Handselling At My New Store

I'm working at a new store now, and I am still handselling the book I wrote, 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE, as my 100 Handsell book.*

        

Fortunately, I got to carryover the number of books I sold at my previous store location (31!), so I didn't have to start from scratch.

I sold three of my books last week, which is great!

I started with five copies of the book in the store, and the other night there were just two left. When I came in the next afternoon, the one copy that I had placed on a little plexi stand was gone. I wondered if it had sold after I left last night, or this morning before I got there, but no. I checked sales and on hand stock count and we were still supposed to have two copies in the store. One copy was in the section (the section a book is to be placed in is chosen by the publisher and corporate. I'm not sure I agree with the section choice, but that is a topic for another blog post), and the other was supposed to be on the plexi.

Except that it wasn't.

I looked, other booksellers looked, none of us could find the book. One possibility was that it got stolen.

Our store's community relations person saw me later in the shift and told me that she knew that I'd sold three copies of my book this week and how great that was.

"It is great!", I told her, "But I had two copies left and now we can't find one of the copies. I'm wondering if it got stolen."

She looked surprised, and then pleased. "Someone stole your book?? Wow, now you really rate!" And she gave me a high five.

Last night I was working and as I was organizing the books on the hold shelf, I saw that my book was in a group of books there, wrapped in papers, held for a customer. I'm glad the book wasn't stolen, but either way, somebody wants the book!

*You can see my post here: http://notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2011/03/scent-of-missing-revisited.html - for details about the handsell challenge.

If you're interested in finding out more about 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE, you can click on the book cover and go to Amazon's page for the book. Clicking on the underlined book title may take you to Barnes and Noble's page for the book. The Barnes and Noble links have been glitchy. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. You can send us email: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com. Thanks for stopping by!

Looking for Readers (who may be Reviewers)!

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you'll know that I wrote a book several years ago. It's been used to train drug and alcohol counselors in Oregon, and right now I'm handselling it at the bookstore where I work (over 20 sold so far, about the same sell rate as SCENT OF THE MISSING!).

This is all great, AND I would like to kick it up a notch. One thing that helps books sell is having reviews of the book on sites such as Barnes and Noble and Amazon.

So this blog post is to ask if you would like to read the book and write a review (it can be short!) on Barnes and Noble or Amazon's page (or goodreads or librarything or...) for the book.

Let me tell you a little more about it. It's called 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE. It comes from a non-religion specific point of view, so no matter what religious background you come from, even if you come from NO religious background, this book can be helpful. The book introduces 7 areas of spiritual life, areas that are represented by religion but can be, and often are, expressed in your life outside of a religious setting. These areas include compassion, community, sacred space, vocation, worldview, harmony with nature, and ritual and tradition. The book can give you an opportunity to examine your spiritual life in a new way.

       

I can provide a (free!) copy of the book to anyone who wants to review it. I want it said that as the author, and provider of said free copies of the book, I do not want you, as a reader/reviewer to feel obligated to write a positive review. I want you to honestly write about your experience of the book.

If you are interested in receiving a copy of 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE, and would like to write a review, send an email to me: 2of3Rs(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stop deprioritizing...Indeed! (part 2)

A few days ago I wrote about how I'm working on re-prioritizing my wordsmithy (you can read that post by cutting and pasting this link in your browser: http://notthenewyorktimesbookreview.blogspot.com/2012/01/stop-deprioritizingindeed-part-1.html).

Part of re-prioritizing my wordsmithy is making the writing process itself a priority. Another part of re-prioritizing my wordsmithy is valuing the finished product.

When I was married, my writing took a definite backseat to almost everything else. Admittedly, part of this was because I often put it there. However, part of it was that I didn't feel as though my writing was valued by my spouse.

Years ago, after getting through a long and very difficult situation, I wrote some poems. Writing them was cathartic for me, as well as being a brief foray into writing poetry.

The year that I wrote them, I printed the poems on nice paper, bound them with ribbon, and gave them to friends and family for Christmas, including my husband. One friend said it was the nicest gift she received that year. As soon as my parents took off the wrapping paper, my dad took the poems into the back room to read by himself. My husband? He didn't read them at first. When I asked him about them, he told me he couldn't read them, so he put them away in a box. After a while I stopped asking. As far as I know, he never read them.

His not reading them made me feel as though my writing was insignificant to him, my feelings were insignificant, and that I was insignificant.

I know that I have deprioritized my own wordsmithy. And so have others. While that is painful when it happens, it is part of the writing life. I have to value my wordsmithy first. I cannot control whether others will value it, even if I tie it up with a ribbon.

It is hard and scary for me to put my writing out into the world, out there into other people's hands. Yet this is an important challenge for me to work on, another aspect of re-prioritizing my wordsmithy.

I wrote a book about seven years ago, 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE. My husband at the time (yes, the same one who didn't read the poems) and I developed the ideas for the 7 areas of spiritual life over about 3 years. I developed the workbook concept and wrote the book.

     

One great thing happened early on with 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE. The agency that trains drug and alcohol counselors in Oregon selected it as part of their curriculum for training drug and alcohol counselors in the state of Oregon. I am on their training panel, working with drug and alcohol counselors on how to use the book most effectively with their clients.

The book's exploration of 7 areas of one's spiritual life seems to work well with people in recovery from addiction. I didn't write it specifically to be used with people in recovery, though I am glad it is helpful for that population.

Other than that, I have not promoted the book much (there's that deprioritizing again).

For those of you new to the blog, I work at a bookstore where we've been given a challenge. We are to select a book that we think we can sell to customers, and our goal is to sell 100 copies of that title. There is no time limit, just the exhortation to do what we can (feature it with a blurb, talk to customers about it, let our co-workers know about it so they can talk to customers about it as well) to let customers who might be interested know about it.

I just finished selling 100 copies of the first book I chose. SCENT OF THE MISSING is a wonderful book by Susannah Charleson about her decision to get a puppy and train her to be a Search and Rescue dog.

     

This was a great choice. Puzzle's gorgeous face on the cover was an invitation to customers, people would stroke her picture and comment on her. I'd start talking to people about the book and people either became more interested in the book or they bought it. Right now we've sold over 100 copies! I was pleased that Search and Rescue was getting a wider audience, AND that I beat the 100 handsell challenge! SCENT OF THE MISSING was an easy book to sell.

My book doesn't have a cute dog on the cover (maybe I should have thought of that!), and may take a little more explaining to sell it. But if I can't sell it, who can?

Here's what I wrote for the blurb at work...
"Used by drug and alcohol counselors across Oregon to help those in recovery rediscover their spiritual lives, this book provides concrete examples and exercises for anyone exploring their spirituality. I should know. I wrote it."

Already since I've had the blurb and the book featured (less than 2 weeks), two copies have sold. (It took 3 weeks for one copy of SCENT OF THE MISSING to sell when I first started featuring it.) I'm glad to be on my way...re-prioritizing my wordsmithy!

Thank you for reading the blog! Clicking on the underlined book title takes you to the Barnes and Noble page about the book. Clicking on the book cover itself takes you to Amazon's page about the book. Purchasing through these links helps support the blog. Thank you!

Traditions

I have been struggling with traditions.

Two years after divorcing my children's father, my mother died. A month or so after her death, I met with my daughter who was 20 at the time. She was talking about her grandmother's death and said "...when dad's mom died..." I stopped her and said, "Listen. It was MY mom who died. Mimi was MY mother. She was not your dad's mother." My daughter gave me a whatever look and kept on talking as if she didn't hear me.

My son told me that his dad brought cranberry sauce to their Thanksgiving celebration this last year. This cranberry sauce is the spiced cranberry sauce that my mother made every year while I was growing up. I made it every year while my own kids were growing up. Even though I wasn't there, having my son tell me that their dad did something that I used to do on the holiday made me feel unneeded and unwanted.

I wanted to invite the kids over to watch the Academy Awards this year, a tradition I had before I was married, before I had kids. I invited the kids last year and the year before, but they had already had plans with their dad. I've been hesitating about inviting them, not wanting to be disappointed by them telling me they are already doing something with their dad. On the other hand, I also want them to feel as though I am including them in our lives. My partner reminded me, however, that asking them to come over for an event that their dad is also doing puts them in the awkward situation of having to choose between me and their dad. I have been torn.

I have been frustrated when it's seemed as though my ex-husband has taken over doing all of the traditional things I used to do. (okay, and pretty frustrated that he claimed that my mother was his.)

                        

In the book 7 STEPS TO FINDING YOUR SPIRITUAL LIFE, there is a chapter on ritual and tradition. Traditions, it says, are the things we do that remind us who we are.

"Traditions are the things we do over and over that remind us of our identity - culturally, religiously/spiritually, and with our friends and families. These repeated familiar actions keep us connected to our roots and grounded in our identity.

"Some traditions are elaborate and involved, such as large family celebrations. Others may be smaller in scope, such as how a specific dish is prepared, yet they are still significant. Whether large or small, traditions tell us, 'We do it this way because this is who we are.'"

My partner has been urging me to create new traditions, new ways of being with the kids that don't involve trying to make it be like it was, or reflect what the family used to do.

We are doing that. This year we rented a beach house in January and invited the kids to come for a few days instead of 'doing Christmas' on Christmas day. We had Christmas at the beach house in January. We played games, cooked and ate good food, took the dog for walks on the beach, took pictures, hung out and read.

The beach in January was great. The kids thought it was a brilliant new tradition. So did I. I love that we are developing traditions that reflect our new relationships.

My kids' dad may very well continue to commandeer holidays and traditions. I decided not to invite the kids over for the Academy Awards. I don't want them to have to choose, and I also don't want to be the one not chosen.

I still make cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving. I do this for me. Preparing it evokes fond memories of my parents and the large family gatherings we had growing up. The cranberry sauce tradition connects me to my roots.

And the new traditions we are developing help me honor who I am now.

You can send email to: 2of3RsATgmailDOTcom. Thanks for reading the blog!