EDITORletter

Your editor’s view from her table at a local book author event at the Busboys & Poets bookstore in the Takoma neighborhood, of Washington, DC.

Authors and Showing Up

Last week, a post on Twitter went viral from a new author who opined that only two people had shown up for her book store event when more than 25 people had responded that they would make it. Writers of all stripes responded and assured her that her situation was far from unique. They shared stories of giving readings to empty chairs and a few store employees. They tweeted about well-publicized signings that were completely ignored. Uber-famous authors told of events that no one attended. The overriding message was that it happens to all of us. I’ve given talks to audiences of two and been to events where not one copy of my book was sold. It happens, but there are also those delightful occasions where the crowds are standing-room-only and the signings keep you there an hour past the planned time. This past weekend, I attended a local book author event and was happily busy the whole time. I observed that some of the other authors around me were busy too, while others were not so well engaged. During short breaks, I chatted with some of these not-so-busy folks and one told me she couldn’t wait to leave and was counting the minutes. I replied that it must be tough for many writers to put themselves out there at events like this since we are predominantly introverts by nature. And there lies the conundrum: We want crowds to attend and buy our books, but we also want to go home and snuggle up with a good book ourselves. In this issue, we have several book reviews—two of which are of books bt firsttime authors: Ashlie Thomas and Gary Lewis. I have interviewed both Thomas and Lewis on the GardenDC Podcast and can attest that they are both well worth meeting if they ever come to do a book event near you.

May your winter be filled with lots of good garden reads!

Sincerely,

Kathy Jentz, Editor/Publisher, Washington Gardener KathyJentz@gmail.com

Credits

Kathy Jentz Editor/Publisher Washington Gardener 826 Philadelphia Ave. Silver Spring, MD 20910 Phone: 301-588-6894 kathyjentz@gmail.com www.washingtongardener.com Ruth E. Thaler-Carter Proofreader

Brandie Bland Jaime Breeden Interns

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Volume 17, Number 10 ISSN 1555-8959 © 2022 Washington Gardener All rights reserved. Published monthly.

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