Stage Fright

I am a novelist.

There. I said it.

It feels strange, to see those words here. I almost can't believe that I have a book for sale to the public, a book which people I don't even know will read and either adore or abhor. It's exhilarating, to say the least, and exciting and awesome and all those other great adjectives. But at the same time, it makes me a little nervous.

I've worked for a long time to make it to this point; I've had the crappiest of crap retail jobs, worked long hours for minimal pay and less than minimal respect from my superiors, all the while writing under the cover of night like a child reading a comic book under the blanket with a flashlight...and now that I'm here, I have stage fright.

What if I'm not good enough? Sure, I know I have at least a smidge of literary talent, otherwise I wouldn't have had the little bit of success that I've enjoyed. And my husband, mom, sister and friends all tell me that I'm a fantastic writer, that I write engaging stories and believable characters; of course they do. That's what they're here for.
You see my predicament, right?

I can't rely on my own opinion of myself, and although I appreciate all the wonderful things my friends and family say about my work, I don't know that I should take everything they say as gospel. Am I really good enough to battle it out on Amazon.com with the greats in my field? Most published authors have been writing for years, have gone to college to study the elements of writing and language, and have more life experience than I do. Who am I?

I'm a mom, a wife, a writer. I'm a 29 year-old woman from Kentucky trying to break into the writing world on the little bit of talent ingrained in me. Is that good enough?

How does one make it enough?