There are a hell of a lot of feelings out there.

Publishing a book has a way of eliciting many, many of those feelings. Excitement, anxiety, trepidation, hope, raw fear, doubt.

After the book is in a place where you finally say: “I think that’s it. I think it’s ready.”

Then comes the magic. You set it free to roam the scavenged wastes that is the world of E-publishing. Its rifle, your plot. Its ammo, your character depth. It’s food and water supply, your cover, blurb and marketing skills.

It must fight to try and become king of the wastelands.

Or not. But y’know, it sounds cool to say.

I was so nervous when it was going live. I didn’t know how I would feel. But something happens to you, the author, when it is published. There is this joy. At least, there is for me. Getting to reach out to people, getting to connect with old acquaintances and close friends and family and strangers over this labor of love you’ve created, this creation that is born of your mind and gives wonder and excitement (hopefully) to those who read it. . . Well, it’s just an awesome feeling.

Every day, I wake up, and it feels like Christmas. I rush over to my computer, turn on the dashboard and see how the book is doing. How many KU pages have been read? How many books have been bought? A lot? A little? None at all?

I get excited not because I made two dollars when someone clicked a button to buy my story. I get excited because My baby is out there, and people are reading it. People I know, people I don’t know.

Some will hate it, some will love it, some will tear it apart, some will sing its praises, some won’t finish it, and some will simply say meh, s’aright.

And it’s all awesome. I love it all. It’s so much fun. I’ve worked so hard on this book for so long. I just want to see it all. I want to see the hate and the love and the indifference because it is all a part of the experience.

Now all I have to do is write the next book. Deep Breaths.

-Evan Pickering