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A New Book

Lost in the Empire City Avi

Today is the day my newest book, Lost in the Empire City, will be pub­lished. Peo­ple often ask me, “How does it feel to have a book published?”

Strict­ly speak­ing, there are many key dates in the cre­ation of a pub­lished book. One might well ask how I feel about any one of them.

  • Day One. When I com­mit myself to writ­ing a spe­cif­ic book.

Feel­ings: Excite­ment and anxiety.

  • Day Two. When I fin­ish the final draft of that book.

Feel­ings: Relief tinged with sad­ness. I’ll miss the characters.

  • Day Three. When — and if — a pub­lish­er accepts the book.

Feel­ings: Joy.

  • Day Four. When word comes from the edi­tor that the book is con­sid­ered done, or “com­plete” in pub­lish­ing jargon.

Feel­ings: Satisfaction.

  • Day Five. When the first pub­lished pass of the book is sent to me for copy­right review. That is, I see the book in print for the first time.

Feel­ings: curios­i­ty and delight.

  • Day Six. When I receive a copy of the pub­lished book, which is usu­al­ly about a month ahead of the offi­cial publication.

Feel­ings: Pleasure.

  • Day Sev­en. When I get the first review of the book, which is a por­tent as to how the book will be received.

Feel­ings: Depends on the review.

  • Day Eight. The offi­cial date of publication.

Feel­ings: Plea­sure. Anoth­er book done.

Sev­en key days, to be sure, but they can be strung out over a long peri­od, some­times two or more years. The fastest time I ever had a book published—from day one to day sev­en, was Night Jour­neys, with an elapsed time of just eleven months. The longest time was four­teen years, for Bright Shad­ow

Let it also be said that by the time I reach day sev­en, I am usu­al­ly deep into cre­at­ing anoth­er book. Indeed, my next book has already been writ­ten and it has been declared “com­plet­ed.” Chas­ing Rocks, as it is titled, is sched­uled to be pub­lished in ear­ly 2026.

So it goes.

bk_unstrungharp-6092100The days — as cit­ed here — which are most emo­tion­al for me—in a pos­i­tive way—come when I have com­plet­ed a book, and when I learn that it will be published.

The actu­al date of pub­li­ca­tion sure­ly gives me plea­sure, but noth­ing hap­pens with me on that date. Yes, that is the date when it is put on sale, but I am not part of the process. 

My favorite depic­tion of the writ­ing life—and pub­li­ca­tion day is bril­liant­ly and hilar­i­ous­ly cap­tured by Edward Gorey’s The Unstrung Harp

It has more truth about the writer’s life than any oth­er book I know.

1 thought on “A New Book”

  1. I delete many blogs with­out more than a glance. But, even when busy, the first line of your blog always cap­tures me and I must read your blog straight through. I am nev­er dis­ap­point­ed. I will cer­tain­ly read Lost in the Empire City and look for Edward Gorey’s The Unstrung Harp. I am work­ing on “Day Four” with my pic­ture book, Big Boy 4014 and The Steam Team, with the cov­er revealed last week. That was a fun day, but now the PR work begins. Not my favorite part of the process. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

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