I finally did it. I uploaded the text for Robot Awareness. After roughly five years of writing the series that began as a collection of serial short stories is finally in the process of being turned into an ebook. A copy is sitting in my Kindle app on my iPhone. I look at it every so often to remind myself that’s it’s real. I know. Amateurs.
As many told me, formatting it myself would be a pain in the butt. And it’s still not right. While Lulu includes a pretty good instruction manual of how to make it work, not everything was as intuitive as I’d hoped, and the preview they give you isn’t the same as the final product – I was concerned that the sample I received only had a number for a title and did not contain my cover.
But, with some trial and error, I have it awfully close. I only need to hear back from the other distributors, like Amazon, B and N, iBooks, and so on. The waiting game is on.
Now comes the hard part. Now people might actually read my book. They might ask me questions. And then what?
These things might seem normal to most, but for me, a bonafide introvert, this is an issue.
Fortunately, I met someone more introverted than me. At a con I attended last month, I met another author from my hometown, and so I interviewed him for a story I was doing. I asked him if he were excited to be talking about his work, and he said he was mortified at the prospect.
So I find myself. But I plan to draw on the young man’s strength. He appeared far more introverted than I, and had done just fine, talked to people, shared thoughts about his work, and sold books. It was really nice to see. So if he can do it, I can.
It also presents some interesting questions. I’m a writer, and I use the same byline in my journalism and my fiction work. Of course, it can be a big boost – those who know me from the non-fiction world will be likely to buy my book. But are there potential conflicts?
I was already approached by my rival publication about doing an interview. That would definitely cross the worlds.
These are things I have to deal with, but all that will get sorted out. Soon you all will be able to read Robot Awareness, Part I!
B.C. Kowalski 
Congrats, my friend! I think you’re worrying too much about the introvert thing though. You talk to people for a living; you’ll talk to people to promote your book. Same thing; different context. Introvert v Extrovert is about how you mentally refuel – introverts w solitude, extroverts w company. Key will be making sure you have adequate downtime at events you attend so you don’t get overly drained and can keep pimpin’; probably no late-night bar scene for you, but connecting w folks on twitter and via email afterward instead. You’ll do fine. 🙂
I’m not worried about it so much as acknowledging emotions I’m feeling about the situation. It’s a difficult thing for an introvert. It’s a sharing of something I’ve held inside in a public way. So in that way it is different than my day job, where I talk to people about them, not me. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to face it head on, and enjoy the ride. : )