“I’m a writer.” That’s how George Costanza answered in Seinfeld when a woman in a bar asked him what he does. There’s a certain panache that accompanies being a writer in the mind of the public, and after being an unemployed middle-aged man living with his parents, George thought he could capitalize on that with the ladies. He went on to say, “In fact, I’m writing a comedy pilot for NBC right now.”
That prompted the woman to reply, “A sitcom? How can you write that crap?” and she walked away. Evidently not all writers are equally esteemed.
And beyond that, not all moments in the writer’s life are equally as glamorous. There are two really exciting times: when you sign a contract, and when a box of your books arrives at your door. In between those two times is a lot of work and a lot of waiting.
The writing work for this new book of mine has been done for quite some time. I turned in the manuscript about 9 months ago (there were revisions to work through after that, but nothing that took a lot of time). Working with a publisher like Harper means there is still some other work to do: recording the audiobook, approving PR assets, and doing some publicity things (like being interviewed on other people’s podcasts). But these are mostly fun and not too taxing.
So, most of what I’ve been doing lately with respect to this book is waiting. I honestly don’t understand why it takes so long to go from submission of the manuscript to its release to the public. My guess is that they start with the date they want the book released (which for mine was to coincide with BioLogos’s Faith and Science Conference next month), and then build in a lot of extra time because they expect authors not to meet their deadlines. But I really dislike not meeting deadlines, and I wear it as a badge of honor that I almost always do. So I’ve been doing a lot of waiting.
But now the waiting is over. On Thursday this last week the UPS man showed up at my front door with a box. Here are the visuals that my good wife documented (if you scroll through them quickly, it’s almost like a movie):
I wish they gave me enough to send one to each of you who read this newsletter! But they don’t. And the books are still not available to purchase by the general public. That date is April 2. But I see that on Amazon, you can now read a preview, which includes the Introduction and part of Chapter 1. It starts with a fairly dramatic story from my recent past that sets up the rest of the book. See if it hooks you!
I wish they weren’t so expensive. The list price is $29.99, and at the moment Amazon isn’t discounting them at all (though I think they often do so once the release date is reached, which is why they give a Pre-order Price Guarantee). But if you think about it in comparison to the cost of two people going to a movie and buying a tub of popcorn, it’s about equivalent! I promise you’ll get more than two hours of entertainment from reading the book! And if any of you would like to organize a group to read it together, I’d be happy to come (virtually or in-person, if possible) and give you all kinds of behind-the-scenes details!
Anyway, thanks for reading this post and sharing in the excitement (I don’t think I’ve ever written a paragraph like the one above with three sentences ending in exclamation points… I must be excited!).
Congratulations Jim! I’m excited to read your book. I will suggest it to the Men’s book club I attend. Greetings to your family.