I was listening to
A Prairie Home Companion tonight. They had former poet laureate Billy Collins on. He was talking about his forthcoming new book. He quoted a writer friend of his who said, "Having a book forthcoming is the calm before the calm."
Hearing that I nearly busted a gut laughing, not good when you happen to be driving on a country road in the dark and pouring rain. But I thought it was a hoot, and very insightful. I suppose you have to be a writer or married to a writer (my wife laughed hard too) to truly appreciate it. There is such a sense of anticipation as the publication date nears. You haunt the bookstores waiting for the volume's first appearance (the books that they anticipate will be best sellers often have what they call a "one day laydown," meaning the books all arrive at stores on the same day. Guys like me have to wait for them to trickle in), then brace yourself for the flood of positive reviews, interviews, author tour. And then...not so much.
That's not to say the phone never rings, the good e-mails don't come, the speaking invitations don't arrive. But unless you are David McCullough-esque in your stature, there is not so much fuss made about your new book as you think is quite right.
But we can change all that. Next March 1, be on the look out for this book:
