So I just got back from a book tour. Signings number #17-20 for Ghostwriter. Averaging meeting and talking to about 50+ people per store, selling between 15-20 books per store.
I've shared my thoughts before on this blog on why I do booksignings.
One thing I might not have addressed, however, is the subject of purpose. I get a renewed sense of it every time I spend three to four hours in a bookstore.
I see the books surrounding me, stacks of the latest bestseller beating down on all the others around it. I see booksellers walking around, busily working and helping customers and usually trying their best not to engage the animated and unnaturally outgoing author in the front of the store. And of course, I see customers. Most of them book lovers of all sorts. I engage them even when I know they're SO not going to purchase anything from me.
I see all of this and I am reminded why I do this.
People love books. They love being moved. They love having their minds taken off the ordinary and the real. They love discovering new voices, new worlds, new stories.
Every single time I'm in a bookstore, I'm reminded of why I love such a place. And how I need to work harder.
Not so I can become the next Dan Brown.
But so I can become a better Travis Thrasher.
It's wonderful to hear what consumers love and don't love. What their interests are and what they respond to.
It's wonderful and challenging and humbling and sometimes even baffling.
Every time I leave, I feel a bit more resolved to the task at hand. Creating something that is meaningful, that readers will respond to, that might have the potential to be talked about, that might even last for some amount of time.
My purpose now? I'm trying to stay in the game and grow. I'm trying to keep at this and finally nail it.
Booksignings remind me. Strangers remind me. You might have just recently met me and reminded me. Thanks.
Don't let the goofy grin and the rambling words fool you.
I'm quite serious about this writing thing. And I'm focused. As much as I can be, that is. My goal continues to be to grow, to become a better storyteller, to explore and expand. And I never want to let those goals go.
Labels: booksignings, ghostwriter