Update: I’m still not comfortable with self marketing. I still can’t get my elevator pitch down. Justin is still a hammer making one suggestion after another for marketing my book. And my book is ranked above Obama’s memoir released this week.
KIDDING ABOUT THAT LAST PART! (Can you tell I’m feeling punchy because Between Each Step launched this week!!!!)
It’s been a whirlwind. We’ve been amazed by all the friends, family and strangers who have placed orders from our website. Justin and I have a production line going, where he keeps track of purchases coming in, he prints the labels, I sign the books, he packages up the books, he marks them as shipped in the system and he takes them to the post office to mail.
Wait, does that makes it sound like he is doing the bulk of the work and I’m just playing the famous author signing books???
Hey, book signing is a whole lot more involved than one can imagine. I watched a YouTube video when I started to be sure I was doing it right. Halfway through my signings, Justin asked me why I was signing Patrice E. La Vigne instead of just Patrice La Vigne like my name reads in the book? I don’t know!!! So some books have an “E” and others do not.
On another note, our tiny post office in town loves us. Or hates us. Either way, we are trying to ship the books out as quickly as possible because everyone pretty much chose media mail on their purchase and why wouldn’t you? It’s a heck of a lot cheaper than priority mail. And it’s just a book. But as an example, a book we mailed Nov. 10 says it will arrive in South Carolina by Nov. 30. So hopefully everyone receives their books by 2021, you know since Alaska’s mail apparently delivers via sled dog. The hammer would like to point out if you want any books for Christmas, you should order now …
These are the trials and tribulations of a new author’s life!
Do you use a fancy pen for your book signing!?
I wouldn’t call it fancy, but I do have a specific one! I was going to use just any old pen from a hotel that we have lying around, but Justin insisted I use the one he got from Mom with his journal!
So proud of you! Now that you’re an author, you should be very picky about your pens! We used to give the authors thick Sharpies as a back-up, if they didn’t have their own.