Book Launch Day!

Yesterday, March 15th, my book, Career Grease: How to Get Unstuck and Pivot Your Career, officially launched! I wanted to share some photos from the day, but I realized they didn’t quite tell the whole story. So here’s a punchy play-by-play of my launch day for your enjoyment! Spoiler alert- Happily, I survived.

Woke up and checked all things book launch. Results weren’t happening quite as quickly as I’d hoped.

Went to yoga and experienced a temporary bout of black hole-like, gloomy impatience, along with a strong desire to give up. Might have been triggered by the dreaded side plank. Held it anyway.

Decided during savasana I needed to call in some moral support.

Came home to a bouquet of flowers from my friend, Jenny, which made me cry and perked me up.

Put in an S.O.S. call to the husband who helped me get perspective. Riiiight- even though this has been on my radar screen for almost a year, it is a much lower priority for the wonderful people in my community who are supporting me. I just needed to be patient. Perked up more.

Packed up a suitcase of 90 books. Weirdly fun to do this. Also very heavy! Grabbed the attendee list from my amazing assistant, Lindsay, along with all my other gear.

Left really early to drive into the city. Missed my exit, but that meant I got to listen to more jams, which calmed me down.

Found cheap parking- a blessing!

Arrived at Busboys and Poets. Felt immediately hipper to be associated with this phenomenal venue.

Sat on the floor and manually stickered 90 books and set them out with the help of BB+P staff.

Grabbed dinner and reviewed my speech. Manager recommended I use a microphone based on room acoustics, so I said ok.

Got oriented to the space with the help of my friends. More flowers! More teary feelings brewed up inside.

A fun and lovely crowd of friends new and old filled the room. (My promo partners for this event happened to be mostly women’s groups. Don’t be fooled- our clientele actually consists of men and women at all ages and stages of life.) My friend Rachael checked them in, and my friend Becky documented the event. These are mostly her photos. Thank you ladies!!!

Microphone troubles threw me a bit at the beginning of my speech. I think, but I can’t totally recall, that I missed one of my opening bits. Oh well.

Switched to projecting from my diaphragm, which is what I normally do. Instantly felt more comfortable. Per the BB+P manager: “You can really project.” Yup, I’m quiet, but I’ve got a big voice.

We did a warm up exercise that the crowd had a lot of fun with.

Time flew- I delivered my speech. Answered audience questions. Signed some books.

Came home to the positive revelation that my book’s downloads had started flying. I’d become a #1 Amazon Bestseller while I’d been out, AND, thankfully, I’d had a good hair night.

Put my flowers in a vase and called it a night. (Ok, actually called it a night after refreshing my kindle downloads page obsessively for like an hour.)

Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this project. I couldn’t do it without you. And I’m really humbled by your support.

My book, Career Grease: How to Get Unstuck and Pivot Your Career, will be FREE through this Friday, 3/18. Grab a copy if you haven’t already! And please spread the word. It’s a wonderful resource for anyone who is feeling stuck at a career crossroads.