Seeing my book for the first time in stores was almost like seeing a winged pig fly by my window. It was unreal. I mean there was a slim chance it could happen, the book in stores that is – not the winged pig. When Chapters/Indigo/Coles agreed to stock my book at their local stores, I was over the moon. Not in the flying pig sense but certainly in the riding high, in a luxury jet sense, glass of wine in hand.
Once I knew they were on the shelves, naturally I planned my route and went on a book tour … not to talk to people, simply to see my books, in store. I might not go to all of them, just a couple, to see where my book had landed. Who would its shelf mates be? Would my book hold its ground, stand out and make a statement? I needed to know and well, you did too.
When I arrived at the Chapters in Ancaster, I went straight for the teen section, calmly. I was not running folks, I was totally casual, just to be clear. Instantly, I was overwhelmed with the number of new books. Holy bananas, that area was stocked. I tentatively walked to where I believed the “O” author section would be, browsing nonchalantly, looking cool and nonplussed. I ran my hand inconspicuously along the spines of the M and N section, just to complete my casual façade, and then looked up, painfully, faced scrunched, ego braced for my book to be unnoticeable when suddenly, what did I see? Liornabella, carefully shelved in the “O” section but facing outward for all to view! I felt a flutter in my chest, a restlessness in my bones … I was totally going to go to every store on the list to check out my book placement! Game on!
The other stores on my tour were the same, Liornabella had a prominent place on the shelves. In one store, even though it was not on the teen table when I arrived, when I left there was a small stack right next to “Truly Devious” which I thought was quite fitting. No idea how that happened but I was stoked. 😉
Finally, I landed at my last store, I boldly walked to the “O” section, expecting to see a full frontal, (of my book people, my book), and it wasn’t visible. I froze, unable to move forward, my heart sank, my chest tightened. I could not believe it. The “O” section was behind a … er… a chair! For the love of pete, what was I going to do? I realized right then, that it could happen to anyone, you never know what part of the shelves will house your alphabetical section. But, for a newbie author like me, that could be the nail in the coffin so to speak; game over, the end. Buh bye. I also had the other authors in that section to consider, what about their books? They probably didn’t even know. They wouldn’t even know! So, for the other “O” authors and a few of the “Ms, Ns and Ps”, I did it. I moved the chair. There is no photo of this act, it had to be quick and then, before slyly dumping just one book on the hot ticket teen table, I had to make a quick exit. But rest assured, Danielle Paige, Christopher Paolini, James Patterson and the like ~ I’ve got your back.
All this to say, it is easy to find my first YA novel, Liornabella, in stores. Go and get it. You might even find the odd copy on the teen table, maybe, and if not, feel free to accidentally leave one there while you are browsing. 😊
