Anticipation Of…

So while I am never short of book, novel and story projects, sometimes I lack for blogging topics. I don’t want to be trite and lament on the same things over and over again.  That’s why I signed up for another year with the Merry Go Round Blog Tour! This month  I would like to talk about anticipation.

Not anticipation with regard to getting a book published or holding the final product in my hands. No. While I look forward to those things, they no longer excite me like they once did. Once I’m finished with a book, I must dutifully move on to the next because there’s no rest for the wicked. Readers want more and I have so much more to write.

The anticipation I’m talking about  is waiting for those first reviews or reader reactions to a book.  Now I’m not talking reactions from strangers.  That would be ridiculous. Some will love it, some will hate it.  It is what it is. However, there are folks whose opinions do matter to me a great deal and it’s those reviews I anticipate.

These folks usually include mentors, friends, and even family members.  With non-fiction, it’s important to me that my teachers and those I respect in the field are happy with my finished product. With fiction, if my editor(s), family and friends are delighted (and I can spot fake delight a mile off), I’m happy, too.   For me it really is all about that initial response to the work. Once I get that response, my anticipation wanes and I move on. If I get wonderful reader reviews that’s just icing on the cake.

There are so many things a writer anticipates. Finishing the first book, selling the first book, holding the finished book, the first book sale, the first great reader review (not written by your friends or family), and the list goes on. Others may anticipate problems. That first rejection notice, the first bad review (we’re all going to get at least one – if you’re doing it right anyway), or even publishing issues (with iTunes I anticipate this on a regular basis).

For my fellow writer friends out there – what do you anticipate when you publish (or write)?

About The FM Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour

Today’s post was inspired by the topic 2013 Projects/Anticipation. This month’s topic in the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour, an ongoing tour where you, the reader, travel around the world from author’s blog to author’s blog. We have all sorts of writers at all stages in their writing career, so there’s something for everyone to enjoy.

If you want to get to know nearly twenty other writers and read what they’re working on, or what they’re anticipating, check out the Merry-Go-Round Blog Tour. I blog with this tour the 25th of every month. Up next on the tour: Becky Pratt!