The Secret Lives of Our Books by Chris Eboch

As writers, we spend endless one-on-one time with our manuscripts. We know everything about them. A few critique partners may read the work; we may talk about it with some friends and family members. But we control the story, we know exactly what’s happening and when, the way a devoted new parent may know their infant’s every smile and burp.

But eventually, this thing you’ve birthed goes out into the world. You hope it will make friends, that others will love it the way you do and treat it well. You hope, perhaps secretly, that it will do something remarkable. Be important. Become a star.

For a while you can hold its hand. You can guide it through the torturous world of submissions, and fight for its integrity with the publisher (while letting those teachers groom it for even greater success).

But if all goes well, eventually you must step away. Like a parent sending a child off to college, a writer releasing a published book has to let go. You cross your fingers, say a prayer, give it a kiss, and try not to let your anxiety show. You’ve done your best to raise something strong and wonderful. Hopefully you’ve given your baby the tools to survive and even thrive. That doesn’t mean you’ll never hear bad news (or bad reviews), but you hope for the best.

And before you know it, this thing that was all yours belongs to the world. It’s off living its own life. You may only learn about its activities by chance.

Author Christine Kohler says, “It hit me that these books take on a life of their own when I discovered my first fiction series, the Growing Up Christian series for ages 5-9, published by Concordia in 1985, were being referenced by other authors in ‘at risk’ books for educators. To this day it amazes me where those books are located and sold. When I was looking at an Australian site one of those books was listed under my name and listed ‘At Luther Campus.’”

We hear reports on our literary progeny from surprising places. I got an e-mail recently from a friend in Montana who said he was talking about me to someone who thought The Well of Sacrifice sounded familiar. Sure enough, his niece had read it and loved it! I discovered that the book is an option in the homeschooling curriculum from a homeschooling mother who comes to our local SCBWI schmoozes. A Facebook acquaintance mentioned that a Gallup, New Mexico library has the book.

“I recently googled Wellspring of Magic,” Jan Fields says. “It was [just a] little fantasy novel for kids. But I’ve seen a Facebook group dedicated to it. I’ve seen Sims3 challenges based on it. I’ve seen book reports done on it, both a couple written and one in the form of a little podcast. I have gotten an amazing amount of fan mail from it. And I recently checked World Cat and saw this long list of libraries that are holding a copy. All of this astounds me. I wrote the thing as work-for-hire, and it went on to generate all this stuff.”

We can’t control which of our books are most popular. My biggest seller, according to BookScan sales data now available through Amazon’s Author Central, is Milton Hershey: Young Chocolatier, written under the name M. M. Eboch. It isn’t my favorite of my titles, but I’ve gotten fan mail for it. An acquaintance said her grandson liked it so much he bought a copy for his teacher. I can’t complain, but I feel like a parent whose “average” child made the Dean’s list while the “smart one” is struggling.

We may never know all the things our books are doing without telling us. I’ve found out teachers are using The Well of Sacrifice with their kids when the teacher e-mails me to request lesson plans. When I got invited to do a school visit, I discovered that the entire Elizabeth, New Jersey school district was using the book for all fourth-grade classes when they teach the Maya. I’ll never know exactly who is reading the book, or how it’s being used. But it delights me to know that my baby, birthed way back in 1999, has gone on to visit so many people, to teach, to entertain, and – dare I say it? – sometimes even to be loved.

 Chris Eboch‘s novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure; and the Haunted series, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs. Her book Advanced Plotting helps writers fine-tune their plots. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog.

Chris also writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Kris Bock writes action-packed romantic suspense involving outdoor adventures and Southwestern landscapes. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.