Try to Enjoy the Downtime (10/10/14)
One of the downsides of this book tour is the amount of downtime that you have to deal with. Considering inefficiency is like dragging nails across a chalk board for me the downtime I’m dealing with could be one of the few things that pushes me off the deep end.
When I started out I was more concerned about having too much to do, and taking on a schedule that would put my health at risk. I would have done three or four activities a day if they were logistically feasible. Fortunately as a new author it’s almost impossible to overwork yourself. Bookstores don’t want to deal with you until you are a guaranteed commodity, there has been about a 30% response rate from clubs about speaking engagements, and TV and radio was always a long-shot. Trying to do this trip bare-bones (believe me not by choice) limits what you can do on a social aspect too. If something really interests me I may spend a few bucks on some of the local sights if something really intrigues me, but there isn’t an real disposable income to throw around on the finer things each city has to offer. So far I’ve seen Mark Twain’s house, and I skipped my staple McDonald’s meal to go to a Longhorn Steakhouse with my new friends Scott and Shauna once.
However, this is truly only the dawn of this trip and things have just gotten started. I knew interaction wise things would become more interesting when I made it to Texas, Utah, Arizona, and a few other places where I have friends. There my friends could tell me where to go, what to do, and if I wasn’t eating alone I would even go so far as to man up for a meal that costs more than $13.00. Further down the line the people that I have talked to may even do what I envisioned they would, talk about the book and what the author is trying to do.
I gambled a small fortune on the possibility of creating a Tipping Point that could take a completely nobody to a household name. Even though the level of apathy I have witnessed to date on this book tour would make you think that creating a Tipping Point would be impossible I still believe somewhere deep inside of every person there is a desire to connect.I will look at it as the calm before the storm. I have had little squall lines of activity, and they took their toll on me physically. So in the meantime I will try to enjoy the downtime.
