If you're a writer, you know how difficult it is to craft a good sentence. It is even harder to string them together for 500 pages and hope your reader reads your words to the end. You dream about that person closing the book after finishing your story, and sitting silently by the fire, staring into the world they have just come from, a world you created for them. The reader wears a satisfied smile. 

You are the only one who knows the hours of writing and rewriting, editing and re-editing that went into your book. Only you can attest to the countless moments of self doubt. But you did it. You finished your first novel. Funny thing is, you suddenly realized that those years of late nights, of day in and day out writing, hours, maybe weeks of writer's block, may have been the easy part. Now you have to find a willing party to publish your work.

After many weeks, or months of sending your manuscript to potential publishers or agents, you find a publisher who takes an interest and decides to publish your book. Wow! What a day! Some months later the UPS van stops in front of your house and drops off a package. You look at the carton. You read the return label. It’s your Galley copy. Your heart skips a beat or two. When you open it, what you see can be likened to the birth of a child. When you hold the newly bound book for the first time, it is like no other feeling in the world. 

After a short period of editing, your book is ready for release and your publisher gives you a release date. So, back to the original question; what is the reason for a release party? Well, now that I have gone through the arduous process I have just described above, I will attend every release party I possibly can. Why, because the significance of it is not only enormous for the author but for the future of his or her efforts. More than that, the work presented will, I a sure you, be very significant. It could be that your presence and support will contribute to the success of the release of a brand new novel. If the event is well attended, the author, the novel, and many positive facts about the release party will be reported by the media. That single night could be the catapult for the author's success. 

Support your fellow writers. That support will be rewarded ten-fold. Tell as many readers as you can think of to join you at the event. Your day may come when you are hosting a release party for your work. I, for one, will be there for you, along with plenty of willing readers. 

And, readers, please support authors wherever and whenever you can.  They are the ones who keep us reading original and sometimes amazing stories

Thank you for reading.

Jeffrey B. Allen, author of GoneAway Into the Land
Release date party, December 10th at the Allentown Brew Works, 7:30PM

Open to response and discussion