One Book's Journey
By Jenna Glatzer

"One Book's Journey" is the diary I've kept about my book, Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders, which was published in November by Hunter House.

I thought it might be interesting to see what goes on during a book's journey to publication, and ultimately, into readers' hands.  

If you missed the first installment, you can read it here.

This is the second installment, which I'm titling...

From Galleys to Bookstore Shelves

7/10/02 I write to all of the contributors to ask if they want me to add photos or additional info to their bios.  I get a few things here and there, but not the rush I was expecting—especially after the way they all wanted to change things before.  I hope more of them send pictures.  I think it makes readers feel more personally connected when they can see the writers.

8/22/02 Hmm, now this is odd.  Alex writes to me.  She got the book back from the typesetter and sends me a .pdf version of the galleys.  Hang on, that’s not the odd part.  The odd part is that she also sent me about ten questions about things in the book—stuff like, “This writer mentions her two boys, but earlier, she said she had three children.  Is the other one a girl?”  I thought that once a book was typeset, the only changes are supposed to be to fix typos.  We’re actually editing again.  Hmm.

8/30/02 I write to Earlita to ask a few questions.  First off, I’m confused about the release date.  Amazon.com says November, Barnesandnoble.com says September, and the Hunter House site says October.  Earlita says she doesn’t know the release date, either, and she says she’ll ask Alex.  Then I ask her about book signings.  A bunch of the writers have expressed an interest in doing signings, which I mentioned to her before, but I thought I should bring it up again since we’re getting close to publication now.  Her response disappoints me—she said that yes, she’ll set up signings if I tell her who wants to do them, but that it’s too late to set anything up for this year.  Well, then, why didn’t she tell me this earlier?  Doesn’t this seem strange?  Why wouldn’t we want to have signings timed to the release date?  And another thing—I also ask about blurbs.  It recently occurred to me that no one has mentioned anything about blurbs.  She says she sent galleys to all the major trade (library) publications, and one to Self magazine, because they asked for it.  But that’s it.  Since I brought it up, now she asks me if I know anyone who might want to do a blurb.  Why, yes, and in fact, I e-mailed them a list of potential “blurbers” months ago.  This well-oiled machine sounds like it could use a tune-up.

9/6/02 Earlita wants to know if they should include a photo credit for my author photo.  My dad’s going to get a kick out of seeing his name on my book cover.

9/8/02 Alex tells me she expects to have the books printed by the last week in October or beginning of November.

9/12/02 More editorial questions!  Now they’re clarifying some more small details.  They want to know if they can shorten one of the contributor’s postnomials, if military ranks should be capitalized (heck if I know), if we should list out-of-print books in the bibliography (guess not), and they want me to make sure the contributors who included their phone numbers or addresses really want them printed in the book.  I agree that it’s probably not the best idea, but I thought it was really brave and personable that some people did that.  They also want to start setting up television appearances, so I write to the contributors to ask who’s interested.  One of the first people to answer positively is an Australian contributor.  The book’s not being published in Australia yet, so my guess is that the publicist won’t be interested in promoting it there.  I probably should have mentioned that in my e-mail.

9/15/02 I’m going to do my first online chat.  I am chosen to be one of the “presenters” during National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week (yes, that’s for real) at www.mychronicillness.com.  I had answered an ad for guests with “invisible illness” books to promote, and anxiety disorders are definitely invisible.  Although I’ve now asked three times for more details about what they want from me in terms of the type of chat, what I should prepare, what I should expect, etc., they haven’t answered.  I prepare several pages of notes to tell my own story and to summarize the book, and hope this will work.  I plan to then open it up to questions and other people’s stories.

9/19/02 It turns out that the organizer of the chat week had computer troubles, which is why she didn’t respond earlier.  She says she’d love for me to share my experiences and highlights of the book.  Cool.

9/24/02 I do the chat.  I think the parts I’ve prepared go well.  The pace is good, and I don’t think I bore anyone.  But as soon as we open it up to people’s questions and comments, two things become very clear: 1. We need some semblance of order.  Everyone’s posting very fast and it’s nearly impossible to follow any particular conversation.  (We do have a moderator, but she’s not actually filtering any of the posts.)  And 2.  This is an extremely religious group.  I wish I had realized this while I was preparing my “talk.”  (You’d think the name “Rest Ministries” would have tipped me off.)  Now I go back and try to figure out if I said anything offensive.  Although I’m a Christian, I’m not used to talking about my beliefs.  I feel I have a lot to learn about God.

Someone asks me if I ever attempted suicide.  I start to answer, and then the moderator says, “We shouldn’t talk about suicide.”  Why?  We should pretend it doesn’t exist?  We should bury it and let people continue to feel alone?  She suggests we shouldn’t mention it because it’s an offense to God.  This bothers me, because the whole point of my book is to talk about things that people are afraid to talk about, but she’s the moderator, and I feel I have to listen to her wishes because I’m a guest in her chat, after all—sort of like being a guest in someone’s house.  Nonetheless, I like this group of people.  They’re very supportive and responsive to each other.  But at the end of the chat, although everyone says they loved it, and we end with a prayer, I’m not too sure if anyone will order the book.  I watch my Amazon.com ranking obsessively for the next two days, and am sadly proven correct, at least for now.

9/25 The organizer of this chat week writes to me and tells me that one of the chat attendees has asked for a transcript so she can go back and read everything at a slower pace (like I said, we went fast and it was hard to follow).  She says the chat was wonderful and helped her so much.  This makes me feel good.  It turns out that the organizer is also a subscriber of Absolute Write—which also makes me feel good!

10/1/02 I’m on the edge of my seat waiting to hear if anyone books TV appearances.  Lots of the writers wrote to tell me they were interested, and from what I hear, Earlita wrote to those people.  One of the contributors is from Earlita’s hometown, so she says that’ll help her get publicity there.  Also, it appears one more person bought the book at Amazon.com, which finally made it break the 1 million mark!  (We were ranked about 1,118,000 for weeks.)

10/2/02 Earlita sends an e-mail to the contributors who were interested in doing appearances to tell them about a Woman’s World reporter who’s looking for panic disorder success stories.  I wonder how she found that!

10/11/02 Earlita tells me they got the advance copies of my book, and she says they look great!  She tells me they’ll send my copies as soon as the rest arrive.  I can’t wait!

10/14/02 I’m a member of Reviewers Choice (ReviewersChoice-subscribe@yahoogroups.com), a Yahoo Group where authors can announce their books for reviewers, and reviewers can announce their needs for books.  I find a message from a reviewer for BellaOnline (which gets 150,000 visitors a day), and she’s looking for mental health books to review.  I tell her about my book, and she writes back to say she’d love to read it—and that she loves my writing and wants me to autograph the book.  What a compliment!  And... hooray!  The book’s first review is scheduled!

10/23/02 Ellen DuBois, one of the writers, writes to tell me that Woman’s Day is going to call her to interview her about panic disorder.  Terrific!  I call Earlita, and she says the Woman’s Day reporter is going to talk to a few of the writers... great news.  I could have sworn she said Woman’s World earlier, but Woman’s Day is even better.  She also wants to know if I can think of a health insurance angle to use when she pitches a particular newspaper columnist who often talks about insurance issues in his column.  I tell her that insurance for mental health services is often lacking, even though cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most effective ways to treat anxiety disorders.  She says that’s just the kind of angle she was looking for.  And she asks me if I’ve gotten my books yet—I haven’t, but this means they’re on their way.  Yippee! 

10/29/02 I write to Earlita to ask what the initial print run was, if Self responded to the galleys, and how the book is doing in terms of bookstore sales.  I also notice that the book is now listed as “in stock” at Barnesandnoble.com!  Not yet on Amazon.

10/30/02 Earlita tells me she doesn’t know what the initial print run was, but the book has sold about 1800 copies to bookstores.  I’m not sure, but I don’t think that’s very good. She says they’re working on “special sales” (I don’t know what that means) and increasing publicity for the contributors.  The first TV appearance is scheduled; Xenia is going to be on KSBY-TV!  Earlita says she’ll try to set up a book signing to coincide with it.  Since I have no point of comparison, I write back to ask her if I should be happy or sad about that 1800 number.  All I know is that it won’t earn out my advance.  She writes back, “In general, advance sales are low across the board.  B&N and Borders are being really careful with their orders just now, the economy being what it is.  So I wouldn't be sad!  I'll just have to wrangle up some publicity.”

11/4/02 The books arrive!  Hooray!  I have two giant boxes of books sitting in my office now, and now it’s time to write out all of the envelopes and get them out to the writers.  I can’t wait for them to see the book.  I just know they’re as excited as I am!

11/5/02 I was dreading going to the post office with 50 books, but I set my alarm and promised myself I’d do it today.  So, I wake up and find out that Anthony went to the post office for me.  He is the greatest man to ever live.

11/6/02 Suddenly it occurs to me that it’s time to get on the publicity train.  I start surfing the Web for publications that might be interested in reviewing the book.  Then I realize I should check with Earlita to see who she’s already contacted so we don’t duplicate efforts.  She sends me a list of about 250 publications she’s already hit.  I am dismayed to find out that the major industry papers passed on reviewing the book—Publishers Weekly, Foreword, and Library Journal all passed.  I wish I knew why.  I thought it was almost a given that if you had a traditionally published book, Publishers Weekly would review it.  I don’t know how much impact these papers have on sales, but I suspect it’s pretty important to bookstores.  Anyway, what’s done is done.  Earlita has done a good job of contacting women’s magazines and newspapers, but she hasn’t contacted any anxiety-specific publications.  That’s good, because that’s who I want to hit.  I’ve asked her to send review copies to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America, and now I can start surfing in earnest to find other outlets that are appropriate.  I send a copy to the SPnewsletter, a free newsletter for people with social phobia—even though they’re only a very occasional publication (about once a year).  I also send a copy to one of our Absolute Write subscribers who offered to review it when I first mentioned the book a year or so ago.

11/7/02 My mom goes to the local Borders bookstore to ask if they have my book in stock.  They tell her it’s on order.  Pretty neat!  I can’t wait to see it on the shelf.

11/11/02 I have gotten several responses from reviewers now.  I have probably lined up about ten reviews, and I’m all out of print review copies.  For the smaller publications, I’m now asking if I can send .pdf versions of the book instead of print copies.  This isn’t going over very well; most reviewers say they won’t look at books sent electronically.  I don’t really blame them; I know it’s a pain in the butt to read a whole book on screen.  I’m getting used to it, though.  From here on in, I’m sending Earlita the names and addresses of anyone who wants to review it for a decent-sized publication.  The ones I’m most eager to land are Psychotherapy Networker (a trade publication for psychologists) and Midwest Book Review.  Another psychologist/author has offered to trade reviews with me—he’ll review my book and I’ll review his, Anger and Anxiety.  We swapped .pdf files and I’m looking forward to reading his.

12/1/02 Mom checks in at Borders again, and they still tell her it’s on order.  Hmm.

12/2/02 I write to Bob Rich, the author who’s swapping reviews with me, and asked him when he thought he might be done with mine.  He writes, “Jenna, I sent it to you ages ago!  It didn’t bounce so I assumed you got it.”  I curse AOL, but I’m glad to see his review.  It’s here: http://users.tpg.com.au/bobr/writer/reviews/jenna.html.  Among other things, it says, “This book is a must for everyone who has suffered from undue anxiety, or from a long list of physical symptoms that has had the doctors baffled-- for not all doctors recognize the symptoms of anxiety.  It is also a wonderful resource for psychologists.  I have been a psychologist for a long time, and have worked with many an anxiety sufferer, but I learned lots from Dr. Foxman's comments at the end of each chapter.”  Hooray!  My first review, and it’s a glowing one.  I ask him to post it on Amazon, and he says he will.

12/16/02 Xenia appears on KSBY, the NBC affiliate station in Santa Barbara.  It’s a health segment, and Xenia talks about her battle with anxiety.  They show the book’s cover and Xenia’s chapter several times!  I couldn’t ask for better.  There’s a clip from the show here.

12/19/02 I can’t hold back any longer.  I write to Joanne, the sales and marketing coordinator, to ask how sales are going.  She writes back, “We have sold around 1800 to the big chain stores. The actual sales within the stores have been slow but we think this book will chug along with steady sales so the best time to check back in for a more accurate reading would be 6 months.”  Phooey.  We had 1800 advance sales, so this means bookstores haven’t ordered any more copies.  I’m bummed.

12/22/02 Anthony and I go to Borders to do some last-minute Christmas shopping.  I have forgotten all about looking for my book until I hear Anthony accosting a sales clerk.  “Do you have Conquering Fear and Anxiety Disorders by Jenna Glatzer?” he asks.  The clerk types the (incorrect) title into the computer and comes up with nothing.  “Panic,” I whisper in Anthony’s ear.  “Conquering Panic and Anxiety Disorders.”  Anthony corrects himself and the clerk finds the book.  “It’s right here,” he says, leading us to the self-help section.  And there it is, in all of its ugly green and orange glory, on a shelf that’s so out of order I would never have found it.  You know the holidays have arrived when the shelves at Borders look as though there has recently been an earthquake.  “Should I autograph it?” I whisper to Anthony.  The clerk overhears me and says, “Is it your book?”  I nod.  “You can autograph it.  We have ‘autographed by author’ stickers.  Some authors do that.”  I bounce back to the desk with him.  “Do you have a Sharpie?”  I didn’t know there was a preferred brand of pen to use for autographs.  “No,” I tell him, and he pulls one out for me.  

As I debate what to write (I settle on, “Be well.  Love, Jenna Glatzer”), the clerk takes a phone call.  Then he disappears for a good seven minutes, leaving me alone at the information desk.  Eventually another clerk arrives, and I tell her that I’ve just autographed my book and was waiting for the “autographed by author” sticker.  She searches all around before pronouncing that they’re all out of them.  I tell her it’s okay, and I’ll just return the book to the shelf, hoping that someone will get a happy surprise.  When I get there, I turn the book face-out on the top shelf.  That’s one of the perks of showing up in a bookstore—you get to make sure your book is displayed prominently.

12/30/02 The second review arrives, and it's great!  Jennifer Hollowell reviewed the book, and she offers to help out with publicity.  Even better.  Her mother works at a bookstore, so she tells me they they've ordered a copy and will be featuring it on an endcap near the front of the store (wow!) with Jennifer's review (double wow!). 

1/4/03 Jennifer contacted my publicist, and they're sending her flyers to put around town.  Jennifer says she'll put them in psychologists' offices and other relevant places.  What a gal!

1/9/03 I do my first radio interview for this book.  Actually, it's an Internet radio station—BookCrazy.net.  The host of the show is Michael Riley, one of the board leaders at the Absolute Write Water Cooler.  He's a great guy, and that helps me to be less nervous for the interview.  The show is an hour long... which is a lot of talking!  The interview goes wonderfully.  I probably gabbed too much, as Michael didn't even get to ask about half of the questions he had prepared to ask me.  But I think it's better to talk too much than to talk too little on radio.  The show will be aired on Thursday, and I can't wait to hear it.  During my last interview, I said "um" and "you know" too much, and I think I improved this time, so it'll be good to find out for sure.

1/10/03 I ask my publicist if she has any "Autographed by author" stickers that she can send me so I don't ever have a rerun of the Borders incident.  Indeed, she does!  She says I can have "Autographed copy" or "Signed by author."  I prefer "Autographed copy."  She says she'll get some shipped out to me.

1/16/03 The interview went so well!  I improved a hundred-fold over my last radio show, and I'm very proud of it.  I have the interview in .mp3 format here.  It repeated several times between Thursday and Sunday.  My mom listened to it all the way through twice.  I wonder if anyone else did.  ;)

1/20/03 The fan mail has started trickling in.  I've gotten about five letters from strangers who read the book and loved it.  One person told me it's the "best book [she's] ever read."  That has to be the greatest compliment a writer can receive.  She told me she's keeping the book by her bed so she can flip through the stories for inspiration every night.  There are some great reviews at Amazon, where the rank has jumped to about 50,000.  Is it a bestseller yet?  No.  But it's out there, and it is helping people.  That does my heart good.

Visit the book's website at www.absolutewrite.com/anxiety.htm.  Come meet the writers and see what it's all about.

Sponsored links

Ring binders

 

Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer!

How to find a book publisher

Home

Text on this site Copyright © 1998-2007 Absolute Write, all rights reserved.
Please contact the authors if you'd like to reprint articles on this site.  All copyrights are retained by original authors.  And plagiarizers will be rounded up, handcuffed, and stuck into a very small and humid room wherein they must listen to Barney sing the "I Love You, You Love Me" song over and over again.

writers writing software