Reflections on a booksigning; #romanticon2022 #writerslife

Peggy Jaeger

Jul 19

If you follow this blog, you know yesterday I posted a picture taken of me at this past weekend's ROMANTICON 2022 held in Trumbull, CT.

Driving home early Sunday morning I had private time to reflect on a few things about the event, and myself.

First, if you know anything about me you know I am basically a hermit. I have friends - I'm not a social pariah, hahaha -but I tend I stay home a lot, work on my writing, take care of my hubby and dog, and see my daughter and her family. I don't PEOPLE well. Truthfully, I am a loner/hermit/introvert as many writers are. But when we do an event like a book signing, we have to BE ON. By that I mean we have to smile, engage readers, and generally make ourselves liked.

This is hard for me. So hard. I'd never make a salesperson. I'd be fired the first day because I simply can not sell anything. I never want to be bothered by salespeople when I shop ( which isn't often) so I wouldn't want to impose myself on others if the shoe were on the other foot. Having to hawk my books and myself is so alien a concept to me, it's a wonder I sell anything at all. Luckily, I have a following and am told I can be engaging when I try. Which isn't often, but necessary when it is.

So.

Enough about me.

The event is put on by writer Kitty Berry and she and her amazing corps of volunteers did a fantastic job. Everything moved swimmingly, door prizes were given out to the joy of many, the food at the brunch was good and the check-in table moved smoothly along.

All in all, a very professionally run event and one which I will return to next year.

Not only because of the readers but my fellow authors as well.

As authors, we do something most of our friends and family don't do. Many times they don't want to hear about the trouble we are having with our characters, or that we can't get our word counts in because of disruptions. The only people who can relate to those lamentations are other writers because they are suffering through the same issues. In essence, they walk the walk and talk the talk of books, characters, marketing, sales slumps, and best sellers' lists. So seeing so many of my writing friends after 2 years of covid isolation and cancellations was....amazing.

Truly.

It was life-affirming and career motivating. Just to be in a room with 50+ other people who do what I do and know what I go through each and every day was simply...gratifying. The readers were the cherry on top of that beautiful cake.

So, I'm back in my writing cave until the next event/book signing. I think I have 4 more this year. 2023 already has 6 booked with the option to do 2 more at least.

I'll need to practice my social skills until then...

Happy reading, peeps. get those Summer reading lists moving (hopefully with a book or 2 from me!)

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