In February, Michael Bergman posted to his Instagram account an ecstatic shot of himself holding the first copy of his new WestBow Press title, “The Kingdom of Arke.” The photo showed the unfiltered joy that thousands of WestBow Press authors experience each year when they run to their mailboxes and pull out a package containing the culmination of a dream they’ve had for years — becoming a published author.
Michael Bergman, the #FirstCopySelfie “pioneer” shares the moment he held the first copy of his new book, “The Kingdom of Arke.”
Mike’s joy inspired us to call on all other WestBow Press authors to share their own triumphant moments; bringing life to a continuing phenomenon we’re calling the #FirstCopySelfie. Since then, dozens of authors have tweeted or Facebooked their photos, tagged #FirstCopySelfie, and we’ve taken as much joy in seeing and sharing those moments; as those authors felt when they laid eyes on that first published copy of their books.
If you haven’t shared your #FirstCopySelfie, what are you waiting for — we’d love to see it, and share it, today! Simply take a photo, tag it #FirstCopySelfie, and post it directly to the WestBow Press Facebook page or tweet it to us @WestBowPress. If in the excitement of receiving your first copy you forgot to capture that magical moment, grab another copy and your cellphone and re-enact that moment. It’s never too late to celebrate your accomplishment.
And why not take it a step further and put your feelings into words by submitting a 350-650 word guest post to be considered for posting on this blog? Tell us about your publishing journey. What you learned. What you’d like to share with other aspiring authors. A great experience or two that came to be as a result of publishing your book. What inspired you to write your book. How you hope your book will impact readers.
Submissions can be sent as Word documents to kgray at westbowpress dot com; and please attach a photo or two that we might include with your post. If your post makes the blog, it will include a link to your book’s page on the WestBow Press bookstore and be linked to from the WestBow Press homepage.
We love to hear these stories and to share them with readers, authors and others who aspire to publish their books. And that #FirstCopySelfie, those prove that a picture is worth a thousand words!
– Kevin A. Gray
WestBow Press blog publisher
Love this idea! Seeing the book in print for the first time is such an important moment- this captures it forever.