A Ride on the Wild Side
Shoulder harness down. Seat belt locked. Loose items secured in cubbies next to the ride.
Anticipation.
Waiting for those magic words to blare through the speakers: Heeeere weee goooo!
Nervous laugh.
Gut tumble.
Biting bottom lip.
You know what comes next.
We’re off, climbing higher, anticipating the rush to come, and then . . .
Stall.
We’re at the top of the rollercoaster, paused, trying to fix the ride.
We’re ready to launch. We want to move, but we don’t want to fall.
Test the store. Working? Works for me. You? Shawn? Jeff? Steve? Yes? Friends? Good idea. Yes, let’s send to friends. We need fresh eyes. Will they take a look?
More fixing and changing.
What about the books? Yes, ready to go. Go where?
Books in the warehouse? Yes.
Amazon? They’ve got their thing going on.
For friends? Yes, hundreds, ready to share. Can we send?
Hold.
Hold.
Hold.
Go!
We’re over that first rise. Launch day, we’re flying.
Both hands in the air? No. One hand released, going with the flow, the other holding on tight.
Eyes open.
Still biting bottom lip.
First turn.
Customer comments start coming in. Good. Happy. Feeling calm.
Second turn.
Frustrated comments, asking how downloads work, and about creating accounts. Surprise. Respond. Fast. Make sure the customers know we’re on it. We want to provide the best experience possible.
Rushing. Ride still going.
More comments—a mix. Good overall, but some wondering when we’ll offer more, make changes.
We’re on it.
We can see the station. Still working.
Next stop? 2.0.
DO THE WORK
Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
THE AUTHENTIC SWING
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
TURNING PRO
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
Yup. Been there. The ride only works when you’re doing it with friends. Next time, we launch into outer space.
Perpetual Beta baby! The saying goes- “You can pick your friends but you can’t pick your family.” I like to think that in the case of Black Irish Books, or any small entries with big dreams and talent- you make damn sure you pick your friends well because you will be tighter than any family could be.
You’ve done that and you are in the ring!
Round by round you are answering the bell.
Keep it up you are doing great!
Spit when necessary but never bite. 😉
Got it, read it, blogging about it in a few days… Congrats on the launch.
A scary and a smooth ride at the same time!
Understood, read it, will write a blog post on it soon… Best wishes on the launch. slope game