Last weekend, I invested quite a bit of time and as little money as I could get away with to make 30 press kits. My goal was to visit different potential venues in order to set up a reading. Although I write a variety of things, I’m currently promoting myself as an erotic writer, mainly because that was the type of show that I’d put together for “Cupid’s Naughty Secrets”.
So far, my list of possible places are mostly lingerie stores with a few independent book stores. The first place I visited was Cindie’s on Ben White. I was initially thrown off that the manager, who regularly leaves at 2:30, was not there. I immediately thought that I must be doing something wrong since I cannot just leave work for the day around 2:30. Nonetheless, I introduced myself to the employee and explained the purpose for my visit and pointed out some key points of my press kit, namely the three samples of my work–an excerpt from Tribe of One, a short story and a poem–and my contact information which was conveniently and beautifully summarized on the two business cards that were inserted in the built-in card holding slots.
Once I finished explaining the purpose of my visit, the woman was so enthusiastic about what I was trying to do that she burst into a speech of useful facts about how I could feasibly set up a reading at another Cindie’s location. She first directed me to the South Lamar branch and informed me that the other Cindies’ s in the north was the biggest location in Austin and had the most business. I thanked her and encouraged her to read through the writing samples and pass the press kit along to the store manager.
With newfound confidence, I drove to the South Lamar Cindie’s and browsed until someone could help me. Again, I asked to speak with a manager and this time, the woman who had addressed me turned out to be a manager. I took a deep breath, introduced myself and stated the purpose of my visit. Her smile reassured me that I was on the right track, but when she handed me a flyer, which advertised their upcoming “Ladies Night Out”, I could not believe that my second visit to a store actually landed me a reading gig! This woman turned out to be the regional events manager.
She sounded almost apologetic that I would not be listed on the first week’s advertising for the event, but assured me that my name and contact information would appear on the subsequent announcements. I was so beside myself with happiness that I had to constrain myself from hugging her. I told her that that was fine with me and we discussed some other details about the event. She told me that the store manager, who was not present at the time, would be in contact with me the next day (which she did!).
I drove away on a cloud of optimism. I excitedly called Mom, who lives in NC. She was excited at my good news although she’s still somewhat embarrassed that her 40 year-old “baby” has written such an adult novel with so many curse words. My writing has actually given her something else nag me about besides getting rid of my dreads, which I’ve had since 1993 and have no plans of changing.
I then called one of my older sisters, who lives in VA and has always thought of herself as my mother. She was equally excited and when she announced my good news to her husband, he commented that I could nowafford to take them out to dinner the next time I visited. I told her that I could have done that before, but it would have to be at some place like Chili’s since I couldn’t possibly bankroll the pricey restaurants they were accustomed to.
The next day, I dropped off two more press kits. So far, nothing has become of them. As a matter of fact, one place responded as if I had given them a new idea about having a special event. Nonetheless, I’m still optimistic and feel that I’m steadily walking down the path to success. I know that big success comes from surviving failures. One thing that I like to continually remind myself of is that the failures may outnumber the successes, but the succeses outweigh the failures!