Hello, January 19, 2021.
I’ve been waiting for you for so long.
Today is the publication date of my book The Passover Guest. And not just any book. My first book. Ever. It’s safe to say I thought today would never arrive.
And yet here we are. I have an honest-to-goodness hardcover book sitting in front of me with my name on the cover. This book is everything I ever dreamed of during the nearly ten year journey to get it published.
But the experience of launching the book has been very different from what I expected.
Having been a bookseller and a librarian for fifteen years, I was pretty sure I knew how this was all going to go. I knew which stores I wanted to visit and which conferences I wanted to attend. I had it all planned out years in advance.
Life catches us by surprise sometimes, as we’ve all found out during this pandemic and I adjusted as everything went virtual. The initial disappointment about not being able to see old friends and visit the bookstores of colleagues turned into an understanding of how this moment could still be celebrated and savored.
I have learned so much from my friends in the Soaring ‘20s picture book debut group, every one of whom has launched or promoted their book during the pandemic, something none of us were expecting. I have also discovered the joy of having friends and family from all over the country come to my book events. It has been delightful to be able to visit more stores and synagogues than I would usually be able to because of location restraints. And I can speak at events and conferences located in various places without having to travel.
In the end, it’s not about the launch and whether it was what I planned it to be.
Because today it all changes from a draft in a notebook, a manuscript on a computer, pencil drawings and color proofs into an actual real book that adults will read to children, and maybe children will even read to themselves.
And it turns out, that’s the only thing that’s important.
I’m so happy this book is out in the world. I hope you get a chance to read it and share it with a child. That’s all I could ever ask for.