Galleys

I got my galleys in today. I should be thrilled, and most of me is. I know they are uncorrected proofs, but I didn't realize the version they were sending out for reviews was one that had all these bizarre punctuation errors that were input by someone who clearly didn't understand all of the copy edits made on the page by me and the copy editor. There are random commas hopping all over the pages like fleas. I wouldn't care except that the opening paragraph, the very first thing you read, the one that is supposed to draw the reader in, has a weird comma in it that throws the whole thing off.

My agent gave me a stern talking to about developing a thicker skin because if I'm reacting like this now over an uncorrected proof, then I will go totally insane when the book actually comes out and people start slamming it. I'm going to reprint what she wrote because I think it's good advice for any author who has a book coming out:

J,
You have got to calm down. Nobody thinks that this is your fault! All galleys have copy errors. ALL OF THEM. This is the publisher’s responsibility. You have got to relinquish control.

Also, you need to put things in perspective. When this book comes out you are going to be dealing with a windfall of criticism and praise. If you don’t get a handle on it now you are going to lose yourself in the process and become a giant liability to yourself. I recommend to ALL memoir writers that they have a good therapist who they trust and who they can dump this stuff on throughout the process. I know you’re just venting because I love you and I want you to vent to me, but trust me, if this is bothering you now then I promise you that what’s to come will literally drive you insane if you let it. Please don’t let it.

You’re very sensitive and you have to be careful because it can really affect you. Wurtzel is an extreme example, but I think she’s a good example of what can happen when your first book is about yourself. People who read it are going to identify with your story, they’ll see themselves in it and they’ll relate it to their own lives and distort it accordingly. This is a book that is largely going to appeal to drug addicts and the people who love them. That’s a huge swath of the population of Crazy. At first you’ll try to connect with your readers personally, so moved that they took the time to read your book or recommend it to their friends, but soon you’ll realize that not only is that extremely difficult to maintain, but a lot of these people will punish you for it. You’ll receive lots of reviews on Amazon that will make you want to cry – one star reviews with quotes like, “This is the worst book I’ve ever read in my life. I wish I could give it zero stars but stupid Amazon won’t let me.” And you’ll be criticized for not embracing sobriety through 12 Step programs. People will judge the book the way they judge themselves or the addict in their lives who broke their heart. Learning to let these comments roll off your back is as important as not believing the hype such as, “This is the best book ever written! It changed my life.” The latter of course is preferable, but if you let it inflate your ego for more than 5 minutes then your outlook about your future as a writer will be completely distorted. Elizabeth got boxes of mail a week – someone in Italy tattooed her face on his bicep - but she couldn’t maintain an actual relationship in life. And the success of her first book only ensured that she became a drug addict during the writing of her second. So the moral of the story is check yo’self!

God, she's a good agent.