Wednesday, January 20, 2010

LESSONS LEARNED AT BOOK LAUNCH


After two amazing launch events here in Birmingham, I am happy to share the following tidbits:

1. A full room with a podium and no microphone and the quilters sharing the stage = no nerves at all.

2. A full room with a raised stage and hot lights and no one but a wired-up me on the stage = hello nerves!

3. Nerves settle down as soon as you get the slides rolling.

4. Yet without the help of Awesome Teen Librarian, slides do not roll. Grr.

5. People you didn't personally invite and haven't seen in twenty years will show up.

6. People you just KNEW would be there, won't. And they won't buy a book, either. Much less, read it.

7. If there is cake, you won't get a chance to eat any of it.

8. Awesome Teen Librarian will know this, and will save you a slice before it's all gone.

9. You'll want to write long, personal inscriptions, but your mind will go blank. Then you will feel bad for being so generic (however clever).

10. You might even mess up someone's name. In which case, you eat the cost and grab a fresh book.

11. You'll forget to ask Husband to take pictures of the crowd. Yet you'll make sure he takes fifteen shots of the cake.

12. You'll get very thirsty. But there's no time to grab a bottled water.

13. Despite lack of water, you might cry. Especially if your mother is in the audience.

14. You'll be SO glad you remembered to put a tissue in your pocket.

15. But you'll wish you'd remembered your lipstick.

16. When the bookseller runs out of books, you'll feel like a rock star.

17. Then when your kids ask you "what's for supper?" you'll remember again that you're not.

18. This will make you smile. And you'll remember the gazillion reasons you have to be grateful for being in the exact spot in time that you're in.

Big THANK YOU to everyone involved. Pics from the Hoover Library event to follow tomorrow!

23 comments:

  1. Congrats on the great event, Irene! And these are good tips. I hope you savored the moment, even though I'm sure it passed by in a blur.

    Can you share with us what your slide show was like? Did you talk about quilting, writing, the book itself (all of the above)?

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  2. Fun post. Glad you had a kleenex, a little water, and I'll bet no one even noticed there was no lipstick!I love your conclusion. It's a good thing to be grateful for life where you are. Enjoy.

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  3. Hilarious! Glad it was mostly great, and also glad for the tips (I just had a Why Didn't I Put My Lipstick Closer to the Top of my Purse So I'm Not Fumbling Around For It Like an Idiot moment at ALA.) And I still think you're a rock star, dinner be danged!

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  4. This is great, Irene. It sounds like it was lovely. I love how no matter how awesome it was and how special you felt, at the end of the day you were still Mom.

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  5. You handled yourself beautifully, Irene! I had a great time!

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  7. Ah, the joys of book-signings! This was great!

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  8. Lovely recap. May all your book launches make you feel as rich and beloved.

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  9. I was watching for a mistake... you know me!! You did great last Sat. Like I said at my blog... got to learn Powerpoint, that really is a wonderful presentation... is that spelled right??? yep, looked it up

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  10. awesome tips - Ill link to you in my marketing weekly wrap up on friday. :)

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  11. This is a lovely post of what it's like on the other side. I especially loved numbers 16, 17 and 18. Congratulations to you!

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  12. I'm so excited the world finally gets to read Leaving Gee's Bend! No surprise that you sold out :)

    Cheers! Christy

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  14. I am sooo happy for you! I'm looking forward to getting a copy of your book and I hope you'll be at SpringMingle so I can get it autographed!!!

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  15. congratulations, Irene! I'm looking forward to reading LGB.

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  16. Wonderful! I can't wait for my launch now. I love how you've summarized.

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  17. Great tips! I still have a year to go before my first book launch, and I'm trying to prepare myself as much as is possible.

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  18. I love this entry! And I am so happy for you, Irene! :)

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  19. Love this down-to-earth glimpse. And good job on your link at Shelli's Friday Roundup!

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  20. A wonderful way to describe, not only an event, but a feeling. Thanks for sharing it. Your #17 made me laugh, because it is always our kids who keep us grounded - even when we'd rather not be for just a little bit longer.

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  21. A beautiful event, a beautiful book and a beautiful author. What more could you ask for?
    I'm looking all over for the photos. ???

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  22. Sounds like a wonderful event! I like #17. There's nothing like your own kids to bring you back to reality :)

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