Joy in the Journey

Natalie included some of these pictures from our first book signing for Shadow Hunter on her Facebook page, but I wanted to include a couple of them here and share some thoughts about them.

I remember a few years ago when Orson Scott Card (Ender's Game, etc.) came for a book signing at the old Media Play on Fort Union. I brought my favorite books by him (Characters & Viewpoints, and How to Write Science Fiction) and got in the back of a line that reached to the front of the store and started to wrap around to one side. There must have been 200-300 people waiting in line for his autograph and the chance to say a few words or ask him a quick question. It was a pretty big deal. A book signing for a small, local LDS-related book is not.


I mean, it's great to meet with the store manager and sales associates who have all read your book and can discuss it in detail with you, but for the most part you sit at a table just inside the front doors and smile as the customers come in and talk about and promote your book. Sometimes you meet people who share a real passion for the subject of your book, or (better yet) people who have actually read your book and can ask you questions about why the characters did this, or why the plot took this direction. It's pretty cool.


But in the end, and I've said this many times before, you don't write books for the money. Of course, it would be nice to finally reach a place where you could actually live off the royalties and write full time, but most of us have to find other means to make the mortgage payment and put food on the table until that far-off goal is eventually realized. In the meantime, you do what you can to find joy in the journey, personalizing each book, as you would a gift, with a sincere hope that they enjoy your book.


...so let it be done.