Pleasantness found at book signing

I’ve been to many book signings. Often I am there as support crew for Howard. Sometimes I’m running a table and committing commerce. Many times the signings were attached to conventions. Most of these signings have been fairly high-energy events with significant attendance. Tonight was my first signing not attached to a convention where I was the one sitting behind the table. Crowded signings are interesting and exhausting. This one was quiet and pleasant, which was exactly what I needed.

I did not expect the event to be crowded. I certainly did not expect people to turn up looking for me. They didn’t with the one exception of Eric Stone who lives near the store. He was kind enough to stop by and say hello for a few minutes. Despite the lack of customer traffic, I enjoyed myself. I got to talk publishing and life with four other authors. I got to talk books and business with the store owners. I got to be Sandra instead of Mom for just a little while.

I did spend some time pondering the fate of Hold on to Your Horses as I sat there with my stack of books. The project is now two years old, which is middle age to old compared to the shelf life of most books. This is one of the advantages of being my own publisher. I can continue to promote the book for as long as I wish. It does not need to succeed financially right out of the gate. So I’ll probably continue as I have been, promoting it when opportunity presents. It is nice to not have to feel that new-book urgency. Hold Horses and I are comfortable with each other. If there are additional picture books in the future, then Hold Horses will ride along with those promotional opportunities as well. I still love the project and I am glad that I did it.

The rest of my week will not be spent on writer/author things. I’ll be working on book layout, online store maintenance, and mom stuff. I think it is going to be a good week with less hectic in it.