…over on Twitter, Nick Harkaway observes that “So it turns out, interestingly (sort of) that releasing an eshort is more stressful for an author in many ways than releasing a novel…”
Oh yes. Yes, for me, absolutely. Much of this is because it’s brand-new and because I am (we are) doing all the leg work, but wow. Much, much more nervous about releasing “Easy Pickings” than any book I’ve published except probably my very first one*. I’m fairly happy with the cover, though…well. I have perhaps unreasonably high standards for cover art, even self-published, and it’s not *perfect*. It’s pretty good, though, and for this time out, at least, it’ll do. Faith and I edited each other and we sent it to beta readers, whose comments were incorporated, so we’ve done the best we could without actually bringing an editor and the attendant costs in. And I think it’s a fun lark of a story, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat, so I’m absolutely happy we went for it. But it’s far more nerve-wracking to me than one of my traditionally published books coming out.
And on the same topic, Chuck Wendig talks great stuff about making self-published material work for not just the writer, but the reader. I donno if we’ve hit all of that, or even much of it, but I think he’s talking sense.
*I have many writer friends who get tied in knots on release day. I sympathize but do not so much empathize; at that point I figure it’s so far out of my hands there’s nothing I can do. I have done my part. I have written the best book I could at the time. By release day, it’s all up to the readers.