Writing a book is one thing. Selling it is another. Authors write books because we love to write. Being a sales person doesn’t have quite the same appeal. But sale persons we are – all of us (even non-writers) in one way of the other. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as we believe in what we’re selling.
With that firmly in mind, I took off yesterday for a road trip in order to…you got it…sell my A.C. Gilbert book. My aim was to find book and gift stores that would carry the book. Believe me, this is not my favorite way to spend time -“Good day, I’d like to share with you my latest book for children…” – but I have to admit it was a lot better than I anticipated.
Writers (at least the ones I know) have to steel themselves for rejection because the simple fact is that most things that are written never even get published. So, coming from a rejection mindset, it’s a challenge not to carry that into the stores you enter. What a pleasant surprise, however, when booksellers greet you amicably, make positive comments about your work, and then order on the spot. Cool! I’m not saying this happened in every store I went, but it did in most. What this did was reinvigorate me about the work I’ve done.
If you live in or around Corvallis and Salem, Oregon, here are some great places to find The Magic of A.C. Gilbert:
Corvallis – OSU Bookstore, Grassroots Bookstore
Kaiser – Booksmart
Salem – A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village, Mission Mill Museum
Carrying books and inflated confidence, I will continue on.
p.s. I’ll keep writing, too.
Leave a Reply