A surprising find…
When I first dreamed of writing books, it felt like a great fit because I could be creative, set my own hours, and be at home. I don’t think I’m a recluse, but I’ve never been comfortable at “work functions” and the idea of networking, schmoozing, or talking to strangers, has always been something I dreaded. Once I published, I realized that I’d have to actually “get out there”, and do what writers do–book signings, book fairs, and whatever else came up–but I didn’t look forward to it. I just knew that I’d worked too hard to ignore the marketing and promotion side of things, so I begrudgingly accepted the opportunities as they arose.
It’s now been almost six months since The Green Line launched, and I’ve done a good number of events–book fairs, book signings, book clubs (both live and via Skype) and something surprising has happened–I realized that it’s kind of fun! In fact, last night when I saw that another event was approaching–The Chicago Book Expo, I thought “Oh, I should do that!” No one is more surprised by this reaction than I am. But I’m finding it all so interesting. Every experience has been different–some more successful than others, but each has been of value. At the Printers’ Row Litfest in June, I didn’t meet too many readers, but of the few books I sold, it seemed that the buyers purchased simply because we had a fun conversation. I met some Chicago area writers that day with interesting backgrounds and we passed the time trading stories and strategies.
When I did a community book event in September at The Buzz in Oak Park, I approached the evening with fear and couldn’t wait for it to be over. And as I walked into this room full of strangers, all waiting to hear from me, I felt the heat rising into my face and immediately poured a glass of wine. But once the event began, the discussion was lively, the group was friendly, and we all had some great laughs. I came home feeling completely energized and grateful and excited by the crowd’s enthusiasm, support, and interest–not only in my book, but in the process, and the industry, and reading, in general.
When I did Glen Ellyn’s Bookfest in October, most of the authors did a one-minute pitch in the morning to a crowd of potential readers, trying to stir some interest in their story. So we all stood and listened to each other, and laughed later about what we’d said or forgot to say, or talked about how to do it better. We then spent the afternoon side by side at our tables, ready to talk to readers. But the crowd wasn’t too big that day and we ended up walking around and visiting with each other a lot. I got to know my table mate, Michael Matula, saw some familiar faces from previous events (Karen DeWitt and Scott Kenemore) and spent a lot of time chatting with other area authors. I began to feel like I had become part of this little Chicago subculture.
I am now scheduled to do a reading at the Wood Dale Library later this winter and it’s just so nice that this part–the part I dreaded–the promotion and marketing part–isn’t so bad! The people that come to events or bookstores are generally either fans, friends, fellow authors, or book lovers–and after years of spending so much time doing something that involved being alone for hours and hours and hours and working toward a goal that I’ve shared with very few people (just my writers’ group), it’s been a great bonus to find all these other people who share the same goals or interests and to learn that a room full of strangers is not always a bad thing!
Now, let’s hope that I find the same to be true when I go into a room full of middle-schoolers next week to talk about writing–that really scares me!!
