Managing Emotions and Expectations for a Book Release

Hey, it’s personal. I did the work to create this book. I did the work to market it, to put it out there for others to judge… and to purchase. Fortunately, I’ve been through this a few times. This is not my first book. I’ve been rewarded with praise and humbled by indifference.
I also have the experience of once owning a bookstore and in that role hosted at least sixty events for other authors. Some of these authors, irrespective of the value of their work, managed their expectations well. Others not so much.
More than once I had authors angry with me for a rather small turnout of readers. This led me to create a short, written guide to the authors about what to expect from a store like mine. I gave suggestions as to what is necessary to gather an audience.
There were other times when the visiting author was genuinely delighted even though only a handful of people showed up. You could sense the appreciation felt that anyone would take the better part of an afternoon or evening to show interest in the book.
Some authors are thrilled to simply have brought a book to completion. Others feel a personal injury about not having sold a million copies. I’m somewhere in the middle. Hey, a boy can dream!
Beyond the above, I do expect a few things to happen. I will meet other people, authors and editors, (virtually for now) and be rewarded by the experience. I will read things that are new in the world or legacy writing that I once ignored. These things will assist me in my future writing efforts, and I will keep writing. I expect to be surprised by what I will write in the future.