The expectation vs. the reality~
My expectation of the book launch was that I was going to spend the daytime doing home beauty treatments: facials, hair masques, exfoliation, nail polish, ringlets, etc, getting glammed up at my leisure. The reality was I spent the entire time up until half an hour before the launch trying to figure out how to upload the book to Createspace and Kindle Direct. After that, I ran around like a headless chicken with my hair falling out, throwing on blusher and ear rings with two minutes to spare.
My expectation was that I was going to practice my speech at my leisure up to three times before the presentation.
The reality was I practiced it once in my bedroom moments before leaving for the venue at a run.
My expectation was that most of the hundred and fifty-odd friends, family and colleagues I’d invited, or at least half would show up. I warned Bruce, the kindly patriarch of my Toastmasters Club, and keeper of the keys to the hall annexe, that we’d probably need to open the side doors to make room. The reality was about thirty people came. The side doors stayed resolutely closed. However, of all the chairs set out, most were filled.
My expectation was I would get lucky enough to get a karakia. The reality was my dear friend, Richie, not only gave the most beautiful, stirring karakia – along with English translations of each piece – but he also sang a song! Unprecedented blessings.
My expectation was I would probably cry, crack up or forget parts of my speech. The reality was I remained steady. I had by some miracle managed to memorise a ten minute speech in three days! It went off better than I ever could have imagined actually – but more about the speech side of things in another post.
My expectation when my youngest son said he wanted to get up and say a speech, was that he would be struck speechless and be too shy to stand up, let alone say anything. If the pattern of his behaviour in the past was anything to go by. The reality was he did fret but in the moment, he did get up and spoke perfectly. I was choked up with pride.
My expectation was I might sell a handful of books if I was lucky. The reality was I sold 24!
Si and I – the super collaborators!
What a great day. I was full of the quiet triumph of the writer over the adversity of the empty page!
My expectation was that the book launch would hopefully go smoothly, however would be unlikely to fulfil all my hopes and imaginations. The reality was it was better than anything I could have imagined. It really was a dream come true. The people dearest to me (most of them) were there, the moment was honoured, the speech was glitch-free, the food good, the champagne cold (even though we drank out of coffee mugs because dear old Frank forgot to turn up with the glasses)!
My mentor from Toastmasters, Debbie, acted as MC
People surprised me by getting up and speaking. The mythology, the ‘story’ behind the book was shared. The magic delivered. And I got to talk about my book all evening long!
Then once I got home, and I had unloaded all the party gear from the car, and stacked the boxes of my books in the hallway, I finally began to unwind. I was still on cloud nine. I simply couldn’t stop smiling.
After one and a half weeks of burning the candle at both ends, to finish the book, and organize the launch party, I had stressed myself to the maximum. The party finished at 5 p.m. At midnight last night, I finally stopped pacing around and thinking.
I picked up my copy of this book. I was able to see it and focus on it for the first time. Talk about ‘magic moment’…
That was when I began to examine it properly. I read the front and back covers, the front and end pages and looked for my pen and ink illustrations.
In all the hurry and haste to make the event a reality I had missed the main point, the book itself is a work of art. It’s everything I could ever have wanted. To be an Indie author is a truly powerful thing to be – to have total control over the finished product. I think I am in love!
What about you – had any dreams come true lately?
Keep Creating!
Yvette K. Carol
±
Think about the legacy of your vision, what will you leave on earth? – Lawrence Lewis Green
Reblogged this on Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog and commented:
The expectation vs. the reality~ 😀
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Bless your cotton socks, Mr. Graham 🙂
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Very Welcome Yvette 😀
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[…] Source: The Book Launch! […]
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Cheers! 🙂
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How fabulous, Yvette! It sounds like a mini version of a wedding with glasses not showing up. I should have maybe suggested you upload to Ctreatespace a week earlier. That would have taken some pressure off but I also hear the first day is a big boostcto sales so on launch day is good. Who knows you made it through the other side. It looks amazing, I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations!
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Yeah, I hear you, Catherine. I realized in retrospect that I probably needed an extra week or two, but I was trying to stick to the deadline. The files weren’t even ready until 3 a.m. that morning. So it was down to the wire. Now I unfortunately have things in limbo because I can’t epub until probably the latter half of this week. Doh! Hey, I’m a first-timer, what can I say? 🙂
And yes, it really was fantastic.
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Reblogged this on Catherine Johnson and commented:
Woohoo Yvette!
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Thanks, Catherine. Keep a beady eye on an owl arriving soon!
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Congrats on a great book launch! Pinned to books on Pinterest!!
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Wow, that’s great. Thanks, Patrick. And congratulations on the launch of your book! 🙂
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Thank you so much Yvette! You can not describe the exhilaration of creating a book, can you 🙂
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I know exactly what you mean. ‘Cloud number nine’ material 🙂
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I enjoyed reading the re-cap of your magical launch day with all its ups and downs! Off to buy the book now (can’t promise I’ll get to it for a few months, but I will get to it). Oh, don’t forget to get an account with Kindle-graph so you can sign people’s ebooks! x
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Hi, Tee, that’s so kind of you however I have only had half success with getting it uploaded so far. I think I have managed to load to Createspace and Kindle but I don’t think either version has the cover properly loaded. So I’m meeting with the guys who helped me with the book to sort it out towards the end of this week coming. I managed to take care of the physical copies in time for the launch but didn’t do quite as well on the digital side, I’m afraid. Don’t worry about buying it anyway. I’m sending you your very own signed paperback version today!
Thanks for telling me about Kindle-graph, I hadn’t heard of that! 🙂
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You are so sweet! You didn’t have to send me a copy, but I will treasure it always! ❤ And yes, do get Kindle-graph (I can't remember if there's a hyphen or not). It really is fun for people who only buy ebooks to still have a signed copy. 🙂
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I’ll look into that. Thanks, Tee!
And the gift is my pleasure. 🙂
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Congratulations I’m glad it went well
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Thanks, Eric. It was well worth all the effort!
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Congrats & Best Wishes! Following you and shared you post on Twitter. 🙂
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Thanks so much, Bette. That’s kind!
By the way, a nickname for me in the family is ‘Bet’, because one of my young nephews couldn’t pronounce my name properly and it came out sounding like Bet, he’s called me that ever since! 🙂
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What a splendid, beautiful time you have told us about! I’m so very happy for you – and for your readers who ‘got’ the story and the origin and the author, and who had a wonderful day and evening!
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It was wonderful, Diana. And, it was also a chance to tell my family the ‘whole story’ as well, since I’m sure many of them didn’t know the full details.
Thanks for commenting!
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Looks like the purrfect launch! 24 copies sold is awesome, and the cover looks fab. Well done indeed!
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Thanks, Cath! It all came together on the day 🙂
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Congrats. I’m glad it went so well. 🙂
Anna from Elements of Writing
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Thanks, Anna! Here’s sending good wishes for your launch 🙂
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Congrats on your book launch! Good luck. 🙂
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Thanks! 🙂
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