Monday, May 25, 2015

Humbled

When "Thank You" Just Doesn't Cut It

It has been three weeks today, since my debut novel GAME OF LOVE was officially released. So much has happened since then that it feels like it's been months not weeks.

Let's recap what has happened so far:

  • The book was granted the 5-Star Review by Readers' Favorite which is why the book now carries their emblem 
  • 31 reviews on Amazon with an average score of 4.8/5.0
  • 47 ratings/reviews on Goodreads with an average score of 4.83/5.00
  • More than twenty bloggers reviewed the book
  • More than thirty other bloggers either announced the release of the book, or shared an excerpt, or interviewed me
  • The New York Time bestselling greats Susan Mallery and Jay Crownover even jumped into the mix and announced my book on release day to their tens of thousands of followers
  • Hundreds upon hundreds of Facebook posts, comments, shares AND Twitter posts, comments, and retweets have been splashed across all social media
  • I've had people rave about it from Sweden to Ireland to India to Mexico, across the United States and back to the UK

When nearly six years ago my wife told me to chase the dream, the idea that I could actually complete a novel was the dream. But once it was done and my wife told me she loved it and that I should try to see if I can get it published, a whole new realm of terror entered my life. That started a 4+ year journey of editing, revising, querying, getting rejected, more editing, more rejections, more studying, then an agent bites, then publishers are interested, then the book is published and now anyone across the globe can read my book...

More than a week ago I had my first book signing event at the Burbank Barnes & Noble. The manager was stunned by the turnout, calling it the largest author event they've ever had. They sold out of the books and even bought some of my personal copies to resell.

Over the last few weeks I've been saying thank you to hundreds of people. I've written it, spoken it, tweeted it, you name it. But those two words don't seem to cut it. It feels like that's not enough. But I don't know what other phrase can do justice to how I feel.

In the end I know that everyone is busy. We all have hundreds of thousands of other book options at our disposal. We can watch TV, go to the movies, spend time with family and friends. Yet, all these people decided spending time with my novel was the option of choice.

So here I am grateful. Thankful, of course, but also profoundly humbled at the generosity of those who've decided to take a chance on my story.

So here it comes... the phrase that isn't strong enough to adequately show what I feel. Are you ready? Good.

Thank you! I can't do this without you. I do this for you. Thank you for your support and generosity.

Fight the good fight!
Mine has just begun.


4 comments:

  1. You're an amazing person and a brilliant writer, Ara. Congrats again on the great release month! :D

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    Replies
    1. You see, this is exactly what I'm talking about! The phrase that jumps out of my lips (fingers in this case) is Thank you. And thank you for the support during both the cover reveal and book release. I am grateful to you, Jessica :)

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  2. What a great start, Ara! You're killing it. So happy for you!! :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Gwen! Thanks for all the support since forever ;)

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