200

On June 28, I released Lu. By July 5, I sold 200 copies, and my boss ponied up per our beer bet.

200 copies is nothing in the publishing world. If said publishing world sat on my advisory council, they’d be making that cut motion across their throats, telling me not to blog sale numbers until I’d sold 200 + a couple more 0’s.

But this blog isn’t about them.

So here are my thoughts on 200 while I drink my beer:

The anxiety I felt about sharing my stuff left as I soon as I clicked publish. It felt like the release it was.
I threw a release party expecting about 25 women to come. I’d planned to buy 50 books to sell, assuming I’d have plenty left over to give away. Between 75-90 women came, and I sold 73 books. I was glad that on a whim, I’d decided to purchase 100 copies to sell.
Ask me what Lu is about, and I’ll tell you it’s a story about a girl as real as I could write her. Feedback I’m hearing from girls is it’s a book about them – their ups and downs, their search, their faith.
One girl told me she is now reading Ecclesiastes as a result, and I thought, “Job done, here.” Because honestly, what else is the point?
For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. (Isaiah 55:10-11)
But my favorite feedback came from my 9th grade English teacher, Jim Michels: “I realize that the writing was not effortless, but the reading was.” I did work my tail off to publish a book a girl could read in a day if she wanted. I assume this means I get an “A” Mr. Michels?
As of this writing, I’ve sold 290 copies. A lot is said about mean girls – our nastiness, jealousy, gossip, backbiting – but let’s be clear. The reason Lu has sold this many copies is because the women in my life (and the women in their lives) have recommended it and bought it or passed on their copies to the next girl in line. This is the definition of marvelous in my world, and the next time I hear someone cut women down with this mean-girl generalization, I’m going to say: “290. I have 290 girls that prove otherwise. Now show me what you got.” It’s going to be a great fight. I’m going to win. And then I’m going to write about it.

And one last bullet (because the beer is almost gone, and I’m not tapping the next in my victory six-pack until 400):

Thank you. There’s a lot of ways to spend $10 and time. Thank you for spending it on Lu. Every time I receive encouragement – via text, email, pony express, carrier pigeon, etc – I stop what I’m doing. I let your words hit. I smile. I whisper, “thank you.” And then I go about my day (which, yes, includes writing Book 2).
Kidding about the previous bullet being the last. This is the last, not because it “should” be but because it’s true: Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory … (Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV)

* Beer is Lift by Cincinnati’s MadTree. Because local authors drink local beer.