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| 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. :)
