. Which one to choose? Fiction would be so cool. Think of what I would learn! Think of the stories I could write. But, oh, think of the long papers. Did I mention it was Senior Year? Clearly, I couldn't be bothered with lengthy assignments. So I chose poetry. I've always regretted that choice. Nothing against poetry, but writing fiction is just so much FUN. I wish I knew more about the intricacies of this genre. Now, I'm learning by doing, and I'm more than a little green. Which leads me to my next tidbit:

2. What this book IS NOT: The Buggy List is not a change-your-life, intricately-woven, "let's-mull-this-over-at-book-club-and-segue-into-a-lenghty-conversation-about-the-meaning-of-life" kind of book. You heard it here first, folks! But for all it's not...

3. What this book IS: It's fun. It's lighthearted. It's sweet. It's entertaining. It's a perfect little escape if you're looking for a vacation read. And most importantly, it will always hold a special place in my heart as my first official work of fiction.

So those are my tidbits. And if you choose to give it a try, I hope you like it. :)