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S2 Ep28: How to work a Book Signing Event
30 Plays9 months ago
Heather and Veronica debrief Heather's experience at a book signing event. What to look out for - what you should be doing - and how you can succeed at a similar networking event.
A podcast from 1852 Media.
Recommended
Transcript
Hiatus from For Book's Sake
00:00:11
1852media
Hello, hello, and welcome back to For Book's Sake. I'm Heather Roberts.
00:00:16
Veronica Adams
I am Veronica Adams and we are 1852 Media.
00:00:20
1852media
And we were gone last week. We took a break. We took a week break.
00:00:23
Veronica Adams
Yes, we did.
00:00:25
1852media
I was traveling on Friday going to romantic on book signing event in Connecticut, Trumbull, Connecticut.
00:00:30
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:00:33
1852media
So it just, we did, yeah, it wasn't conducive to recording, unfortunately.
00:00:37
Veronica Adams
Yes, our our recording schedule needed to, the well, and I appreciated the pause, honestly, because we were dealing with the summer COVID spike here at our house. So like, it was a welcome break for us too, definitely.
00:00:46
1852media
Yeah. So yeah, I hope you all had a lovely break last week too, but we are back at it.
00:00:51
Veronica Adams
Yes.
Drama in Romance Publishing
00:00:54
1852media
And today, you know, we haven't really seen a whole lot of controversial stuff this week. um
00:00:59
Veronica Adams
Yeah, it's been very quiet in romance landia and publishing in general.
00:01:03
1852media
It has, which I'm not upset about, like, let's just keep rolling.
00:01:05
Veronica Adams
No. Yeah, I got enough drama most of the time.
00:01:06
1852media
We have enough other things. Yeah. we
00:01:09
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:01:10
1852media
We have another other drama. I feel like a lot of people's personal lives have had some random drama happening. I know we have, Veronica has a few other people I talked to this week have had weird, random, unexpected personal stuff pop up, so.
00:01:16
Veronica Adams
Like for real. Yes. Yeah.
00:01:26
Veronica Adams
Yeah, like just odd, I don't know, endings, surprises, all sorts of like, I don't know, personal drama in certain cases, but nothing bookish, which, you know, great.
00:01:32
1852media
Yeah.
00:01:39
1852media
That's fine. We don't need it to all pile on, right?
00:01:39
Veronica Adams
Great.
00:01:41
1852media
We don't need to pile on.
00:01:43
Veronica Adams
Yeah, for sure.
00:01:44
1852media
um So yeah, I hope everyone's sorting their life out.
00:01:45
Veronica Adams
So, like, for real, how how was romantic on?
Book Signing Adventure in Connecticut
00:01:51
Veronica Adams
I mean, what? i
00:01:52
1852media
Yeah, it was good.
00:01:53
Veronica Adams
Okay, you guys, you have to, she took her son, her 18-year-old son went with her.
00:01:57
1852media
Yes.
00:01:57
Veronica Adams
And I am just like so, I don't know, the kids are different. I love this. I love this that your teenage son, I mean, he's an adult, but still a teenager, right?
00:02:03
1852media
It was great.
00:02:08
1852media
Yeah.
00:02:09
Veronica Adams
um Hanging out with with the bookish babes. I love this, I mean, for him, for for for reading and and book lovers in general.
00:02:15
1852media
Yeah.
00:02:19
Veronica Adams
I mean, tell us everything.
00:02:20
1852media
It was great. Okay, so yeah, I took my son. My son has been working with us in the business, learning administrative stuff.
00:02:28
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:02:30
1852media
um And he wanted to learn more and he wanted to learn what it's like to to go to a work event, essentially.
00:02:30
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:02:36
1852media
So I was like, come on, ah come with me. I have a hotel room. You too can come and stay in it.
00:02:41
Veronica Adams
Right? Yeah.
00:02:42
1852media
um So that's what we did. And frankly, it was absolutely wonderful to have him having an assistant, having somebody there with you.
00:02:50
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:02:50
1852media
So helpful. I mean, just from the simple stuff of getting all the crap up into the room and then like getting it into the table, setting up on time.
00:02:57
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:02:59
1852media
Being able to like get up and take a break and walk away from the table and having somebody there right was really nice.
00:03:05
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:03:08
1852media
There was a lot of positives to having you know him there with me, but also he's just an extremely personable person um and he wants to learn how to talk to people right and he wants to learn how to sell things.
00:03:16
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:03:19
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:03:20
1852media
and We were selling merchandise in addition to talking about our author services. so
00:03:25
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:03:26
1852media
We had book sleeves, we had blind dates with book box or not boxes. We did have boxes, but they were pre-order only.
00:03:32
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:03:33
1852media
We have blind dates with books. um We had some key chains and bracelets, friendship bracelet style, a little, little. I guess elevated them straight up friendship bracelets. And, yeah, we had a few things that we were selling. So he had an opportunity to learn, you know, when you go to this, when you go to these events, we had an actual table with our banner, all that good stuff.
00:03:58
Veronica Adams
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:04:00
1852media
You know, you have to talk to people, you have to greet people.
00:04:03
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:04:03
1852media
You can't just, i you know, he saw the difference between sitting those that were just sitting behind their tables and letting people walk by and not saying a word. And when you engaged people, um, and said hello, because even if they didn't want to purchase anything from us, which was totally fine, right?
00:04:15
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:04:21
1852media
Like not trying to force a sale.
00:04:24
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:04:24
1852media
Um, but we have something for everybody. So there was an opera, you know, we had so many people who were like, Oh, let me just sign up for your newsletter. Let me sign up.
00:04:31
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:04:32
1852media
I'm an influencer. Let me sign up for your promoter newsletter.
00:04:35
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:04:35
1852media
and all of that. so Or at the very least, we got to put our name into their ears.
00:04:42
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:04:42
1852media
And now they've heard of us and they know who we are.
00:04:44
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:04:45
1852media
So that was the you know basic takeaway.
00:04:47
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:04:48
1852media
So he really had the opportunity to see that. He then started getting very good at engaging people. um He was out there trying to direct people into our room, because they put the vendors in a different room.
00:04:59
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:05:02
1852media
um So he was out there you know trying to direct people from the signing into the vendor room and had no shame in doing so, which was wonderful.
00:05:12
Veronica Adams
Love that.
00:05:12
1852media
And that's really, you have to have no shame when you go to these things. You know you have to be there and be ready to be on and be ready to talk to people.
00:05:20
Veronica Adams
Yeah. This is a really good, really good lesson for anybody who's attending as um someone who's going to be at a table, whether you're a vendor, a sponsor, a promoter, ah an author.
00:05:22
1852media
and
00:05:30
1852media
Yeah.
00:05:32
Veronica Adams
I mean, this is really good. And i I'm not surprised to hear of this knowing your son, right?
00:05:37
1852media
Yeah.
00:05:38
Veronica Adams
Like this sounds, you know, and he like a duck duck to water, right?
00:05:38
1852media
Right. Par for the course.
00:05:42
Veronica Adams
Like he was born for this.
00:05:42
1852media
Yeah.
00:05:44
Veronica Adams
But what I love the most is the fact that like he's into it from the book side, too. like You guys got up at the close to the end of the event, as I understand it, and like or at some point found some time to walk around and meet the authors and buy some books and just be readers for a little while.
00:05:49
1852media
Yeah.
00:05:56
1852media
Yeah.
00:05:59
1852media
Well, so when we got there on Friday, we
Mini Book Signing Success
00:06:02
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:06:02
1852media
did have a meeting that we, an author had wanted to speak with us when we when we got there.
00:06:06
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:06:07
1852media
So we got settled in our room. We ate some food because we were pretty hangry. And then I reached out to the author and we met up with her. And then after that, we were pretty free for the evening, right?
00:06:19
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:06:19
1852media
So we went and walked around the book signing event. They had on Friday night, it was free. You didn't have to purchase a ticket.
00:06:27
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:06:29
1852media
And they had what they called a mini book signing.
00:06:32
Veronica Adams
yeah
00:06:32
1852media
And some of the authors were um authors that were there as that were coming to the signing the next day as readers. And then they were invited to do this like mini book signing event that I before.
00:06:42
Veronica Adams
Sure.
00:06:43
1852media
Some were authors that were signing the next day as well. So it was like a mix that, so you know, not everybody was signing the next day.
00:06:48
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:06:49
1852media
Some people were or whatever. um And it was actually like a full fledged book signing event. So this like what was supposed to be just this like little mini signing. There was a lot of people there. A ton of people came to this and people were selling out.
00:07:02
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:07:06
1852media
um There was some authors that were like, I did not plan. for Friday night to be as you know insane as it was. So they had a lot less books for Saturday.
00:07:16
Veronica Adams
Isn't that something?
00:07:17
1852media
um Yeah, so Jesse and I walked around. We purchased some books. um he He purchased a book that he wanted and he was already halfway through it by the next day. I think he stayed up till like three o'clock in the morning reading.
00:07:31
Veronica Adams
It's a chip off the old block.
00:07:33
1852media
I know, he's now like full, he's always been a reader. But, you know, life gets in the way. He's a teenager. He has other things going on.
00:07:40
Veronica Adams
Here. Sure.
00:07:43
1852media
um But in the past week, he's read, I think, four books, um which is it's just he was constantly reading. Like, so we were.
00:07:54
Veronica Adams
He better get it in now before the syllabus is start dropping later this month and he's reading for academics rather than pleasure.
00:07:57
1852media
Yeah.
00:08:01
1852media
Right. Well, and he has a job right now that allows for reading. He can't be on his phone though, so he needs an actual paperback or, you know, he's a physical book.
00:08:01
Veronica Adams
woof
00:08:09
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Well, like when things are slow, he's allowed to pick up a book and fill some time.
00:08:13
1852media
Yes. He just can't use electronic devices.
00:08:17
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:08:17
1852media
So he was asking me what paperbacks I had, which come on have a couple. Um, and yeah, so we went through some, um, and he pulled some from there and said, now he's going through some of my paperback stash, which is great.
00:08:25
Veronica Adams
Just a few.
00:08:34
1852media
Um, but it was just so funny because he read, first he read the book that he picked out.
00:08:39
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:08:39
1852media
Then he read the book that I picked out, which frankly, I don't even know where it is right now because he hasn't given it back to me. Then he was like, I need to read book two because I need to know what happens with the, with the brother. I need to make sure he redeems himself. And I'm like, oh my god And then um I was like, okay, you know, fine. So we bought it on on Kindle. He flew through that one. And then he's like, do you have any more of this author's books? And I was like, yeah, I do. And I was actually really annoyed with myself because I actually have a whole bunch of paperbacks.
00:09:11
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:09:11
1852media
She was at the signing and I did not think to, I was so focused on everything else.
00:09:15
Veronica Adams
Girl, you missed a golden opportunity to get some autographed paperbacks.
00:09:17
1852media
I did not think,
00:09:21
1852media
I did. I didn't think about it. I was so focused on, um yeah, I did.
00:09:21
Veronica Adams
What?
00:09:26
Veronica Adams
on repping 1852, you forgot to put on your reader hat before you laughed.
00:09:31
1852media
So don't ever make that mistake. If you know an author is going to be there and you have a bunch of their paperbacks, please make sure to bring them.
00:09:33
Veronica Adams
Aww.
00:09:38
1852media
I i felt so dumb. Anyway, I found her paperbacks and so Jesse's going, he's reading through them now.
00:09:47
1852media
It's just making, I love it.
00:09:47
Veronica Adams
Love that for him.
00:09:48
Veronica Adams
So he got a little bit of a business acumen and also apparently is now fans of a new romance author too.
00:09:56
1852media
Yeah, new to him, new to him.
00:09:56
Veronica Adams
New to him, romance author.
00:09:59
1852media
She's been writing for a couple decades, but yes.
00:10:01
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah. Very, very established brand, but yes.
00:10:05
1852media
um But yeah, no, so I mean, the signing as a whole, I have like, it was run so well. It was one of the, which is why like,
00:10:14
Veronica Adams
There's a reason it's a repeat event.
00:10:16
1852media
Yeah, this is why, i like, RomanticCon, Katy Berry runs it and she has a team. And the the team, they just run it so well.
00:10:22
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:10:26
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:10:27
1852media
And they've expanded a few things every single year. They're not doing these massive big jumps, but they're expanding things up.
00:10:31
Veronica Adams
That
00:10:35
1852media
The line was absolutely insane on Saturday morning. People start, okay, the signing started at noon. People were in line before 9 a.m.
00:10:45
Veronica Adams
is insane.
00:10:46
1852media
Yeah, like just sitting, waiting in line. Because they saw this and they realized that By the time, like if we start registering people at noon, right? Like we start checking people's like badges to get in by noon, that's going to be too much.
00:11:01
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:11:04
1852media
So they started pre registering people, um, before that and going through the line, making sure everybody had like their, that they were all checked in, um, beforehand.
00:11:11
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:11:16
1852media
And it ran so smoothly. It wasn't too insane. Wasn't too packed.
00:11:21
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:11:21
1852media
Wasn't, you know, I don't know if anybody, I have not heard anybody that didn't, that had a complaint. I had a situation where I needed a tablecloth because the tablecloth that I, so I brought my own table because I wanted a long table and not a round table.
00:11:34
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Right.
00:11:40
1852media
And that's what they were offering the vendors in the vendor room. So I brought my own table and I brought a tablecloth. However, I grabbed the wrong one and I grabbed one for a round table, not a square table.
00:11:51
Veronica Adams
Oh, no.
00:11:52
1852media
Yeah, I know. Dumb Heather. um You know, when you're doing these things happen, right? Like authors, you make these, it just, these things happen.
00:12:02
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:12:02
1852media
So I went to the organizer and I was like, oh my God, like this was at eight o'clock in the morning on Saturday morning. And she's like, yeah, no problem. Take this one, you know, like, and we'll get a new one and it's fine. And you know, resolved it in two seconds. It was not a big deal.
00:12:16
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:12:18
1852media
absolutely They're just, it was absolutely lovely.
00:12:19
Veronica Adams
Contingency preparation for hiccups, like, you know, backup backups for backups.
00:12:22
1852media
Yeah. They were totally prepped.
00:12:26
Veronica Adams
Like it's, you can tell when an event is well-organized.
00:12:26
1852media
Yeah.
00:12:30
1852media
Yeah. And it wasn't any sort of like, oh my God, like hemming and hawing or even, or making me wait for a long time or, and it was resolved immediately.
00:12:34
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:12:37
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:12:39
1852media
It was great.
00:12:40
Veronica Adams
That's awesome.
00:12:41
1852media
So, and it was my fault. It wasn't their fault.
00:12:44
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:12:45
1852media
So, you know, it's not not something they did that they could have even anticipated.
00:12:45
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:12:48
Veronica Adams
Well, I mean, that's, that's a testament to how well organized it is because they're prepared.
00:12:53
1852media
Yeah.
00:12:54
Veronica Adams
Their preparation is so thorough that like this contingency, which isn't even theirs to to fix, right?
00:13:02
1852media
Right.
00:13:03
Veronica Adams
Is operational in a matter of minutes for you in a situation you sort of created for yourself.
00:13:06
1852media
Yeah.
00:13:08
Veronica Adams
Like,
RomanticCon Organization Praise
00:13:09
1852media
I did, yeah.
00:13:09
Veronica Adams
I mean, a holy shit, how well run is romantic on?
00:13:13
1852media
It really very well run and truly one of the best well run some like mid smaller mid events.
00:13:14
Veronica Adams
Obviously very well. Yeah.
00:13:22
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:13:22
1852media
I wouldn't call it a small event anymore.
00:13:23
Veronica Adams
Well, no, but it's, it's not convention center, five day, like book bonanza, a polycon size either.
00:13:24
1852media
It's definitely more midsize.
00:13:28
1852media
now No,
00:13:31
Veronica Adams
So, um, yeah.
00:13:34
1852media
They had panels on Friday.
00:13:34
Veronica Adams
ah Yes.
00:13:35
1852media
So they had reader panels.
00:13:36
Veronica Adams
Anyway.
00:13:37
1852media
And then they had this, you know, they had a reader luncheon with some authors. And then they had this mini signing event on Friday night.
00:13:44
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:13:45
1852media
So that was like the extra day that they put on for the for the event. But, you know, they didn't have, um there was no ball. There was no like, you know, after party thing or to everybody just sort of did their own thing afterwards. But that's honestly,
00:14:00
Veronica Adams
No random hotel guests assaulting people on the dance floor.
00:14:05
1852media
ah Right. But that was fine.
00:14:06
Veronica Adams
Yeah. and
00:14:07
1852media
Everybody had their own thing to do. It's not like, and if you didn't have anything to do, you could go down to the lobby where literally everybody was hanging out and people were playing card games.
00:14:17
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:14:19
1852media
People were just like chatting with one another.
00:14:20
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:14:22
1852media
Like, yeah.
00:14:23
Veronica Adams
Some of my favorite event activities are just like hanging out at the bar in the hotel, right? Like have a glass of wine, chat with everybody, just like hang out, you know, when the actual event is over or between events or whatever.
00:14:28
1852media
Yeah.
00:14:33
1852media
yeah
00:14:37
Veronica Adams
Sometimes you just have the best time just being kind of casual and friendly and socializing a little bit, you know?
00:14:37
1852media
Yeah.
00:14:43
1852media
Exactly.
00:14:44
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:14:45
1852media
So yeah, and it was fun. And the authors were down there doing and hanging out too.
00:14:48
Veronica Adams
Mm-hmm.
00:14:48
1852media
So it was like, it was just a really chill, wonderful event.
00:14:51
Veronica Adams
Love it. Love it.
00:14:53
1852media
I will say there was about, let's see, like 100, over 100 authors signing on Saturday.
00:14:58
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:14:59
1852media
And then I think they had, they sold about 500 tickets, which I think is pretty accurate for how many people were there.
00:15:06
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:15:08
1852media
Um, so yeah, like we're not talking about a thousand, like less than a thousand person event.
00:15:10
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:15:13
1852media
Um, by the time you have assistance and all that sort of stuff in there, right. But that's frankly, great. Like it was great.
00:15:20
Veronica Adams
yeah
00:15:21
1852media
It was wonderful.
00:15:22
Veronica Adams
Well, it's one of those things where it's not too crazy, right? um There's still a really, really good representation among the signing authors, obviously.
00:15:30
1852media
Yeah.
00:15:31
Veronica Adams
How many vendors were in the vendor room with you?
00:15:35
1852media
20 maybe? I'm trying to think.
00:15:36
Veronica Adams
That's pretty good.
00:15:37
1852media
I don't want one, two, three, four, five, six, maybe, maybe 15.
00:15:41
Veronica Adams
She's literally counting the map in her head right now.
00:15:43
1852media
Yeah. Maybe 15, something like that.
00:15:47
1852media
Like it was a decent amount. Like it wasn't, yeah. And we were in between, everybody sold something pretty different too.
00:15:47
Veronica Adams
Still still good.
00:15:55
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:15:55
1852media
um We were in between a lovely lady that sold jewelry and honestly it was terrible for Jesse because he like wanted everything from her table.
00:16:05
Veronica Adams
He's so funny.
00:16:06
1852media
He was like, we got there and he like went over, he's like, let me go see what she's selling, right? So he goes over there and he's like, oh my God, I need this. And then he's like looking at other stuff. And I was like, all right, you get like you get like one, right? Like we have it but haven't even like started, but he ended up with three necklaces.
00:16:20
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah. Right.
00:16:27
1852media
So that's how that went, but.
00:16:30
Veronica Adams
What do the kids say?
00:16:30
1852media
My child, he he likes he likes to be dripped out. is That's the phrasing these days.
00:16:35
Veronica Adams
Yes, he does.
00:16:36
1852media
He likes to be dripped out.
00:16:38
Veronica Adams
He does.
00:16:38
1852media
But they were really unique pieces that he had not really seen before. so and And he's wearing them.
00:16:42
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:16:44
1852media
so
00:16:44
Veronica Adams
I learned my lesson when I sent him earrings after he got his ears pierced and he didn't really care for them. I was like, fine. I'm just going to get him gift cards forever because like, apparently I don't know what's drippy.
00:16:51
1852media
yeah i don't eitherer I don't either.
00:16:55
Veronica Adams
I don't know how to, at like, I also have no Riz.
00:16:57
1852media
don't either.
00:16:58
Veronica Adams
So like, it's fine.
00:17:00
1852media
Same, same.
00:17:01
Veronica Adams
I'm just not cool. I'm a middle-aged middle-aged lady.
00:17:02
1852media
I would never have picked out the things. Yeah, the things that he picked out, I would not have picked out for him.
00:17:08
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:17:09
1852media
So I have no concept of what the style is.
00:17:09
Veronica Adams
Right. Right. Yeah.
00:17:13
1852media
Very cool pieces he picked out.
00:17:15
Veronica Adams
Sure.
00:17:15
1852media
I just would not have picked them out.
00:17:18
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:17:18
1852media
I would not have been like, oh yeah, that's for him because he he's so eclectic.
00:17:21
Veronica Adams
Yes. Mm-hmm.
00:17:23
1852media
He likes so many different things.
00:17:26
Veronica Adams
I think that's sort of a hallmark of their generation, though, is that they're all so comfortable expressing themselves that there really isn't a specific rule about what is cool.
00:17:26
1852media
um
00:17:32
1852media
Yeah.
00:17:34
Veronica Adams
It's like, this is who I am, and this is what I like, and this is how I'm expressing myself. And they're just totally relaxed about it. like There's no pressure to conform, at least not with aesthetics.
00:17:40
1852media
Yeah.
00:17:44
1852media
Yeah, they the yeah with aesthetic for sure. No.
00:17:47
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:17:48
1852media
So yeah, it was really cool. He was he was all about, you know, he we matched on Saturday, which was cute too.
00:17:53
Veronica Adams
Oh my God, you guys are the cutest.
00:17:54
1852media
like Yeah, so he was wearing like a white button down in black pants.
00:17:59
Veronica Adams
I love it.
00:18:00
1852media
I had a black and white shirt on and a black skirt. Yeah, it was great.
00:18:03
Veronica Adams
I love it.
00:18:04
1852media
It was very cute. And we did have a, we had another hiccup that was not at all like romantic unrelated, but so we drove, we drove there.
Family Dining and Travel Challenges
00:18:16
1852media
It was about driving.
00:18:16
Veronica Adams
Yes. Well, you're not that far. I mean, regionally, you are relatively close to romantic on so.
00:18:18
1852media
Yeah. Yeah.
00:18:23
1852media
So driving there took about five hours with traffic, okay?
00:18:26
Veronica Adams
OK.
00:18:27
1852media
We got there, we, yeah, with traffic, yeah.
00:18:28
Veronica Adams
Damn, really?
00:18:31
Veronica Adams
What?
00:18:32
1852media
Driving home, it took me about four hours and 20 minutes.
00:18:36
Veronica Adams
Gosh, I would have thought it would have been a much shorter drive, but I guess I don't I don't account for like population density in New England, too, because it's like a small area with lots of people.
00:18:38
1852media
It's because, it's because we're so far in, yeah.
00:18:47
1852media
We're so far north in Vermont too, that we have to travel all the way across Vermont to be able to get to Massachusetts and Connecticut.
00:18:50
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:18:52
Veronica Adams
Oh, that's true. You guys might as well be Canadian at this point.
00:18:54
1852media
So basically, I mean, anyway, that's
00:19:00
Veronica Adams
yeah That's for another podcast.
00:19:03
1852media
for another podcast. But so we get there, we park, you know, like we unload everything. We go and we park the truck.
00:19:11
Veronica Adams
yeah right
00:19:13
1852media
and we go in, you know, that evening or whatever, we come, we go to the signing. on Friday night and then Jesse's like, you know, I really am craving like, you know, some Asian food.
00:19:22
Veronica Adams
yeah
00:19:27
1852media
And I was like, all right, all right, bro, let's look and see what's close by because let's be honest in Vermont, we don't have a ton of amazing options. We have some Asian food restaurants, but oftentimes when we leave Vermont, we get access to better things food wise.
00:19:38
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:19:41
Veronica Adams
Sure. Sure.
00:19:45
1852media
um Of course, Asian food specifically.
00:19:48
1852media
So I found this one place, Sushi 2020 is what it's called. Big shout out to that restaurant because it's so good. If you're ever near Trumbull, Connecticut, oh my God. So we go, well, we went, we go to go, go to go.
00:19:48
Veronica Adams
Well.
00:20:01
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:20:02
1852media
And the battery is dead.
00:20:06
1852media
Dead.
00:20:08
1852media
And so I'm like, ah, sweet mother of Lord. So I have to call, well, i you know we have roadside assistance. So I use with our insurance company.
00:20:18
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:20:20
1852media
So I use that to get somebody to come out and jump us.
00:20:23
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:20:24
1852media
We're gonna have to call AutoZone and make sure that they have our battery in stock.
00:20:26
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:20:28
1852media
Let them know that we're on the way.
00:20:29
Veronica Adams
Yep.
00:20:30
1852media
Can they change it for us? They say, yes, great. So we have to do that to hold two hour extravaganza. to get our battery changed, which the battery was five years old and it it'll had a good strong showing and then it just decided to die.
00:20:41
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Right.
00:20:52
Veronica Adams
Listen, they, that, that happens. They are not meant to last forever.
00:20:53
1852media
Now, I wish there was some type of warning beforehand, but yeah, yeah.
00:20:56
Veronica Adams
I mean, five years on one is sure. That's pretty good though. Five years out of one.
00:21:04
1852media
So then we had to go do that. And then after that was done, Jessie was like, can we still go to sushi 2020?
00:21:10
Veronica Adams
This kid needs, this kid needs some noodles and some sushi, like feed him mom.
00:21:10
1852media
And I was, I know. So we did, we ended up going. I was paranoid the whole time because obviously I now had an experience where we're five hours away from my house and I had a vehicle that wasn't functioning. So I was like mentally freaking out a little bit, but it it was, I mean, it was just the battery.
00:21:31
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:21:32
1852media
So, um, hilariously or not hilariously, we literally two days before we left put brand new tires on the truck because we didn't want to drive with, and we knew our tires seemed to be changed. We didn't want to drive that far with
00:21:44
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:46
1852media
with older tires.
00:21:47
Veronica Adams
For sure.
00:21:47
1852media
So we literally had just put brand new tires on the truck. and So now we have new tires and a new battery.
00:21:53
Veronica Adams
Hey, hey, hey.
00:21:54
1852media
um Hey, hey, it's just crazy.
00:21:57
Veronica Adams
You ready for a cross country road trip now?
00:21:58
1852media
So that was, yeah, we were we were expecting, like that was the first bad thing. It had to be like bad things, personal life.
00:22:04
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:22:07
1852media
At least it's not business related, you're right? Like everything business related, I felt went really, really well.
00:22:09
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:22:12
1852media
And I feel like other authors felt the same at the event.
00:22:14
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:22:16
1852media
Yeah, it's just like, it's always something, right?
00:22:16
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:22:18
1852media
It's always something.
00:22:19
Veronica Adams
Listen, this is part of the excitement of travel, right? See what's going to happen that's completely out of my control because it will be something.
00:22:28
1852media
Oh, yeah, it will be something.
00:22:29
Veronica Adams
It will be something. Yeah, no, it sounds like it was really worth your while, though.
00:22:34
1852media
Yeah.
00:22:35
Veronica Adams
And also, I just I just love Jay being involved. Like, it just tickles me.
00:22:39
1852media
Yeah.
Rediscovering a Love for Reading
00:22:41
1852media
Well, he's super into into it now. Now he's helping me with some more stuff, business-wise.
00:22:45
Veronica Adams
Awesome.
00:22:46
1852media
And him reading you know the the books, he has he's read where he's read romance books before.
00:22:46
Veronica Adams
Awesome.
00:22:49
Veronica Adams
Uh-huh.
00:22:52
1852media
I am not a parent that ever limited his his reading.
00:22:53
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:22:55
Veronica Adams
Gate kept.
00:22:56
1852media
Yeah, if he wanted to read it, it was pretty much open season on reading.
00:22:56
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:23:03
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:23:03
1852media
I'm just happy you're reading books. um And for us, at least, when he started reading the taboo, like taboo books, right? Like books that are spicy is what I'll label taboo.
00:23:16
Veronica Adams
So books was sex in them.
00:23:18
1852media
Books with sex in them, more language.
00:23:18
Veronica Adams
or or language, or both.
00:23:21
1852media
he He read several of those and then like sort of, you know, the novelty wore off and he suddenly wanted something that was more, like he started asking for books that were more age appropriate.
00:23:27
Veronica Adams
Sure.
00:23:34
Veronica Adams
Yeah, well, um you dee if you demystify the forbidden, a lot of times they realize they're not really interested in it.
00:23:34
1852media
um
00:23:39
Veronica Adams
Sounds like you guys did exactly what you should have done and just like, yeah, here, this this is what it's like.
00:23:39
1852media
Yeah. There you go.
00:23:44
Veronica Adams
if If you enjoy it fine, but also,
00:23:47
1852media
Yeah.
00:23:48
Veronica Adams
apparently Apparently it just wasn't for him at that point. like
00:23:50
1852media
He got bored of it very quickly of the, you know, and there were contemporary romances with sex in them. And he, you know, it was very titillating. And then suddenly he got bored of it.
00:24:02
1852media
ah He was like,
00:24:02
Veronica Adams
Number one complaint of authors about writing is I just, you've run out of ways to describe.
00:24:08
1852media
Yeah, yeah.
00:24:09
Veronica Adams
sex and body parts and things that happen in intimate setting so situations and settings.
00:24:12
1852media
Mm-hmm.
00:24:16
Veronica Adams
um And to hear that your teenage son also sort of felt like maybe it was just a little too pedestrian after a while and he was ready for something different.
00:24:21
1852media
Yeah.
00:24:24
Veronica Adams
just
00:24:25
1852media
It's just so funny. Yeah, so he was like 12, 13 in that age range, somewhere around there.
00:24:28
Veronica Adams
Oh wow, at like 13.
00:24:32
1852media
Oh yeah, yeah.
00:24:34
Veronica Adams
ah
00:24:34
1852media
Well, and then he started wanting more like YA style books.
00:24:39
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:24:39
1852media
So there was still, you know, that was great.
00:24:41
Veronica Adams
Things written for him.
00:24:42
1852media
Yeah, but now that he's older, he's trying, you know, he's back, he's reading, I think this is his first time reading romance novels now that he's like an actual adult.
00:24:48
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:24:52
Veronica Adams
yeah
00:24:53
1852media
And he's like super, he's like loving it now, because you now he can appreciate the plot lines and this story.
00:24:59
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:24:59
1852media
He was reading one book and he, in the drive home, which bless him, I used to be able to read in Cars 2, and I wish I still could.
00:25:09
Veronica Adams
I have never in my entire life been able to read on a moving, I can't even read on a plane.
00:25:09
1852media
by
00:25:14
1852media
Yeah, i it makes me so nauseous now.
00:25:17
Veronica Adams
Uh-huh, yeah. Yeah.
00:25:18
1852media
um I can't, even reading my phone, like I can't.
00:25:22
Veronica Adams
No.
00:25:22
1852media
So he's reading a whole ass book, okay?
00:25:26
Veronica Adams
Good for him.
00:25:26
1852media
and All the way home. And he's like, had to put it down. He's like, I'm getting so emotional. Why am I so emotional? And I was like, yeah.
00:25:33
Veronica Adams
These books are designed to do, Jay. They are an emotional experience.
00:25:36
1852media
He's like, I'm...
00:25:37
Veronica Adams
We live in a world that forces you to suppress your emotions, and reading romance is one of the best ways to just sort of lean into those feelings you have that you're not allowed to give into and express in your daily life.
00:25:48
1852media
Yeah.
00:25:48
Veronica Adams
Come jump in the pool. The water is great.
00:25:51
1852media
I know. It was just so cool to watch it happen in real time.
00:25:55
Veronica Adams
I love this for him.
00:25:56
1852media
And he's like, I just relate to these people. He's like, I know he's going to make the wrong decision. I know he's going to.
00:26:03
Veronica Adams
Of course he is.
00:26:03
1852media
Yeah.
00:26:03
Veronica Adams
What a race.
00:26:06
1852media
It's so funny. oh So great.
00:26:09
Veronica Adams
you
00:26:10
1852media
And he's just like, why am I getting so emotional? He's like, this is so, he's like, oh and so he puts the book down. And then like three minutes later, he grabs it back again. He's like, I need to know. I need to, he's like, I left them at a bad scene. I need to know what happens.
00:26:25
Veronica Adams
Oh yeah.
00:26:27
1852media
So I was like, that is the mark of a very good writer when they can grab you like that and you know pull those emotions from you.
00:26:29
Veronica Adams
Yes. Yes.
00:26:35
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:26:36
1852media
So it's really cool that he's back into you know those reading that and having that experience. And he's told me multiple times this week like how much he's missed.
00:26:43
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:26:47
1852media
He didn't realize how much he missed reading until he's you know been reading again.
00:26:49
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Yeah.
00:26:51
1852media
And it just, cause yeah, it like, it opens your mind, it opens your world and allows you to experience other emotions, other feelings, other worlds than you, you know.
00:26:55
Veronica Adams
Completely. Yes.
00:26:59
Veronica Adams
Mm hmm. He'd be really great for your creativity, your interpersonal ability to relate to others.
00:27:04
1852media
her
00:27:06
Veronica Adams
like It's just so so good for you mentally and and so ah spiritually even. you know like Good for him.
00:27:13
1852media
Yeah.
00:27:16
1852media
and
00:27:16
Veronica Adams
And I love the fact that he's allowing himself to read a genre that maybe his contemporaries would not necessarily have a lot of interest in.
00:27:24
1852media
Right. Well, I feel like if anything, he's going to be the proponent of, you know, getting romance books in front of, you know, especially male younger readers, because he's not a bash to say that he read something, you know, he'll be like, yo, know this was a good book.
00:27:29
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:27:34
Veronica Adams
You're sorry.
00:27:39
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:27:40
1852media
Like, you need to go read this.
00:27:41
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:27:41
1852media
Like, so I think it's great. And it it's allowing him to pick up something. I think it was just really fun to see in real time that sort of like, you know Because we read so much now that it's just second nature commonplace.
00:27:55
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:27:57
Veronica Adams
For sure.
00:27:57
1852media
But to see like a person who picks up reading again just experience the joy of reading again, it reminded me like why I love what I do so much.
00:28:03
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:28:08
Veronica Adams
For sure. For sure.
00:28:10
1852media
It's just a really nice reminder.
00:28:12
Veronica Adams
Yeah. Oh my God.
00:28:13
1852media
Yeah,
00:28:14
Veronica Adams
What a wonderful weekend you guys had though. Like mother-son bonding time, business development time.
00:28:16
1852media
yeah we really did. Yeah.
00:28:21
Veronica Adams
Like he's learning and growing. You are hustling and you know, taking care of 1852 like you always do. And then you guys are having like this little, I don't know, interpersonal mother-son like
00:28:29
1852media
Yeah.
00:28:35
1852media
Well, that's so that was one of the reasons.
00:28:36
Veronica Adams
It's just so nice, right?
00:28:36
1852media
Yeah. Yeah.
00:28:38
Veronica Adams
Like family time plus business time.
00:28:39
1852media
And
00:28:41
Veronica Adams
I mean, come on now.
00:28:42
1852media
It was great. his He and his dad spend a lot more, I don't wanna say a lot more time together, but they spend more like solid time together than he and I do because they like the same kind of shows.
00:28:47
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:28:51
Veronica Adams
Sure. Yeah.
00:28:56
1852media
they you know like They'll sit and watch shows together and I have, yeah, interest-wise, yeah.
00:28:57
Veronica Adams
Yes.
00:29:00
Veronica Adams
There's a lot more intersectionality. There's a crossover between their personal interests. Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:06
1852media
So Jess and I usually do like creative things together um and stuff like that.
00:29:10
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:29:11
1852media
but He and I haven't had like a whole weekend where it was just him and me in a long time.
00:29:13
Veronica Adams
Mm-hmm.
00:29:17
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:29:17
1852media
So it was really cool to get to spend that time together, especially because he's going away to college here shortly and it was fun.
00:29:21
Veronica Adams
Love that. Yeah.
00:29:26
1852media
But yeah, then we watched, we came home and we ended up watching a movie the other night together as a family, which is really nice.
00:29:32
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:29:33
1852media
We watched the big Lebowski.
00:29:35
Veronica Adams
Fun.
00:29:36
1852media
Yeah, so we had a lot of great family time recently.
00:29:39
1852media
He had never seen it. And okay, he asked...
00:29:39
Veronica Adams
and so
00:29:42
Veronica Adams
i'm I'm honestly, I'm gonna say this, unpopular opinion, not a big fan, one of my husband's favorite movies of all time.
00:29:49
1852media
It's a cult classic, okay?
00:29:50
Veronica Adams
It is, it is.
00:29:52
1852media
And Jesse wanted us to explain it to him. He's like, what's it about? And I was like, I couldn't explain it if I tried.
00:30:00
Veronica Adams
You just sort of have to watch it, it's an experience.
00:30:01
1852media
like It's one of those things, it is an experience.
00:30:06
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:30:07
1852media
And um so yeah, so now he's he he understands it a lot more. And I remember after that movie, it came out, everything was fucking A, fucking A, fucking A.
00:30:18
Veronica Adams
Yeah. God, how long how long was that part of the lexicon, right? Like, fucking A.
00:30:23
1852media
So long. And I totally forgot about it until we watched it again.
00:30:27
Veronica Adams
Uh-huh.
00:30:27
1852media
And I was like, that is where that came from, fucking A.
00:30:29
Veronica Adams
Fucking A.
00:30:32
1852media
So funny.
00:30:34
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:30:34
1852media
Oh, the dude.
00:30:36
1852media
You know, I, yeah. But we had some really good family time and yeah.
00:30:36
Veronica Adams
yeah
00:30:39
Veronica Adams
Yeah. There's a beverage here, man.
00:30:45
1852media
So much.
00:30:46
Veronica Adams
My husband drank white Russians for a really long time because of that movie.
00:30:48
1852media
Oh no. Oh no, I was not influenced to have one of those.
00:30:53
Veronica Adams
Oh, wow. He's a dude though, right?
00:30:55
1852media
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:30:58
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:30:58
1852media
It's all good.
00:31:00
Veronica Adams
Oh, that's so funny.
Weekend Reflections and Gains
00:31:02
1852media
Yeah, great weekend. And if you go to one of these weekends, you really it is what you make of it. It's what you make of it.
00:31:07
Veronica Adams
Yes! Yes.
00:31:09
1852media
So that's my thing. Like, that's why I'm telling the stories about like, you know, we didn't have a perfect weekend, you know, there were definitely things that were not um
00:31:14
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:31:19
1852media
yeah planned for, there were hiccups, but it was a great weekend overall.
00:31:20
Veronica Adams
Right.
00:31:25
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:31:25
1852media
And we really had a good time and got to talk to a lot of great people.
00:31:30
Veronica Adams
Love that.
00:31:31
1852media
Loved, yeah, loved having with authors and influencers and readers and all of that.
00:31:35
Veronica Adams
For sure.
00:31:37
1852media
So I think next time we had a suggestion that we break down um foreign rights and
00:31:46
Veronica Adams
Yeah, someone, someone suggested we put our lawyer hats back on and like, I mean, okay, fine.
00:31:52
1852media
Yeah, pull my arm. So I think next time we talk about, unless something crazy happens, we'll talk about that too, which is possible.
00:31:59
Veronica Adams
Which.
00:32:02
1852media
Yeah, um well, but we'll talk about foreign rights and what it looks like and how you can position yourself to to get there.
00:32:05
Veronica Adams
Yeah.
00:32:10
Veronica Adams
Awesome.
00:32:10
1852media
So,
00:32:11
Veronica Adams
That sounds like a great, great chat. I will look forward to that.
00:32:14
1852media
me too.
00:32:15
Veronica Adams
And thank you, Suggestor, for the suggestion.
00:32:16
1852media
Oh, yes, thank you.
00:32:22
1852media
was like i didn't mean to press the button
00:32:48
1852media
I was like, I didn't mean to press the button.