the Book Launch Blues

Getting all the Pieces Together

 

in truth, I have very little idea of what I’m supposed to be doing. One of the things I do know is that I’m probably doing it wrong. I guess when you’re a self-published author there’s not really a wrong way to do something. You’re working by your rules. You get to say when you send out information concerning your book. You get to say when your book launch begins and ends, but like with everything there is a pattern that usually works. To say the least, I’m cutting it really close.

Majority of the time I’m usually upbeat and happy. Even when I’m suffering through depression, I find something to be a little quirky and excited about. And don’t’ get me wrong, I’m super excited to have completed this novel, to have it in the proofreading process, and about to be launched. The blues come in for very different reasons.

Okay, instead of Cover Reveal here; it’s more like Nell Anthony reveal. I am a visually impaired author. That’s right I’m considered legally blind. I have significantly low vision to the point that I can no longer see print, cannot see my iPad, iPhone, and PC screens, and most frustrating of late, I cannot see pictures either.

So, imagine me trying to create a cover reveal with these peepers . I tried! Anyone who knows me is aware that I’m one bubbly person. I’m usually upbeat, and happy to explore my world with my fingertips and ears. I’m not partial to smelling and tasting my way through the world. boy, do I have some amusing stories that stopped me from tasting things that ended up on my fingers, but that’s for another day. Today, I’m talking about the mystery of blind people trying to navigate the world of technology that doesn’t want to cooperate with us. I have to laugh at that sentence. I’m always talking about how stuff just jumped in front of

Me when I bump into it. Or saying stuff like, “what are you blind?” to my best friend when she and I play bumper cars with one another. she has a better excuse than me, she’s totally blind.

In any case, let me tell you Canva and I had the most interesting conversation. It went something like:

“Beep, bang, Come on! Are you kidding me, Beep, beep, and some more beep!”

These were all my side of the conversation. I’m sure that if Canva could have talked back I would have been cursed out the way I was cursing it out.

For those of you who don’t know, Canva is a mostly free site and app that allows you to create flyers, social media banners, and other items that can  be very efficient and helpful during a book launch, like a cover reveal. So, there I was on the web, then the app on my iPhone, where I use voiceover to guide me through all the prompts. Let’s just say I had myself quite the mess. I guess I should practice more. I’ll have to do that and see what I can come up with.

I’m sure you’re wondering how I knew I came up with a mess. I sent my cover reveal creations to one of my best friends. Yes, she’s sighted. She immediately texted me back saying, “none of these are your cover,” that was when the frustration exploded. I was so mad, I just turned everything off. Now, don’t get as discouraged as I was. This saga has not ended for me. I am not anything if not tenacious. I just needed a moment to have my initial pity party and woe is me moment. Yeah, that took me all of twenty minutes.

I got back up. Created the text and tried to put the picture of my cover on the page. What I needed was a sighted person to plug it all into the template for me, I thought. I emailed one of my fellow authors who’s hella awesome at that kind of thing. She emailed me this morning to say she’s super busy. Well, I’m going to try it again. I have to get this together. It’s mine Afterall. Maybe I can get things at least somewhat put in the right places on the template and have someone fix it later. Who knows. Either way, I’m not giving up. I might have the book launch blues right now, but I’ll learn how to work through the hitches and all that jazz and find a way to make it work. Eventually, I’ll have a cover reveal that will rock even my world. at least, that’s the hope.

Wish me luck!

Do you have a few book launch woes? Reply and share them with me. You don’t have to suffer them

Alone. Share the load. Believe me, it makes you feel better and sometimes can help you find solutions.

Till next we meet,

Have a lovely week & keep creating!

Yours in love & magic!

Nell Anthony