Our New York soiree was about what I expected it to be. We had the smallest attendance of any book tour event so far but we had exactly the number of people I expected so that's a wash. I met new people and reunited with old friends, which were twin hopes. We were in the elegant apartment of Eugene Jen, and he was a handsome and gracious host. He exceeded my expectations.
Publishing a book is about dreams and expectations as well as the creation and production of it. You can't help but hope, but you need to get a handle right away on your expectations. Is your dream of writing the great American novel realistic? Can you really expect your book to be a best seller?
On the other hand, you don't want not to dream. If you didn't dream, would you be an artist in the first place? Would you ever create a book at all?
I feel David and I have had realistic dreams and reasonable expectations all along. I thought we'd print a few copies for family and friends but then sales opportunites came rolling along and 50 seemed more reasonable. But I didn't want to pay for 50 copies upfront so we raised money. Our goal was $1500 and we netted $3500. If our goal had been $5000, we would have been disappointed. $1500 was all we needed.
Raising money meant 30 copies immediately were committed to backers so 50 didn't seem like much any more, especially since we now had an 8-stop book tour, not the one party we expected. So we raised our print run and our ultimate sales goal.
Our first event had two-thirds the people we expected so we decided we were being unrealistic. We revised our attendance goals for the next four and we have been happy each time instead of disappointed. The numbers have been about what we expected.
Publishing a book is work, whether you do it on your own or thru a major publisher. You don't just create the thing and never lift a finger until you open the royalty check. It's work so have fun with it. Being disappointed is not fun. Dream big, dream small, but dream realistically and you'll want more. If the gingersnap meets or exceeds your expectation, you'll want another. And another and another and another.
Have sweet dreams with our ginger book and tees!
Buy Ginger Snaps at http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/3577527
Buy ginger &/or gingerphile t-shirts at http://gingergingerphiletee.logosoftwear.com
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