Launching is a Process

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Last night in the middle of the North Carolina State Fair midway, I launched myself toward the night sky. It was a “ride” variously called the Quad Jump, the EuroBungee or the Spider Jump Trampoline. I crawled onto one of the four trampolines, harnessed up to my fiberglass pole, and bounced over twenty feet straight up to the waxing crescent moon. Oh my Goddess, how gravity and decades fell away from me!

My jumpmates were all children. When I first inquired of the operator what the weight limit was, he had replied that twenty pounds were required. No, I mean the limit, on the other end, I said. He assured me the ride could handle up to 200 pounds. Hmmm, but there were no other adults doing the jumping— I worried about being self-conscious. But once I was jumping, hoowee, self-consciousness fell away too. I felt younger than I have in at least the last twenty of my sixty-six years. My love told me later that people stopped to watch my obvious joy, and listen to my totally unstoppable laughter!

This morning I realize my launch toward the stars was the perfect metaphor for my e-book launch. Well, easier and more fun, maybe, than my launch of Tales from My Teachers on the Alzheimer’s Unit, but still.

I’m ready to launch the e-Book, finally have the content and cover files all uploaded. Now I’m waiting to find out if I can enroll in Kindle Select, which requires exclusive distribution, for one enrollment period of three months, and still hire BookBaby to distribute to their eleven distribution partners, including Amazon. I’m planning to submit to Kindle Singles too, which does not require exclusivity, and that excites me almost as much as the bungee jumping. My nonfiction e-book is just the right length for Kindle Singles, and if it’s accepted, it could have a huge effect on reaching my readers.

Yet another day I have harnessed up to the work of being a writer. Today I made the decision to participate in November in the Namelos novel workshop with editors Stephen Roxburgh, Carolyn Coman, Joy Neaves, and Karen Klockner. By then, my e-book will be launched, and I will have gratefully returned to my focus on writing young adult fiction. All of it is risk, all of it is fascinating, all of it keeps me joyously alive!