About a year ago, I embarked on a venture that was really out of the box for me. After years of trying to get a publisher interested in my literary efforts I decided to self-publish. The deciding factor that stimulated this decision was the publisher I found on Facebook. Mindstir Media advertised that if you had a children’s book without illustration, they would illustrate it for you. I was hooked.
The creation of my dream, a legacy for my grandchildren is called Rag Doll Tales, and I have had good success getting it into the hands of the public. I have been privileged to present my book at schools, churches, two book signings and a daycare center. Each place Rag Doll Tales has been well received, and I have been elated. My first absolute failure came one Sunday July 14th.
I looked forward for about two months to the Baltimore Urban Book Festival. Originally when I saw the advertisement, I think it was the Baltimore Urban Children’s Book Festival. Sometime in the two months the name was changed. Neither the less, I looked forward to the event. I sent in give-a-ways for the goodie bags that were to be presented at the festival. I sent in an interview about myself, and a synopsis of my book. I publicized the event on my Facebook page, and my Rag Doll Tales Facebook page. My business had grown to include not only a book, but also a doll from the book. The dolls had been a huge hit at other presentations. So I prepared 15 new dolls for the Baltimore event. I even recruited my girlfriend to help make them so they would be ready on time. My hubby and daughter volunteered to come with my and we would make this a family affair.
Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The day of the festival, we set up the table, it looked wonderful. My pens, business cards, dolls and books found just the right spot to show off their best potential. At 12:PM the festival opened and people started to trickle in. Between 1:PM and 4:PM, the largest groups of people came. Many stopped by my table, many read my poster, took a pen, spoke about the merits of my book and its idea, and promised to contact me at a future day. Alas, that was it: My first failure.
So, where do I go from here? For the first time in about a year I have no events to look forward to. Do I pack it up? At this moment I don’t know. I guess this story will be continued.
