Paralysis

Paralysis (n.)

1.    Medical: The loss of the ability to move part or all of the body, typically as a result of illness, injury, or nerve damage.

2.    Kelli, three weeks after launching a memoir: The complete inability to open her laptop and do the next thing, despite knowing exactly what the next thing is.

So here’s where I am.

I figured launch day would feel like crossing a finish line, and it kind of did, except the finish line was painted on a brick wall that said “Now Do Marketing.” I’ve been sitting on the ground next to that wall for three weeks, wondering why nobody told me it was there.

The weird part is that I know how to be stuck. Writing a book is basically years (at least this one) of stopping and starting, and somewhere along the way I got good at leaving my desk after a bad day and trusting I’d come back to it. I just assumed that part was over once the book was out. It wasn’t. The book was done and I was handed a whole new list, like obviously I’d know how to run with it. And I should! I ran a marketing agency!

What the last three weeks have actually looked like: some real, useful work, and a lot of checking my email eleven times without opening it. An ad platform put my account under a security review, never told me what that meant, and then went quiet. I’m still waiting in that special hell. My media kit is sitting half-built on my desktop when, back in the day, I used to do those in an afternoon.

I knew the writing wasn’t the whole job. I didn’t know the letdown after publishing would wipe me out like this. But getting the book in front of people, asking for reviews, actually promoting the thing I protected for all those years, that’s the job now.

So I’m unfreezing, and I need a little help.

First, the fun one. I’m making a short reel of people reading Perfect Enough wherever they actually read. Your favorite chair, the beach, soccer practice, the DMV, you pick. Paperback, hardback, Kindle, doesn’t matter, and you don’t have to show your face. I won’t name anyone. Send me a photo of you, your book (my book?), your hands, or even your dog sitting suspiciously close to your book. Email kelli@kellimcastillo.com or post it and tag me on Facebook or Instagram. I’d love to have these by October 10th if you can swing it.

Second, the one everybody asks for. If you’ve read the book, would you leave an honest review on Amazon or Goodreads? I know every author, app, and online order you’ve ever made asks you this. But, for a first book, reviews are how Amazon decides whether to show it to anyone else. A couple of sentences is plenty, and it doesn’t need to be five stars if that’s not how you felt.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. Oh, and the wall and I are becoming friends. 😉

More soon.

Photo: Grok Imagine