Some of the most enjoyable, and unexpected, side effects of a book deal have been the reactions of people. No, I don't mean the process of me telling them about the deal (and that's certainly quite nice); I'm talking about what they do when they find out.
They get, well, excited. I guess I figured most people would say, "Well, that's nice," then move on to other subjects. Instead, just about everyone is genuinely thrilled, wanting to hear all about the book, when it's coming out, how I sold it, and so on.
I love that (how could I not?), but I have to say a part of me is already beginning to say, I hope I don't let these people down. I want my books to succeed, of course, for purely personal and selfish reasons. But I also want them to succeed so that I'm worthy of the reception I'm getting among friends and acquaintances. I want them to be able to say, "Hey, read this great book by my friend TL Hines." I want them to be able to say, "You know the author TL Hines? He goes to my church." I want them to be able to say, "I was one of the first people to buy his book." In short, I want to be able to live up to the excitement they feel when they first hear the news.
And that, my friends, is a challenging proposition. Depending on where you get your figures, something like 10,000 (give or take several thousand) novels are released each and every year. Maybe a couple hundred--maybe--make bestseller lists. I can cite other figures for you. Only 5% of novelists are able to make a full-time income from their writing. The world's reading audience is shrinking. Television/the internet/fill-in-the-blank is a tool of the devil, stealing time people used to spend with books. Blah, blah, blah.
All of which points to one sobering fact: when you get a book deal, you haven't climbed Mount Everest, no matter what it may feel like at the time. You've only reached base camp, and you have a lot of ice fields, crevasses, freak storms and other obstacles to contend with before you even get a chance at the top of the mountain. Most people who set out to reach that peak, unfortunately, end up frozen and lifeless somewhere along the way.
And I think I've probably squeezed much more out of that particular metaphor than I really should have. But you get my point. I've got a long way to go, folks. Of course I dream of standing on the summit and planting a flag some day (guess I wasn't ready to let go of the analogy quite yet), but even if I don't, please remember: once upon a time, when you first heard about my novels, you were excited. And so I was excited. And it was good.
Right now, that's enough for me. Hopefully, it will always be enough for me.
