I participated in my first book festival this past Saturday and it was wonderful! I sold four books, which is four more than I expected. What I also didn’t expect was finding a community of authors that were super supportive and eager to give advice–where to find other events, who to get in touch with about upcoming festivals, etc. I now have a renewed sense of excitement about my book (and its sequel!). I’ll admit, I’m really bad at promoting my work, and I have no budget to work with, but I sat down this past week and made 30 bookmarks (Google Slides, my trusty Canon printer, and my laminator), some notebooks, and an info board. A lot of authors had other things–flowers and banners, candy, trinkets for sale (adorable crochet dragons!!!!), and someone even had coffee, which made my heart super happy. But a lot of authors also had minimal decorations, so my table didn’t look too horribly out of place. I was super nervous going in, but had a really good day.

I guess that’s a type of bravery, too–especially when you’re an introvert like me. I was definitely out of my comfort zone at the beginning, but found myself fitting in very quickly. And for the first time in a while, I was really proud of myself.

Here’s to being brave, making new friends, and getting out of your comfort zone!