Release Day Survival Plan

So, Monday was release day. You’d think by now I’d have been through enough of these that it’d be old hat and I wouldn’t stress about it.

You’d be wrong.

Having said that, I no longer sit up, waiting for links to go live and such, and I’ve learned a few coping mechanisms, but basically…they’re as stressful as ever.

“What are these mechanisms?” you ask. Well, I’m going to tell you…

Sleep in as late as you possibly can. Pretend the day doesn’t exist. By the time you get up, half of it will be gone, thereby cutting your release day stress in half (possibly MORE than half.)
Do not check rankings.
Overschedule your day. Monday I had to go to the tanner, go to the bank, go to the post office, and volunteer at Mini-me’s school. I also had to do a giveaway for my other job and post inventory for sale. (And release day newsletter, but that’s release related, so I won’t talk about it.)
Do NOT check rankings.
Enlist distractors. Mini-me helpfully provided a hard-core homework meltdown that erased about another hour from my release day stress because I was focused on her.
Do not check rankings.
Clean…obsessively. And do all the laundry. Even the laundry that didn’t need doing. Pray something breaks so you have to fix it. Possibly re-arrange furniture.
Do NOT check rankings.
Watch a movie–a funny one. Not one that’s related to anything about books. Not based on a book. Not about an author. Or a publisher. Honestly, if you can find a movie that didn’t even have writers involved, that’d probably be best. (It’d probably also be terrible, but that’s beside the point.)
DO NOT CHECK RANKINGS.
If all else fails…eat the comfort food, snuggle an animal, and question all your life choices.