I am sharing this story because you are all a part of my author journey, and I wanted to give you all the nitty-gritty details on what kind of work goes into the entire process (not just the writing). I have been very busy today. I visited two different stores. The first store was for the express purpose of doing a book signing and selling physical copies of my book. The second store was a book store, and they were interested in doing a book signing and allowing me to sell my book there (with the option of getting my book on an expanded distribution channel so they could order more and continue selling it).
That little voice that you eventually learn to heed told me, "Bring ALL of your books. NOT just Rip Zulu." So that's exactly what I did.
First thing this morning, I went to the first store. I brought all three books, but I was mainly talking about Rip Zulu. That same intuition telling me to bring all three books basically kept me silent about it, telling me to wait until I'm asked to bring it up. So that's what I did. She saw Rip Zulu and seemed to like it. We talked about doing an event, and then she noticed the other books in my hands and said, "Would you like to have them as part of the event as well?" I said, "Yes, ma'am," and handed them to her. She looked them over and said, "Mostly what we get are memoirs, so it's nice to see something other than that." A huge smile lit my face and I replied, "I love writing fantasy."
She asked about Johnathan the Brave, and I told her about the story of a brave boy with Mitochondrial Depletion Syndrome and his ongoing fight. It could have been me, but I thought perhaps I saw her fight back emotion when I told her about it. She was interested in all of the books, and she asked how soon I can get at least 20-25 of each ordered so we can work on getting the event planned out.
I have paperwork to sign, and I'll be going back to sign a contract on Wednesday.
The second store I went to later on was a wonderful bookstore (to me, bookstores are a slice of Heaven), and it's owner was a very sweet gentleman who advised me on an excellent expanded distribution channel to get my work on so other companies had the option to buy my book and put it in their stores. He would like to get Rip Zulu in his store, and he wants me to do a book signing and book selling event with him soon! He also noticed the other books I held in my hands and asked to look at them. He is interested in me having them at the book signing event as well! When I told him about Johnathan and his fight with Mitochondrial Depletion Syndrome, he said that he knew what it was because of a book by Madeleine L'Engle called A Wind in the Door (the book comes in a series and takes place right after A Wrinkle in Time). He said the character in that book also has Mitochondrial Depletion Syndrome, although it is called by a different name apparently.
After those two amazing meetings, I then went home to digest everything. I checked the mail to see if I got any of my book swag (or the copies of Rip Zulu that I ordered to send out to my drawing winners), and discovered something that made my heart soar! In the mailbox was an envelope from the US Copyright Office. The papers inside are official documentation of what took place a few months ago, when I got Rip Zulu: Revenant of Retribution officially copyrighted!
Other than creating the works I love so much, it's moments like these that make my heart smile. It's days like Friday when I was able to do short readings of Rip Zulu and share her with everyone that make me burst with joy! These moments are a very close second to moments like when I got married, when I had my children, and watching them hit various milestones.
So now, I'm going to work on getting everything squared away with this expanded distribution channel. I already have banners and such for these events (I just now have to work on making something to hang the banners on). I already worked on getting a credit card reader to take payments during these events, so that's been taken care of. And I need to get paperwork all filled out for my meeting on Wednesday. So much is getting done, and I'm so very excited and amazed at how smoothly it all seems to be coming together... and how willing people are to allow you to do an event and assist you in being as successful as possible.
Tomorrow, my priorities are getting banner stuff ready and talking to the owner of a local library for an event happening at the end of May.
So much to do! But oddly, as much as I thought I would not look forward to this part of publishing, I am enjoying it so much more than I ever dreamed I would!