The Agony of Waiting

You work on a book for months, years for some people. You have friends and critiquers read it, you revise it. You send it to your editor. She makes suggestions. You revise it. Then it's finished and put in the queue for publication. And you wait. For a whole year. Sometimes you even wonder if that book was a figment of your imagination. Finally, release date approaches. Then you get the first review.

There is something pretty nerve-wracking about reading that first review. Will they say it's at least okay, or will they say it's the worst piece of dreck ever written?

Reviews, to be honest, come and go. I've had good ones, including a starred review by PW for Winter of Secrets, and I've had some not-so-good. I had one where I wondered if the reviewer had mistaken me for someone who stole her boyfriend back in highschool, it was so viciously personal. So I know not to take them toooooo much to heart. But that first review... Gulp.

The online review site Paperback Dolls loved Negative Image, I'm relieved to say. Here's what they had to say in a very well written review that manages to be comprehensive without giving away any plot points. http://paperbackdolls.blogspot.com/2010/08/arc-review-negative-image-by-vicki.html