How do I know this?
1. Two bloggers made teasers for my book.
2. Another blogger included GIFs in her review.
3. You can find me on Amazon, iBooks, and Barnes & Noble.
4. I found jellyfish pirating my book.
At first, I was pissed. I still am pissed because my book is $3.99! You can’t even get a meal at a fast food restaurant for that cheap anymore. So, the fact that people have to steal my book because they can’t “afford” it pisses me off.
With that being said, screw all those damn jellyfish! I know I have loyal readers out there who have bought the book because they’ve messaged me about it. They’ve left a review for it. They’ve asked me when book two is coming out. They actually care. So, thank you, to all of you who are loyal readers, who love the written word enough to spend your hard earned money on the things you love instead of being a cheap-ass jellyfish!
Since publishing Wanted By You last week, things have been a little crazy but incredibly fun! I’ve loved getting to meet people from all over the world, from here in the US to the UK and Australia; it’s been mind-blowingly awesome and I can’t wait to meet more of you!
Another thing: fangirling. I’m so used to being a fangirl myself, I can’t even wrap my head around having others fangirling over me and my book. I will never get used to that. I love reading and writing so much that I could talk about books all day. So, whether I’m reading a message from someone saying they loved the book or I’m reading a review, I’m right there with them fangirling over every little thing because I’m just as excited as they are about the book and for me to finish writing book two! So, if you want to talk about my book or the Love in the City series with me, shoot me a message or comment here on my website. I love talking about books!
I’ve also loved reading honest feedback from you, the readers, because it’s helping me better myself as a writer. Right now as I read through reviews, I’m figuring out what readers love about my writing and what I need to work on. So please, keep the reviews coming! I also have some treats to share with all of you once I get more reviews:
So, if you haven’t left a review for Wanted By You yet, please consider doing so! I’d love you for it! Plus, I know you secretly want these extras as much as I’m dying to share them with you!
Again, thank you to everyone who hasn’t been a jellyfish, who’s bought a copy of my book and supported me from the very beginning. Becoming a published writer has been a dream come true for me, and I’m incredibly honored that so many of you are ready for more from me.
I loved writing every bit of Wanted By You. Like want-to-make-a-career-out-of-writing loved it. And the messages I’ve already received from a few readers wanting more from me makes me incredibly happy because I love, love, love writing! So, I’m more than ready to keep on keepin’ on for you guys!
A few days ago, I got to see a paperback version of my book! I cannot explain the awesomeness that went into holding it for the first time. It was amazing and surreal and exciting all at the same time. It’s so beautiful! I can’t wait to see other people holding it and reading it!
The back cover of Wanted By You
I also have bookmarks, postcards and pens as well as some cute necklaces from Etsy that go along with the book! So, be sure to join my release day event on Facebook to enter to win some pretty book swag and other prizes on release day and throughout the blog tour!
Since I love you all and there’s only *THREE MORE DAYS* until release day, I’ve decided to share another song off Wanted By You‘s playlist. If this doesn’t make your Monday 100X better, I don’t know what will.
That’s right. Thursday, February 27th, Wanted By You releases!
Mark your calendars for the cover reveal on February 13th! It’s absolutely beautiful! I can’t wait to share it with you!
So, to celebrate, let’s share a song from the Wanted By You playlist. This is Never by Moving Pictures, and I love the chorus of this song:
Last night, I finished up with a few tweaks and edits on WANTED BY YOU. It’s headed to the copy editor now which means we’re getting closer and closer to publication!
*throws confetti!*
Let’s talk about the art of writing for a moment…
I think some people think writing a book is like taking a crap. You just sit down and write, and boom, a masterpiece is formed. No. That’s not how it works. There’s anxiety involved. A lot of anxiety and edits and rewrites. And the voices in your head never shut up. And they’re begging you to tell their story, but you can’t write fast enough to get everything down at once so you have notes all over the place. Inside your old college notebooks. On your Notes app on your iPhone. On your laptop’s sidebar sticky notes. It’s a mess of notes all over the place; sometimes in places you can’t even remember putting them. It’s exhausting and time consuming but completely magical all at the same time.
All of the anxiety and edits and perfecting is totally worth it because writing a book is not like taking a dump. It’s not an everyday occurrence that everybody does. It’s a big deal. It’s crossing off a bucket list item. It’s chasing after the dream you’ve had since you were a little girl. A dream of one day becoming that author who inspires others to write because being a writer is their dream, too.
So, as I get closer to publishing my first book and think about all the excitement and nerves that will come with release day, I can’t help but smile and think, bring it on! I’m not going to let anything or anyone bring me down. I’ve worked hard to get where I am as a writer, and I’m not going to let one person’s opinion or a bad review or whatever bring me down because writing a book is not like taking a poop. If it was, everybody would do it and nobody would judge anybody on how they do it because nobody would care.
I’m thankful for the people who care about me and my book and the Love in the City series, the people who have taken the time to help me through the writing and editing process and given me sound advice, and to the people who read my book early on and gave me their honest opinions.
I will forever be grateful for people’s honesty and feedback, but honestly, writing a book is nothing like taking a shit. Not everybody can do it. Not everybody has the guts to do it. So, cheers to all of us who have the courage to put ourselves out there, and to all the people who continuously support and encourage us to pursue our dreams and who care enough to share their thoughts with us.
Steph Nuss 