Photo Friday: The Meeting

Well, we are finally to the post about my all day meetings at Sourcebooks (my publisher). The photo is of the actual meeting room, where we were most of the day. And yes, I'm the total and complete dork who snapped the pic when I was reasonably sure that no one was looking! My editor, Peter and I stayed put in the room while teams of people came to the room to meet with us. The teams included such areas as marketing, publicity, and sales, and such sub-areas as non-bookstore sales, and museum sales.

I have to say...my mind was sufficiently blown! Each group was well-prepared. Some had power points to help with explanations, others had stacks of notes. It is surreal to hear people talking about your book, your baby, as if it's the most beautiful baby in the world too. I mean, you know it's beautiful. Of course it's beautiful -- it's a reflection of YOU. But to hear people talk about it that way, it's just an amazing experience that I hope all of you get to experience one day!

Unlike horror stories I'd heard, the team at Sourcebooks made a point of making me a part of the team. They asked questions. They were enthusiastic about my book. They offered ideas I hadn't thought of. And when I offered suggestions, they ran with it and made it bigger than I could have thought of. Just amazing!

The hardest question I was asked was, "Who are the first 5,000 people your book will sell to?" And then, "Who will it sell to after that?" Of course, I started with my mom, my sisters, my aunts. But apparently that wasn't the point. Can YOU, my fellow writers, answer those questions? Hard, isn't it?