Coffee Haus Chronicles
So it's been two days since the signing event at Cornerstone Coffee Haus. I'm sure those of you that read my last blog entry, fueled with anxiety and excitement, are wondering how it went. There's also probably a degree of, "Dude, what's taking so long with an update? Isn't something like that blog-worthy?"
The answer is yes. Yes it is. But for that matter, I also didn't count on how exhausting doing a signing would be. I saw my buddy Nathan (the one who kept me grounded after my meeting with Felicia Day) Sunday after the signing (6/25/17). I didn't realize just how zombied out I was until I tried to answer his question of how the event went. I believe it went something like:
Nathan: "How are you today?"
Me: "...." *vacant stare; slight drool* "uh..."
Nathan: "How'd the signing go?"
Me: "Oh... oh yeah... it went good. I'm super tired today, though, for some reason." *blank stare*
Nathan: "Yeah. I kind of got that impression."
I believe the phrase of choice would be, "I was coming down after the event." After so much build up and excitement, after such a fantastic day, and after failing to come home and just crash, I hit a pretty solid wall when I got up Sunday. My brain and body both conspired to reboot without informing me of their plans. Getting anything accomplished beyond basic survival functions was a bit of a trick. Even so, I still did some managerial duties I didn't get finished from the night before. It comes down to, if I don't do it, it's not going to get done. If I don't do it when I'm thinking about it, it's also not going to get done. Therefore, I suck it up and get it done.
I was still nervous about the event right up until I arrived 30 minutes ahead of when I intended to be there and got the go-ahead from Amy to start setting up. Once I got in the flow of doing something productive it came together pretty quickly. As it turns out that extra 15 minutes of being setup netted me my first sale and sign of the day (Thanks Connie!), so that worked out pretty well in my favor. My self-conscious brain wasn't really sure what to make of the confused stares I got from people already there eating lunch, so I did my best to just wave politely and smile.
The article in the paper did wonders for getting people interested and showing up. As such, I'd like to give another big thanks to Fran Reitz with the Courier Tribune for making that happen. Also a huge thanks to Aaron and Amy for agreeing to let me do the event at the Cornerstone Coffee Haus in the first place! My understanding is that they got a nice boost to their traffic as well, which was exactly what I hoped would happen.
The people who came in to get the book and to get autographs were amazing. There was so much excitement and support for Ash to Ashes and the series as a whole that I probably would have been overwhelmed if I hadn't been kept hopping the entire time. It shouldn't be about numbers, but the numbers were also good, so I'll let it be about numbers for a moment. In less than 4 hours I managed to sell 20 copies of the book (I brought 30 as a "just in case" and it's a good thing I did!). I had two sales leading up to the event by people who knew they wouldn't be able to make it. I have three sales pending for the same reason and a number of people who were only there for lunch, but left aware of the book and intrigued after our discussion.
Overall, it was a fantastic experience. I'm actually really excited now to join the convention circuit in September with TopCon and Little Apple Comic Expo. With a little gumption and planning, I hope to get a few more local events setup before then also.
Onward!!!
