Where’s Mine?

Don’t you just love stepping into Barnes and Noble? Perhaps Books-A-Million. How about the corner mom and pop bookstore? It's one of my favorite adventures.

 Upon arrival, I find myself surrounded by wizards and vampires, kings and queens. I encounter serial killers and their victims. There are books to help me lose weight, find my karma, inspire my life. Books that feed my soul, books that hold recipes to feed my body.

I love the sights, the sounds, but most of all the hope I receive when I cross the threshold of my local bookstore. I sometimes let my mind wander and visualize the table where I’ll sit when I autograph my first book. Silly, I know, but I believe I will someday be there. After all there are thousands of books. All written by someone. Why not me.

At a recent conference I attended there was a workshop on the industry and e-books. I felt like I was sitting around a campfire trading ghost stories. Any minute the boogieman would appear holding the dreaded        e-book…the bane of writers everywhere. How scary is that. Will this new mode of communication hurt or help the publishing industry? Well, duh – help, of course. Someone still has to write the words.

When I write my picture books I put on my illustrators hat and visualize them not only as traditional books, but as e-books. How cool would it be to see the characters I develop actually move. How about highlighting the words as they are read by the invisible reader. Or, turning off the sound and a parent can read the words. Just like in old fashion, turn the page, books. Ah, the possibilities for this business of ours!

So, where’s mine. Well, it’s probably sitting in some slush pile in the land of words and phrases. But, hey I have to start somewhere.

Get ready to set up that table, Barnes and Noble, I plan to be there SOMEDAY.