First bookstore signing coming up!
Reflecting on all the milestones formal and informal
Hello Feisties,
Just wanted to say hello before my first Feisty Freelancer book signing! On Saturday, June 7, 2025, I’ll be at the Chapters bookstore in Peterborough, Ontario (a nice 90-ish minute drive outside Toronto) from 11-3pm. Drop by and see me if you’re in the area!
Check out the book’s Instagram for the photo above and other pics: www.instagram.com/feistyfreelancerbook
I haven’t done a bookstore signing before, so I’m curious to add it to my outreach. I’ve been trying out a lot of firsts with this book, including my first podcast interview about something I’ve written (which is different than more general podcast talks because you’re always fearful/eager/anticipating that your interviewer is going to turn to a particular page and ask you to account for your written thoughts—on page 104, YOU said…).
I’ve done my first talks about the book, which are interesting to prepare for because you need to think about how to capture the book without ruining it and considering what chapters hold the most public interest (while I’ve threatened it in jest, I will never actually start with a share from the tax chapter, although I often field questions about finances). I often start with a short reading from the first chapter describing the freelance life, to give a sense of my writing style plus answer a common question.
Whenever I do a new kind of outreach for the book, I’m always thinking about how it can better connect me with my reader. With a specialized book like mine, I’m looking for new writers early into their career, second-career writers, or seasoned writers looking to start a business. I’ve also discovered I’m looking for creatives more broadly. When I surveyed a group of students at one of my university talks about the kind of work they wanted to get into, few hands were raised at writer, but delving deeper many identified ambitions like social media coordinator, podcaster and content creator instead. Today working as a writer can mean many identities, or several identities at once.
Another fun first is hearing from people who have read the book. When you become an author, you learn how rewarding it is to hear direct feedback (as long as it’s polite). My most common couple of notes have been “I didn’t realize how much work it is to do what you do” and also comments on the detail about elements like marketing, productivity and mindset. I’ve also heard appreciation for having a sense of humour, which is an essential part of the toolkit for freelancing as things don’t always go as planned.
Just wanted to end this newsletter with a big thank you to anyone who has bought the book. I’d love to hear from you about it! Or an Indigo/Amazon review, the other spectacular way of communicating with an author. In the meantime, I hope to see some of you in Peterborough and connect with the rest of you next newsletter.
Stay feisty!
Sue