Are You If?
When You’re Between and Before
At What Point Is A Debut Author Considered A Published Author?
A debut dilemma:
Your debut book is going to be published in a few months. Congratulations! The title of ‘author of an upcoming book’ is yours. With ISBNs acquired, Amazon and other big names are already offering it for pre-order. It’s at this moment that you’re champing at the bit, sitting on the launch pad, listening to the countdown.
Let’s say you take a time out to attend a conference and sit in on a panel with renown authors. Midway through their conversation, which has long gone off the rails from the topic at hand, one panelist looks out to the audience and asks, “how many of you are published writers?”
At least two-thirds of the people in the room raise their hand. You lift yours from your lap, this is a milestone minute—a goal achieved—you’re one of the accomplished. And just as quickly, you drop your hand.
Are you if your book is for sale, but there is no actual book and it will not truly exist for four months? Advanced reader copies are being printed, but won’t be in hand for a week or two. Technically, you’ve published nothing, right?
Correct, at least according to the Google of Oz. A writer can not claim rights to being published until their book is released and made available for purchase or distribution. Hands down.
Even if Merriam-Webster says published means “produced or released for distribution in a book, magazine, newspaper, etc,” would you have raised your hand, any way?
Was there a moment before your very first pub day when you felt most accomplished?
GIVEAWAY ALERT:
June 8 is Women’s Fiction Day! In celebration, one lucky winner will win all SIX a of these books!
Truth and Other Lies, Maggie Smith / House on Fire, D. Liebhart
Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty / Not Yours to Keep, Zelly Ruskin
Of Lies and Honey, Donna Norman-Carbone / Mad Honey, Jodi Picoult
Hurry! ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO ENTER! The Contest ENDS June 8
GOOD LUCK!
Share the news and give your readers a chance to win too!
And Now For Something Completely Serious…
On June 2, 2024, the Penn State Health Newswise ran a feature on The Medical Minute: The dangers of cerebral aneurysms. The article highlights the work of Dr. Scott Simon, a Brain Aneurysm Foundation Research Grant Recipient. It’s a good read to learn more about cerebral aneurysms, symptoms and causes without too much medical terminology clutter.
Here are some snippets from the article that resonated with me:
Simon says, (sorry, inappropriately timed humor—but I just had to do it). “When these cerebral aneurysms are small and not close to rupturing, most people don’t even know they’re there. The little lesions most often cause no symptoms and are discovered when a doctor stumbles across them while performing a scan or examination for some other problem…”Remember my incidental find?
“According to the Brain Aneurysm Foundation: ... Most people develop aneurysms after they turn 40.” I was 55 when they found mine.
“Twenty percent of people with an aneurysm in their brain have more than one.” Saving this for a future issue.
What are the warning signs that you have an aneurysm? “Often, there are none, Simon said.” Everyone agreed I was symptomless. It was only after my surgery, when I started volunteering for awareness and research, that I recognized the symptoms I had ignored.
“When they grow, they can press against nerves and cause symptoms, such as, according to the National Institutes of Health:
pain above and behind the eye [had it]
numbness
weakness [had it]
paralysis on one side of the face
a dilated pupil in the eye
vision changes or double vision. [Yup]
When an aneurysm bursts, it bleeds. Doctors call it a hemorrhage. In some cases, the rupture might not be so severe, and the person suffering it might feel a sudden, severe headache."
Other symptoms include:
double vision
nausea [indeed]
vomiting [occasionally, as my little nothing grew to something]
stiff neck [Yes]
sensitivity to light [Yup]
seizures
loss of consciousness (either brief or prolonged)
cardiac arrest
Knowing the symptoms and spreading awareness can help save lives. Learn more at the Brain Aneurysm Foundation.
Last Licks
I've long been published in many places, even before I began writing novels four years ago. So I could have had the label of "published author" for years, but it had always been either part of my career (professional & research pieces in relevant journals) or a part-time thing (short stories in literary journals). So I didn't consider myself an AUTHOR until my first book came out Sept.2022. It took a conscious effort to not say I was a "writer", and practice saying I'm an AUTHOR.
It's what we do to ourselves, right? We lack the confidence & conviction to claim who we are.
I'm pretty sure I would have raised my hand.