Today’s guest post is by Samuel Moore-Sobel.
The coronavirus has brought much of what used to constitute daily life to a screeching halt. The affects have reached many careers—including those of writers. Bookstores across the country have reduced customer capacity, limited their hours, or closed. Opportunities for authors to share their work has diminished, almost overnight.
Earlier this spring, I found myself with an important decision to make. Just as the pandemic was getting worse, I was nearing publication of my book. I had spent more than a decade writing my story.
My book is about an accident I experienced at fifteen years old. I was hired for a day to move boxes and furniture, but by the end of that day, I had suffered second- and third-degree burns as a result of an accidental encounter with sulfuric acid. I spent the next several years in recovery, both physically and emotionally. I wrote my book because I wanted to share my experience with others.
When I talked to my publisher in early April, I expressed doubts over moving forward with the publication date due to the pandemic. My editor recommended that we “keep moving as normal.” Moving forward with publication plans would ensure that my book would be available in the fall—which, we anticipated, might be the end of the pandemic. “You’ll be ready to go once places are ready to open again,” she told me.
Several months later, this has not come to fruition. Despite the pandemic, my book has been officially published for four weeks now, and it’s done better than I expected. Within the first twelve hours of publication, it made it to the top 77 in my category on Amazon. Continue Reading…
