In case you've never seen the title word of this blog, anticippointment, don't bother to look it up. I will save you some time. You won't find it in any "real" dictionary. It is, however, in the Urban Dictionary and on the Wiktionary website. If you haven't figured it out yet, the word is a smash-up of two words that are in the dictionary: anticipation and disappointment. You can probably imagine the meaning:
"The state of mind resulting from excitedly anticipating something and then being disappointed when it either fails to meet your expectations or does not happen at all."
This is how I feel right now. Remember my blog, "Give Yourself Some Grace," where I revealed my disappointment in not making my November publication date for my second book, MYND Control, and how I then promised it would be released in December? I am now anticippointed. The book is finished, the editing complete, and the cover is done. So, I'm sure you're wondering, what's the holdup?
I am waiting on the U.S. government.
I'm sure many of you know what it feels like to wait in line at the DMV. That's how I feel right now. I rushed to get my book written and ready for a November release date, then scurried to ensure I made my next promised date of December. Hurry, hurry, hurry! But now I'm waiting for the U.S. Copyright Office to tell me my copyright is recorded.
Why do I care? It's not a requirement to officially copyright my book. As a self-publisher, I can simply write "Copyright © 2023 Teresa Widdowson" on my copyright page, and that is legally binding. However, if I really want to protect my work, and I do, it is best to copyright my novel with the U.S. government. It guarantees that me and only me are the legal creator of my book. It establishes a record of my work in the copyright office that shows the date of creation. It protects me against someone suing and claiming the book is theirs—that they wrote it first. I doubt this will ever happen, but you know what assuming does, right? And, of course, the copyright date inside my book must match the U.S. Copyright Office record date.
So…I'm waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Maybe they're backed up with end-of-year requests? I'm not sure what's happening, but I have no control over it. All I can do is accept the situation—and wait.
It's not like I'm sitting around twiddling my thumbs. My list of book-launch tasks grows longer every day. There's a lot to do to ensure my new book makes as big a splash as possible when it's released. My first book, The RH Factor, was released during the Covid pandemic. Because of this, there were no in-person readings or book signings, or, well, anything! As a result, its release barely made a ripple in the gigantic fiction-book marketplace.
Oh, and I've already started working on book number three! You'll hear more about it as the year 2024 rolls along. So, stay tuned!
Just in case the copyright wait continues into 2024, I wish everyone a wonderful holiday and happy new year!
The waiting will end, and my announcement that MYND Control is finally available for purchase is coming soon. I promise!
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