Today I was the Bug

At the beginning of the month I was invited to be September’s Author of the Month for the Brockville Public Library. This event, aptly named Bookmarks, is not put on by the library itself but by a group called The Friends of Brockville Public Library (FBPL). I had known about the event and was happy to become a part of it. I also knew that attendance at these events wasn’t always great. However, I was happy for the opportunity and any potential exposure.

A couple of weeks ago I brought in books to be displayed at the library should anyone wish to purchase one prior to my presentation. One of the books would also be a donated and added to the library’s inventory. I also picked up a poster that was created for the event for my own advertising while FBPL would distribute the rest to be posted in various locations in the city (FYI Brockville is not a very large city). poster-001

Today was my event. It would consist of me making a small presentation, followed by a Q & A period, and then a mini book signing.

I arrived an hour early with an assortment of things for my table – a sheet of reviews, my bio, business cards, bookmarks, a copy of my newsletter & a sign-up sheet, and of course my books.

Since I was so early, I left my box of goodies at the info desk and strolled around the library. I wanted to see if I could find the copy of my book which I had donated and take a picture of it on the shelf. I headed to the fiction section and searched through the Js. I found other Jacksons but not me. I went back to the info desk and told the librarian what I wanted to do. 20160924_131809She happily looked up my book on her computer and found that it had indeed been added to the stock. The reason it wasn’t on the shelf was because it was on hold, meaning that someone had requested to read it and it was downstairs at the entrance waiting to be picked up. I was happy to hear that. The librarian then told me I could take a picture of the computer screen showing my book – naturally I did.

 

 

Finally, it was time to set up for my presentation. The FBPL who was helping me had arrived, and as she began arranging a few chairs, I set up a small table beside my own chair. Afterward, we sat down and chatted for a bit.  A few moments later, a woman arrived and introduced herself as another member of FBPL – and that was it.

Needless to say, I did not sell a single book. I did however, enjoy talking to the two ladies from FBPL and they did ask me several questions about Promised Soul and writing. I also read an excerpt from the book that I had planned. There were several people in the library around us; however they did not join the conversation.

Afterward, I was listening to a radio program on my way to meet my daughter at “Winners”. The radio show host was interviewing a comedian who had just released a book. She quoted the lyrics from a song from Dire Straits (also covered by Mary Chapin Carpenter) entitled The Bug. It is a song I hadn’t thought of (or heard) in years. She said, “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.”

 

While my presentation and book signing was a bust and I felt a little bit like the bug today, it was nice to know that my book was going out on loan. Also on the plus side, I bought a great purse, cute boots, and a nice wallet. Oh, and I got a manicure this morning, too!

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Next time I’m going to be the windshield.

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