Waiting...waiting...and scheming

apple blossom on the Cortland tree

Yes, a new batch of books have been ordered and yes, I continue to take orders and make a nice fat list of who gets a book from the second batch. I haven't heard the ETA of the shipment but suspect it will be about a week.

So I am catching up with the other work of being a subsistence farmer in Appalachia--harvesting herbs, veg, berries and processing all that for the winter.

Also, eating it.

The beautiful kale keeps producing prolifically and I am happy for it.  And the big patch of blackberries in the yard has to be picked pretty much every day.  Tomorrow I start processing apples--they will be cleaned, peeled, chopped and frozen for hard cider a little later in the season.

Mmmm cider.

And I am booking some book talks here and there.  I'm waiting to hear from Malaprop's and Blue Ridge but have a gig at City Lights in Sylva at the end of August.  Lots of sweet reviews are flowing in and there may be one in Rapid River, in the August magazine.

I'm already scheming about how to spend some time in the high country, talking to old folks and to practitioners of the kind of work I do.  Drinking some strong coffee and setting on the porch.  I hope I can make that happen sooner rather than later.

If you are waiting on a book--thank you for your patience.  And if you'd like to order a book, well, let me know.

and I peeked around the corner--there were more people

Hi, all. I'm trying to get my life back to what passes for normal and catching up with blogging is one of my happy chores.  I wanted to tell you all about the launch party on Friday night--it was worth all the nail-biting of publication to be in that happy crowd, reading from this little book.

I arrived with husband, daughter and friend around 5 to set the bookstore up for the party. We set out food on the table that Lewis had set in the back and put the iced tea in the fridge to chill a bit longer. People started arriving soon after and all the chairs were filled when Patrick introduced my near 6:30.  I talked for a bit about the making of the book, read a couple of passage and then answered questions.  When everyone was tired of hearing me talk, I went to a different table and started signing books.

I had no idea how many people were around the corners of the shop--people I couldn't see from my perch in the front of the chairs.

That was especially nice.  In a way, it must be sad for famous authors who only scrawl their name in the front of the book.  I knew many of the people who stood in front of the table and it was my delight to say something very specific to them about how we knew each other. It was like signing yearbooks in high school--except: no high school.

We sold out of the first printing of this first edition but more are on the way from the publisher. And now I can think about more ways to get the word out about this little book.

I've had some nice reviews from friends and colleagues--

"Nearly finished reading Staubs and Ditchwater by Miz Byron Ballard. I love it SO much. Practical, powerful home-grown wisdom."  Rose


 "Love the book! I can hardly put mine down. I certainly hope you'll be writing another. 


Funny, thoughtful, and informative. Not to be missed. A must have! Thank you so much!" 


Mari

Today is the Day

and it's a good day for a launch party, don't you think?  I'm supplying many of the treats so my friend Star and I will be chopping up vegetables for a nice tray and I'll make some ham biscuits and sweet tea.

The Moon Pies were acquired yesterday.

In addition to catering, I've also been thinking about what to say when I'm introduced tonight.  Who I want to acknowledge and thank, what I can say about the journey from practicing folk magic to writing about it.  I have a little list of people--some of whom will be there--but I want to have it in my head about what I say about the process.  I could trust to chance--but who knows what would come out of my mouth?  I think I'll be too excited and freaked out to be wholly reliable.

Orders are now coming in and I am filling them as quickly as I can. My dining room table has become the Staubs and Ditchwater Order Fulfillment Center and I'm grateful to have such a nice problem.  I've mailed out almost all of the pre-orders--I needed a couple of addresses but those are in hand now and the remaining 3-4 will go out today.

I've had the enviable position of wondering if I'll have enough copies for the launch tonight.  Accent on Books only has one copy left of the ten I left on consignment, and I only have 35 copies left of the initial print run.  The publisher is ordering more on Monday, so running out of copies tonight would be kind of nice actually.  Especially if we run out as the last person who wants one today gets her copy.

If you're out and about this evening in the Asheville area, come by the store at 854 Merrimon Avenue and have a snack and a sip of tea with us. I, for one, am planning to have fun.

Signing and Mailing

At my little table, signing the pre-sells.

I've been feeling like a "real" author these days.  Which is funny considering I've been writing for years, have been published in all sorts of places and had plays produced locally ad regionally. But there's something about holding a little book in your hand--one that is all yours--that feels different.

All the people who believed in me enough to pre-buy the book--even before it went to the publisher--deserved a little something extra.  So I made handmade bookmarks as a thank you.  Each bookmark has a pendant that is a red dirt talisman.

So preparing the books for shipping was about signing them, creating a bookmark, making a cute shipping label, wrapping the book in tissue paper, tucking the bookmark in, popping it into a mailer, then going to the post office.

Which I did today.  Well, the post office part.  A really nice postal worker named Rick chatted to me through the whole--one by one--process. It was a great pleasure to have them on their way to the good folks who were waiting for them.

There were several to be hand-delivered and I've started that process, too.  But for now, I am focusing on Friday's book launch party.

It's in My Hands---and Out the Door

I picked up a couple of boxes of books from the publisher a couple of days ago and am now fulfilling those pre-pub orders.  I thought I was more or less ready but am finding that there were several more things I could've done to get ready for this wild rush.

I had acquired padded  mailers and counted them out.

I had printed out labels, but hadn't addressed them.

I had started the red dirt talismans but still had to pour the liquid resin in.

I had designed the bookmarks but hadn't figured out the text. Or printed them out.

I had chosen a date for the launch party but hadn't created a poster.

It's been a bit hectic--but in a nice way--around here.  I'm spending the rest of today tucking a wee bookmark into each book, signing it to the person who purchases it, wrapping it in some tissue paper and sealing it into its mailer.  Then the label. Then the post office.

And it is all great fun.