The picture on the left is the table set up at “Girls Night Out” with Joseph-Beth in Cincinatti, OH. They were superb to work with. In fact, they made a life size poster of the cover with my name as big as it gets, and hung it from the ceiling of the store for a few weeks leading up to the event. They had champagne, cake, and cookies. They had about 75 books selling on a special table by the cash register, and at the signing. They even had me in their newsletter, calendar, and on a chalkboard. In short, they did about everything they could. And still, the picture on the right shows how many people turned up.

Kristi was sweet. She announced the event in the store, and kept apologizing. But it clearly wasn’t their fault. They obviously did everything they could. And I can’t take offense. The books sell well, and my sales rep raves about this store. Kristi blamed gas prices for people not wanting to drive in twenty minutes from the burbs. She bought three books. I drank three glasses of champagne. Throughout the 45 minutes I was there I tried to make her feel more at ease. It’s not my first no-show. In fact, I’ve had a handful of them over the years. We eventually parted ways, Kristi hoping I’d come back, and me hoping they’d let me come back.

My ego does not care. Instead of thinking about the time and energy and money spent between both parties, I immediately got in touch with my sales rep and discussed other stores I could call in the morning. I could test the power of the pop in. After all, I’m here. There are other ways to make the most being in this part of the country.

Still…I can’t help but let my mind wander back in time to a Las Vegas psychic who told me that something business related would disappoint/fail this year. She said that it would be ok, not to worry, and that I’d be good humored about it. Could she have been right about this, when she was so wrong about her love predictions? Hmmm….

Onward!

3 comments

  1. Jen,
    Ouch. But great effort and karma for you and the store, i bet it’ll pay off in ways you don’t yet know. see you at lit crawl in SF, safe travels.
    –krista

  2. Thanks for checking in, Krista. Spirits are still up, no shows don’t really get me down. I do my best to work with the store and make sure they enjoy the books so they’ll get some face time on the shelf after I leave.

    I look forward to seeing you next week.

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