Definitions of Success

Twenty-*cough* and some years ago, I’d moved from my hometown to a suburb of Minneapolis for a job and desperately wished I could move back. I spent the first eight months or so leaving from work at 3:30 on Friday to drive home, coming back after 10 on Sunday night for the next work week. I still had my apartment for months: it was supposed to be temporary. Then I found Renaissance Festival, and it all went downhill from there (I blame all of you wonderful weirdos for trapping me here, and I do love you for it). A year or two later, I met my first husband, at said Renaissance Festival. During the off-season, I still pined for home and Lake Superior. Eventually, he, in his way of both trying to motivate me and avoiding moving, said he’d live there when a book with my name as author was on the shelf at Barnes & Noble.

Defying Shadows has had increments of success since the start. I wrote it first as a sort of therapy, thinking it was just for me. Then I was *advised* (also read: divinely shoved) into finding a way to publish. After the first few rejections from publishers I figured I’d end up self-publishing, then I found Crossed Crow Books and it was a huge success step for me. All the milestones along the way, from cover to editing to holding that first copy in my big ol’ valkyrie sized hands felt like success, but they didn’t quite feel like I’d “done” it. Not quite. I never expected, nor do I now expect, this book to be my ticket to some sort of financial lottery or a best seller list, not because I don’t think it’s good but because it’s really a niche thing I did because I want to help people. I’m ok waiting for THAT sort of success for one of the novels down the road. But man I really wanted to see it on a shelf at BN.

I don’t know if you know this, but it’s freaking hard to get into to BN. I tried a few different ways: local author angle, calling around all the stores directly, district managers, all of that. A weird book that is part memoir, part self-help, part witchcraft is a tricksy one to get on precious little shelf space in brick and mortar stores in general, but as it turns out I needed patience and timing.

This October I will have a book signing at the Eagan Barnes & Noble.

I will not be moving after I see my book on the shelves there (good lord, we’re just about to start a freaking addition on our house…no moving for many years to come), but I will feel a whole new level of success unlocked. I hope you come see me if you can make it. Details are on the front page of my website and will be all over social media.

Since it’s Labor Day weekend I managed to do diddly yesterday and most of today work-wise, but after dinner I was inspired to get some writing-adjacent work done. I discovered some important things about myself:

1. I am 100% NOT a visual designer. I tried to put together simple social media thingies (not even ads, just notices, really, like event posters but online…and let’s be honest, I’ve never been good at event posters or event planning either) and got so mad at Canva and my own terrible lack of skill I said f-it and hit my screaming goat*. TWICE.
2. Still hate video. Sorry.
3. Someday, when I’m successful in a monetary way, I will probably have to beg (and pay, obviously) a real social media/marketing person to force me to do appearances/videos/thingies. I’m sorry in advance, well in advance at the rate things are going from my marketing perspective, to whomever that is. I love you for trying.
4. All of this makes me vaguely nauseous, so I suppose ice cream won’t help, which makes me crabby.

*Screaming Goat, who has lived on my desk since last Christmas and comes in damn handy on a near-daily basis.