My feet are sore on all pressure points from standing non-stop for three and a half hours today. I figured that in celebration of releasing A Moment’s Worth, I should treat myself to a nice bowl of ramen at the first ever Ramen Festival in San Francisco’s Japantown. Little did I realize how long I would wind up waiting, and I don’t remember if I genuinely liked it or not, because I was starving at that point. The struggle was real, but the intent of the celebration was worth it. I had published a novel.
It’s only been a few days since the book came out. While it hasn’t gotten TONS of downloads, there have been people who are taking interest in this book- so much as to where they lay down $3.00 and download that thing. I haven’t really had much time to really take a moment to soak in the reality that I had published a novel, for I’ve been busy the last few days, getting the word out about it in any way possible, when not working at my internship, being at school, or reading Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84.
Actually, as sad to say, not everyone has been completely thrilled that I had written and published a novel. A few days ago, I posted the Amazon link to a Facebook group for people from my hometown, and before the end of the day, it was taken down. Someone on there complained by saying that I was spamming the group (even though it was only one- and the only one- friggin post), and that apparently it wasn’t enough for someone from my hometown to publish a book when it wasn’t even set in it. That day, that group removed the post… and I left it.
It’s sad when members of your community decide to make a judgment about you without really giving you a chance. It’s one of those cases when I really have to reconfigure and reconsider the general mentality of the place I grew up at. Are people really ready to accept the fact that a 22-year-old resident had published a book? You can’t blame me for wondering, especially since this isn’t even the first time something like this has happened to me.
To make my woes even more prominent, last night I dreamed that I saw nothing but negative reviews for my book on the Barnes & Noble page for it. I get that not everyone is going to fall in love with it, but that dream was a little overwhelming. Luckily I knew it was just a dream, for I know that not that many people had purchased it through Barnes & Noble.
I know that some people might tell me to relax and that I’m being too hard on myself, but I can’t do that just yet. A Moment’s Worth may be published already, but there’s still work to do, and I will not rest until I see results that match my expectations. I’m going to side sweep the haters to the side (where they belong) and live for something greater. I want people to read my book.
A Moment’s Worth is now available through the following venues: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, iTunes
Check out the Goodreads page for it, which includes a new trivia quiz!
Lola By The Bay 
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