I spent about half of my life knowing I should write a book. I spent a few years looking forward to whatever unknown year it might happen. I spent about six months of 2015 seriously toying with the idea, but not sure if the time was right. Late that summer, I made up my mind. In January of 2016 I began writing with no clear clue as to how long it would take or if I was even capable of completing the task. And then it was done. And then it was on sale. And now, the biggest of the big days I was anticipating is upon me. I can hold it in my hand.

I had been a little frustrated, as I mentioned last week, because many buyers were posting photos of them holding their copies of “Bats, Balls, & Burnouts” on their Facebook timelines. And yet, the author didn’t have his yet. And then, on Tuesday when I was busy doing a newspaper interview, I wrapped that up and went upstairs. And when I turned the corner into the kitchen, my wife Barbara came walking toward me carrying two of the 230 copies that had just been delivered. The UPS truck was just pulling out of the driveway.

There it was.

My reaction surprised me quite a bit. I felt no need to open it and start reading. No need at all. I’ve been reading it and rereading it for months, page by page. Like a little kid, I just wanted to hold it and look at the pictures.

A bit later, Barbara sat at the kitchen island and started cherrypicking various chapters to dive into. She hadn’t read it cover to cover like I had so many times, but she was aware of the look, shape, and order of it so she could jump ahead or jump back and relive a lot of memories we’ve shared. To see her smiling, and to hear her laugh from time to time, was far more rewarding than reading it myself. It’s supposed to make people laugh. It’s also supposed to make readers smile, and cry a bit, and hopefully it conveys the feelings associated with hitting home runs, or signing a pro baseball contract, or that most emotional thing I’ve ever experienced in sports: Winning a drag race.

It’s a revelation that’s taken a couple of days to sink in. At first, maybe I was a bit numb to it, after 16 long months of work. Or maybe it was just a relief. Over the last 48 hours it became quite a bit more real. It’s an actual thing, and I have about 40 boxes full of them in the garage. So, now I allow myself the chance to flip it open to any random page and dive back into it a little.

For me, as opposed to anyone else who might read it, it’s a double or triple memory on every page. I remember what the subject matter is, whether it’s from my childhood or any other stage of my life, but I also remember writing it, and editing it, and proofing it. I’ve been through the book so many times, from the first page to the last, I couldn’t possibly count the number of run-throughs I’ve done. But those began as Google Docs files, and then became Galley Proof PDFs. There were only on my laptop screen. Now it’s a book.

There’s no time to rest, though. I have a full day ahead of me, shipping out promotional copies to key people who helped me make it happen. I have more PR to do, as Elon Werner continues to line up interviews. This segment of the process is the payoff for all the hard work. And, I’ve got much of my travel planned out and purchased for the second half of the NHRA Mello Yello tour, beginning with Joliet. It’s not going to get any less hectic from here on out.

And here’s an interesting tidbit. I spent 20 years doing PR for some fantastic NHRA Funny Car teams, and all that time I knew it was a nebulous world in which I worked. I understood the value of good PR, but it was hard to put a number on what effect it had on the racing business. It was more cumulative over the long haul,versus something that had an immediate quantifiable impact on either performance or the bottom line.

With the book, it’s quite different. And in a good way. We came out of the gate very strong when the book went on sale last week, and I figured we would because a lot of people had been patiently waiting for it to be available. Then, as the week went on the sales stayed consistent but we slid back down into what I thought was a more reasonable range in terms of sales rankings on Amazon.

Each time I’d do a new interview or see a story come out, the numbers would spike. Late last week I did a lengthy interview with CompetitionPlus.com and it went live on their site this morning. When it did, our sales ranking went from 980 to 260 within two hours.

I also did a long, and very fun, interview with Joe Castello, on his WFO Radio podcast, and that went out to the world in the last 24 hours. Again, another spike in sales and a lot of buzz on social media. It’s fun to watch it happen.

We got the word out to all of you over the course of the last 16 months. Now, we’re getting the word out to people who might love the book, but weren’t aware of it yet. And the impact of that publicity directly impacts the number of books we sell.

Yesterday, I did a very fun Skype video interview with Lewis Bloom, for NHRA.com. I’m not sure when it will be posted on the site, but now that I’ve seen what a website feature story does in terms of creating demand for the book, I’m REALLY anxious to see what kind of excitement we can drum up with a video interview on the biggest drag racing website in the universe. Can’t wait. And man, it was great to have such a rambling fun conversation with the Stat Guy again. Lewis is a good man.

We are still waiting on the digital versions of the book, which seems to take a bit of time. When they become available, we’ll probably see another spike in sales as that pent-up demand is satisfied. I just want everyone who might like it to have a chance to read it, in whatever format they like.

And now I can hold it in my hands and, quite seriously, marvel at what I created out of thin air. I was shaking my head as I wrote that.

Yes, it’s a bit of a short one today but the subject matter is as big as it gets. I have a book.

Bob Wilber, at your service and feeling very proud.