Good morning!
It was a wild weekend, and equally chaotic Monday morning. Arrived back home late (and tired) last night, so there were a few things that needed to be dealt with first thing this morning. Like getting groceries back in the house. LOL.
My meet and greet on Sunday was wonderful. I think I talked with around 8 people. Two signed up for a newsletter I plan to start doing monthly (details to follow in a later blog, if you’re interested). And one person bought a copy of ‘Son of Corse’. I’d only taken one copy of that and one of ‘Mark of the Successor’, as that’s all I had on hand. Some of the highlights was how giddy the one who bought the book was to meet a real author (I’d estimate she was around 14). Another was having the husband of one woman check out the reviews (and quote them to his wife) for ‘Daughter of Hauk’ as she and I chatted. Having people you don’t know make comments about something you wrote having some good reviews can really boost your ego. LOL.
Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Only 8 people? You sat there for 3 hours and only talked to 8 people?!?! That’s hardly worth your time! You could not be more wrong.
I’m still new. I’m unknown. I don’t have a household name, and my works are still being discovered. I know, without a doubt, that the majority of those of you who follow this blog haven’t purchased a copy of one of my books yet. Or left a review. How do I know this? Because I’ve got more people who read what I write here than I’ve received in reviews. Does it bother me? Nope. Because you’re still reading what I write. Maybe one day you’ll buy a book. Or leave a review.
Another point is that there are now 8 people in the world who know who I am as an author. They know my face and book covers/titles. They may buy a copy of one or more of them one day. Still, that’s 8 more people than even knew there was a fantasy author by the name of KateMarie Collins than there was on Saturday night. Say 3 of them actually buy, read, and review one of my books. And tell their friends. Of their friends, 2 may buy a book. Now I’ve gained another 5 readers overall.
Sales don’t happen overnight. It’s like that massive snowball rolling down the mountain. It starts with a single sale. And then another one, and another. Sometimes it’s a matter of finding enough snowflakes to even create a pea-sized snowball. But those readers who discover, and love, your work will create that hard core that other readers will be drawn to. And that snowball begins to grow in your hand. Another few months, or a year, maybe it’s big enough where you can stop shaping it in your hands and put it on the ground to push around. It takes even more time, but eventually it’ll get so big that it’ll start moving down the mountain and gathering size as it goes.
Oh! Almost forgot! Photos of the event are below!
BB
K. M. Warfield 
Thank you, Kate, for your lovely encouraging upbeat piece! You deserve bestseller status 🙂
Congrats on the signing event. The points you bring up are true and new authors have to remind themselves that a snowball starts with a single snowflake/reader. Getting that critical mass is hard work and requires time, effort, luck and perseverance.
Something else to think about regarding the number of visitors is that a good percentage of people are shy about just walking up to a stranger and starting a conversation. I wonder how many were too shy to walk up to your table and ask you about your books?
The eight people who visited with you were undoubtedly touched by your taking the time to talk to them. Thanks for sharing your experience. I just read about a well-known author who showed up at signing and three people were present. 🙂 He would have been enviable of your eight. Keep putting yourself out there!