I'm going to be honest and vulnerable for a moment. If you've been around for even a small amount of time, you know that I love live/in-person events. I didn't always love them because they scared me and I felt too “salesy" but I've come to love them because of the amazing people I've met and connected with over the years. I love talking to people whether they love my books or don't. I've had some valuable conversations and made some incredible friends.
There's also nothing like hearing that a reader does, in fact, love my books, or that my books helped them through a particularly difficult time. That's one of the reasons I write and release my books. In the hopes that they can brighten someone else's day. I was so happy to see the readers who came to see me at the Family Christmas Gift show over the weekend to tell me they enjoyed my books and some of them purchased more.
But, overall, the show was not great. It was three long 12-hour days with very little sales and honestly not a ton of interaction. The event was packed, but so many people just walked by. Partway through Saturday--the busiest day and the last day--I was feeling so down on myself because there were so many people, but none seemed interested in even hearing about my books. As an author who puts so much of myself into my stories, I couldn't help but feel it as a personal rejection (logically I know it wasn't, but it's harder to tell that to my emotional self)
There were some moments that I wondered why I was still doing this thing. Why I even bothered. I should just throw in the towel, quit writing and focus soley on the house and the kids.
Fortunately, I went home, licked my wounds, and slept a ton for a few days and now I'm feeling much better. It was just a bad show and I can move on from it, but it definitely throttled my pride for a minute.
If you're here reading this, thank you!! I don't think I could ever stop writing even if the entire world hated my writing, but it helps to have a handful of readers who think my books are pretty great. And I know a lot of you are counted among them, so THANK YOU!