You Can’t Always Get What You Want…

This weekend was my signing at the Barnes & Noble in New Hartford, NY. I was part of a Local Authors Signing that the store was doing and I was excited to be at a signing that I didn’t organize.  Upon entry, I was greeted with this sign:

I brought my books in and set up with the other writers.  Here’s a picture of me displaying my book:

The event started and we were all anxious to talk to potential readers about our new books.

And we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

In fairness, some of the authors had a few friends stop by and I think some of them bought one a book. But by and large, we all spent two hours and most of us never talked to another soul about our books (again, that’s not completely true, we did talk to each other about our books because we were the only ones there).

I’m not sure what happened exactly – maybe it was a bad day (there didn’t seem to be a ton of traffic in the store), maybe it was our location (we were stuck off to the side, out of the main traffic flow), or it wasn’t meant to be. I didn’t have any illusions that I would sell (m)any books, but I made up bookmarks for people to take – and there weren’t even people to take them!

But If You Try Sometimes; You Get What You Need

Sure, I’m a little disappointed that no one was there, but I was in good company.  And that’s what I got out of the signing – companionship with other writers. We spent time talking about our books, our process, how we published, and how we try to sell our books. While writing is a solitary process by nature, it was really great for me to feel like I’m not the only one in the world who goes through the same triumphs and defeats.

It also sort of reinvigorated me and will hopefully give me the kick in the ass I need to get Reluctant Captain selling and finishing the very first draft of my new novel.

So here’s to the picking yourself up, brushing yourself up and starting all over again (am I allowed to mix lyrical references in the same post?).

Happy journeys!
Mike

PS – Just because I turned this experience into something meaningful for me, please feel free to join me at my next signing event; whenever that will be. While I appreciate the lessons in humility I learn, I also really want to sell books!