Is this what it feels like to be an author?

I love all of the pictures people have sent me, but this might be my favorite.

The last 2 weeks have been a whirl wind of activities - mostly emails and posts on LinkedIn - the only social media platform that feels fairly troll free. I have long kept my personal life and professional life separate. I like having boundaries. However writing a novel is different. My novel is a story that came from my brain, which is very personal, and I am sharing it widely as an author, which is very professional. So I am moving forward with great intention.

My goal is not to become a best selling author. My goal is to share stories with people who what to hear them and might be moved by them. For the last year or so I have been collecting emails from people I know or have met that are interested in my book. I put everyone on it, starting with my family and moving onto friends, other writers and readers. I sent the emails out in batches via Bcc which I learned is the best way to send to a larger group with out getting bounce backs (I learned that trick when sending out emails to my mother’s extensive email list when she was recovering from brain surgery).

Since I am self publishing my book, I get to see my sales numbers daily, which is fun. Each sale is a win for my soul. But even more profound and joyful is the people who are texting me pictures of them holding my book or sitting and reading it. It has been wonderful to hear that people have enjoyed the book and learned something. I am tickled when people feel they understand archives a little bit more.¹

There is an incredible sense of accomplishment and a physical item that I can hold in my hand. But there is also a delineation of sorts. I have heard on the many writing podcasts I listen to that anyone can be a writer, but an author is someone who has written a full work and is selling that work. A writer is anyone who puts words together, while an author is part of a business identity. I have crossed the line from writing for only myself to writing for myself and others. It feels different.

One of my hopes for this book and the others I want to write is not only will people learn about stories that have been forgotten, hidden or lost, but they may learn how archives can play a role in their own lives. Archives are not mysterious places for only the elite or people in the know. I believe archives are for everyone.

1. I am compiling examples from what readers are telling me. One person was so glad I have a glossary of terms in the back so she could refer to them.