Ten Emotions the Week Before Release Day

My next book, Ten Treasures of Learning to Pray, releases in exactly one week: August 20, 2026.

This week, packages will be sent throughout the country (and a few to other countries as well). People will open the pages of my book for the first time and start reading words that I wrote. It brings to mind, heart, and soul a lot of emotions. So, in staying on brand, here are the Top Ten emotions I’m feeling this week.

10. Vulnerable
    
    Thus far (with very few exceptions) the only people who have read my book are people who generally like me and support me. I’ve seen what they have said about the book, and me, and it is all very positive…glowing even. But now the book goes into the hands of strangers. Who knows how the book will be received by the unbiased world? This book is something I spent a lot of time, energy, and care on…and it’s about to be in the hands of a few thousand (hopefully) unbiased judges. It’s very vulnerable.

9. Nervous
   
   With the vulnerability comes nerves. Nerves were the primary emotion in the leadup to Ten Lies’ release in early 2025. I was not myself. Biting my nails trying to constantly read into incomplete data had me feeling…off. I was hopeful that this time around I’d handle it better…but I can’t say that I am.
   

8. Uncertain
   
   One of the hardest things about a third book, especially the third and final book of a series is wondering how well this book will be received compared with the other two. Is this the weakest of the three? The strongest? In the middle? What do I even think about this series? How would I rate them against each other? I really don’t know. Nor do I have any clue what others will think.
   I often think about this graphic (or similar ones) related to movie trilogies. (It should be noted I disagree with a lot of these rankings. Jurassic Park is all wrong.)
   

   

   Is this trilogy like the Godfather and the third installment is best forgotten? Is it like The Lord of the Rings where they are all equally good? (It’s also curious that in none of these is the third film the best. I’d argue that’s true of the Knives Out trilogy, but that’s not listed here…and it might become more than a trilogy.
   The point is, I don’t know. Hence I list uncertainty.
   

7. Hopeful
   
   With every new book there comes a dream that it will break out and do better than I am expecting. That maybe some famous podcaster gets ahold of the book and wants to talk about it. That maybe some agent hears about it and reaches out to see if they can represent me. That maybe one of my favorite authors (shout out to and ) reads the book and thinks it is worthwhile. That maybe it helps a few people who truly need it.
   

6. Annoying
   
   I feel like I have been talking about this book non-stop for months now…and the series for years. I feel like the kid who wants to watch the same movie again for the third time today and for the millionth time this week.
   I really don’t want to annoy anyone. But truth be told, I’ve never gotten annoyed when an author has promoted their work. I see dozens of posts from authors on the same book, and I’m thrilled for them. Just know that most authors I talk to struggle with knowing how to talk about their own work.
   

5. Validated
   
   It might be a small part of me…no…an infrequent part of me, but I do feel a sense of satisfaction with this series coming to an end. I have put something out into the world that has reached thousands of people. And it will in all likelihood reach a few thousand more in the coming weeks. The first book was good enough in execution that the publisher wanted a second. And the first two were good enough that the publisher wanted a third. And the third was good enough to make it through all the necessary phases and to the printing press. And people were willing to read it and endorse it. And there is a sense of accomplishment there. A sense that I have done a hard thing and come through all of the other emotions still whole and intact.

   

4. Pressured
   
   This is the end of the Ten Trilogy (or is it the atio Trilogy?). Inevitably in the coming days the dreaded question will come: What’s next?
   
   And the truth is: I don’t know. I have at minimum 14 ideas jotted down in various notebooks and hopeful Word documents. But I don’t know which would-be manuscript will earn my attention next. Nor if any of these 14 ideas are worthy of pursuit much less publication. Even after three published books, I’m still uncertain as to what is a book idea and what is a blog post idea.

3. Curious
   
   While I do feel the pressure of what is next, I am also curious to see where God leads. I had written several weeks ago about the goal to become the C.S. Lewis of this generation. Lewis wrote non-fiction as I am. But he also wrote fiction and poetry. Perhaps the push of the Spirit prompts me in those directions. And I’m quite curious to see what that looks like.
   

2. Grief
   
   I’ve mentioned before that there is an odd sort of grief to the publication of a book. This is more true at the end of a series. I’ve spent five years ideating, writing, re-writing, editing, promoting, and speaking about this series. And while some of that will continue, the series enters a phase of finality now. I am no longer working on this series. A rhythm and facet of life over the last five years is now over. And that comes with a bit of sadness.
   

1. Grateful
   
   More than anything, I’m grateful. Grateful that I have ideas. Grateful that I have had opportunities to pursue those ideas. Grateful that the opportunities have turned out well. Grateful for the people who have helped bring this series into the world: from professors who encouraged me to write, to staff at CPH who worked so hard to edit, proof, and market the books, to my launch team who have shared their excitement with their communities, to my wife who fixed the introductions to every one of the books in the series and has helped me through the ups and downs that come with writing and publishing.
   And I’m grateful for anyone who has read any of these books. I hope that in some way they have been helpful and encouraging to you on your walk of faith.
   
   Thanks for reading.
   
   Andy