#082 - Post Book Launch Blues

Post book launch blues, they are a very real thing. And so I just want to talk about this because sometimes I think if we don't talk about it and then it happens, then we're taken off guard. And my name is Shelley Hitz, the owner and founder of ChristianBookAcademy.com and first of all, I want you to know, like I said, it's normal. We have the highs of publishing our book, launching it to the world, getting some feedback, and then it's normal to dip down a little bit more and have a low. You know, you think about how many women have postpartum depression because of all the hormones and just all the things, and I don't understand all of that, but we just gave birth to this book baby, and you put all this time and energy into a book launch. So, number one, know it's normal. Number two, our expectations of what the results should be can cause disappointment. So this is a huge one. And I know I'm still continuing to work through expectations and what that looks like in my own life, but it's so easy to set goals or have expectations for your book launch. And maybe it doesn't go as well as you hoped. That's happened to me so many times. In fact, it happened to me for our book Broken Crayons Still Color. And yet I always tell people, your book launch is just the beginning. It's not the end for that book. If I would have given up on it or if I would have thought, oh, you know, it's, it's not just not going to do much or, you know, what, what's happening, I would have missed out on so much because that book has went on to sell really well on Amazon ads and we have just sold thousands of copies after the book launch. Right? And the book launch was just like little over a hundred copies. And yeah, I had an email list of over 10,000. It was just mind blowing. I'm like, how did it not sell as many copies? I put so much time and energy into this book launch, but yet it was just the beginning of what God was gonna do with that book. And number three, just know that you may need some rest and time to recharge afterwards. So if you can plan in a rest day or some time to just do nothing, because it is a lot, a lot goes into launching your book. Maybe take some time away from screens and your computer, rest if you need, then rise, rise again. And you know, marketing is a marathon. It's not a sprint. That doesn't mean that you have to Keep running all the time. Runners need recovery days too. My husband's a competitive runner and he needs days off as well. So give yourself some time. Give yourself some time off but then ask the Lord what's next. How do you want me to continue to market this book? Marketing is like having a child. You give birth to this book. You launched into the world but your work is not done. It's just started. The parenting of the book continues on for the rest of your lifetime potentially. I like to think of it like stewarding the message God has given you. And so we have so many resources for you in Christian Book Academy are in our book marketing shop to help you continue that ongoing marketing. But just know that many times what I often see is that writers give up too soon. So I want to share just a couple things that were shared by our Christian Book Academy members about this whole concept of post book launch blues and one is from Jendi Harris Williams who is one of our mentors in the Academy and she says it's post published discouragement. It's a big issue and God gave me the funniest dream about it. The high of the book and the expectations around it and then the low of the realities. So it's normal and it's a faith walk. It's very normal and almost always happens with all of us, especially our first book. But it's only temporary. It's a recalibration of identity, trust and faith. God is with you and you will prevail stronger than ever before in your writing and your ministry. You are called for the work and you are worth it. I think it's some kind of natural soul response because we put our heart out there. So I thought that was really great encouragement from Gendai and it is so true. You know there is some recalibration that needs to happen after a big launch. And then Judson Hoyt shared the postpartum blues feeling is typical. After pouring yourself into a creative project that you put your passion into. That's when we recharge our spirit and fill our cup again. The enemy can use it against yourself. So know that this is coming and prepare yourself. Ask your prayer team to be praying for you. Make sure to to set aside time to recharge, to refill your cup and know that we are here with you and we are in it with you and we are here for you. If you are a Christian Book Academy member, post in our private group and we want to support you through this. So let me just pray for you. Lord, I just thank you. For every single writer that presses that publish button and puts time and energy into a book launch, this is a significant step. And we just thank you, Lord, for the, you know, everything you've done to get them to this place. It is miracle. It is. We give you all the glory and we just want to thank you that the technology is out there, that all of the things that we can do to launch our book, to market our book, that are available, no matter the results, no matter what has happened, if we are on a extreme high or if we're in an extreme low, Lord, I just pray that you would come in, you would recalibrate our hearts, you would refill us, help us to recharge, and that you would supply everything we need, Lord, help us to take time, yes, to rest, but to not give up on our book, to keep going with the ongoing marketing as you lead us. And I pray this in Jesus powerful name. Amen. Amen. Friends, I hope that this encouraged you about book launches, and we are so excited to celebrate you launching your book into the world.