Chasing Possibility
Since I made this blog and Google insist on linking it to me I guess I should use it. This idea first started because a friend and I were going to blog about a bunch of random stuff being that we're very random people - but it never came into fruition. Why? well, she's pretty busy - just finished her Masters in Journalism and is now in law school and as for me ... I am the queen of a good ideas. I get pregnant with them, get excited throw myself a good ol' idea baby shower and then something happens - uh...not quite an abortion but I just kinda stop being pregnant. And I'm ok with this simply because I have so many great ideas (at least 1 good strong one with 5 mini-kinda good ones a day) that I can afford not to act on them all. I am confident in my ability to be a great idea maker. I am confident in the universes ability to keep on sending them.
Here's the idea, everyday I seem to find myself chasing the possibility of something. I never know how these plights will pan out. So I say here is as good a spot as any (ooooh, I'll probably add these to my wordpress blog as well being that I haven't seemed to be able to put anything there either - http://www.tineshadavis.com/) to capture my journeys that are completely random and so full with possibility.
So here's the deal, yesterday I was told by my friend (uh, can I call you that :-) ) Victoria Christopher Murray to go over to the Borders in Largo, Maryland and see a man named Leo (sounds kinda godfather mafioso, huh). She said that particular Borders was the number 1 selling store of African-American books in the nation. Wow! My dilemma: I have two very different book covers for the same book and can't decide which to go with for the campaign "face" of the book. She told me in the world of branding I ultimately want one look and feel to be on my promotion material, marketing material, books stores what have you. So we (the publisher and I) printed a test case of 250 of each cover thinking one would clearly out-perform the other. Not happening. Both books are equal and I have no clear statistics as to why. That's where Leo comes in. She said what he says, take it as the gospel - Leo knows how to sell a book.
So I woke up Saturday morning excited (I wake up every morning excited) and at 9am I called the Borders in Largo. They tell me Leo will be in after one. Great. But there's a dilemma: My sister will be meeting me in Richmond to pick up another box of books (44) and drop off her kids (no, not an exchange - but that's another story (a good one) that we won't get into - for now let's file it under "working it out"). This meant I could meet my sister at 2 and go to Borders from there or .... well there wasn't an or. It should also be noted, this particular Borders is an hour from my house and Richmond is 2 hours.
So the meeting time with my sister went from meeting at 2 to her leaving at 2 to her being late. How late wasn't defined. I saw this as my opportunity to go to the Borders and worse case situation my sister would just have to wait for me at the meeting point - King's Dominion (we like to be scenic - any ol' truck stop won't do). My instinct told me if I was to meet Leo, it had to be now. Something said he wouldn't be in on Sunday. Something told me I wouldn't be able to squeeze it in on Monday and Tuesday I leave for Vegas.
Now here's the Chasing part: I was driving over an hour to meet a man who I still hadn't confirmed if he was in for certain or not. I was driving over an hour to get a decision on which book cover to use.
Here's the possibility part: I wanted to walk away with a clear decision on the cover. I wanted to walk away with an in store booksigning. I wanted to walk away closer to the next thing (and we always leave he next thing undefined - because its always bigger than us).
Here's what happened: I got to the store, slid into a great parking spot, asked for Leo, met Leo and he was fabulous. Sooooo nice and personable. At the end of the day he ordered then and there $675 worth of books. Signed me up for 3 book events with the possibility of more on the horizon, put my book in the Borders book system (now all the Borders can order them as well as customers can go in and ask for it and it'll actually pop up), and gave me two end aisle locations where the books will be displayed in the store. Wow!!!!
Wonder what possibilities today will hold.