This past weekend I attended the Louisville Book Festival, downtown Louisville, Kentucky, as an invited author. This was my first book festival ever (as author or attendee) and I wasn’t sure what to expect. The venue was lovely and I met some great people.

I knew going in that there was no guarantee I’d sell a single book. That is a risk an author takes, particularly an indie author (100% self-funded). Odds are I’ll drop $500 in gas, hotel, and food and maybe sell $50 worth of books. Of course if I only thought about festivals and other events along these lines, I’d never go to any of them.

I’ll be honest though–I really had high hopes for making sales. The festival organizers said they had 6000 attendees last year and were projecting twice that for 2023. I loaded up my biggest suitcase with twenty-eight copies of each of my two books and schlepped that thing half a mile on foot (each way) from the hotel to the venue. My books weigh about a pound a piece, in case you are wondering. Thankfully, the suitcase has wheels but still, that’s like sixty pounds of dead weight–I wore the rubber right off one wheel.

Is fifty-six books overly optimistic? Yeah, probably. Though I figured with 10,000 attendees, surely I could move that many. Unfortunately, the turnout was much much lower than projected.

Insert dose of reality here.

I sold ten books.

That’s $60

Why am I sharing this?

I admit, I was pretty down about the low sales, especially having spent so much money to attend. This concern weighing a bit more heavily as I’m in my very lean months where I’m almost out of money and unsure how I’ll cover expenses until I start foaling again in January. But this post isn’t about that. I share this only to paint the picture. It’s easy to be all rainbows and unicorns when stuff goes not quite as planned if it won’t make a significant difference to my budget. It’s a lot harder when it does.

That is why I shared these few financial truths–to show you I’m coming from a place of reality when I tell you it’s so important to focus on what’s good and place value on what is truly valuable.

I’m not always good at that. But I keep trying.

I knew I needed to step back and reevaluate my book festival experience. What happened over those two days and what did I (and others) gain from it? What was most important to me? Making money or sharing my story? Selling all of my books or showing a stranger that they are not alone in their suffering?

Of course selling books is important to me. I’m not going to pretend it isn’t, I’m trying to make a living over here in author land. But something very beautiful happened over the weekend. I met and spoke to many people and I shared my story–over and over.

I told people about my experiences with PTSD and my story filled with hope, horses, and healing. I wrote Follow Me, Friend and I’ve Never Been to Me believing I could help others through telling my story. By hearing me talk about my books, people are still benefiting from the overarching message of my story, even if they don’t read it.

Because of this festival, more people know that PTSD symptoms can exist without a conscious memory of the trauma that caused them. They know mental health is important to talk about, that I found hope and healing through the special relationship I had with Farletta, and that it’s possible to come from the deepest, darkest, black hole of depression and find your way back to hope and light. They know it is possible to move from a place of survival to a place where you can thrive. There are dozens and dozens of people who left the Louisville Book Festival knowing this to be true, without ever reading my books.

This is a big deal.

Sharing our stories–this is how we connect–how we weave the threads of our lives together. One touching another and another in a tapestry of words until we finally realize we are all connected, we are all in this together, and we are stronger than ever when we not only give ourselves a voice but also take time to listen and encourage another to find theirs.

Peace, my friends. And much gratitude for each of you.

Video: Author Cheryl L. Eriksen talks about hope, horses, and healing (60 seconds).

Subscribe