So this is what it feels like...

When I was younger I dreamed about getting my work out to the public, whether it be a screenplay or a novel or maybe even a hairstyle they called The David. Years ago there were only so many ways you could make any of these things happen and most of them involved breaking down walls or getting through gatekeepers whose sole purpose in life is to keep the new guy out.

When technology advanced, and social media became the modern-day barnstorming of the world at large, everything changed. The gatekeepers are still there for traditional media channels, but from anywhere in the world you can connect through the internet and have access to millions, MILLIONS, of people.

That is exactly why I choose to self-publish Shady Place instead of trying to find a publishing house. The internet presents the opportunity and means to connect to exactly the people who will fall in love with your work, but you still have to find them.

Shady Place officially launched last Tuesday and I remembered to breathe. The world hasn’t collapsed around me and no once has called me a fraud…yet. I’m still apprehensive, but a few positive reviews on Amazon and kind words from people who have started reading are encouraging.

The bottom line is something is now different. I’m a published author. I wrote a book that you can Google and there it is. You can go to Amazon and there it is. Barnes and Nobles’s website? Check. Books-A-Million? Yep.

Wow. It’s real. It’s really real.

The sales online are slow. That’s not surprising, I don’t have a huge following on social media yet. I’m working on it though. But the overwhelming support of locals, and not just friends and family, but strangers who I’ve met in random situations, has been overwhelming.

The title of this post says, so this is what it feels like… What it’s like to have something, a piece of me, to share with the world. Something that feels like it has real value. It may never be a best-seller, but it if it makes one person smile, which it seems like it already has, I’ll consider it a win.

So what does it feel like?

It feels good.

Now it’s time to get back to work.