I took a day off from work yesterday to promote my self-published book.
The first store was a big bookstore in Piccadilly Circus, a very touristic area in London. After fighting off my habit developed in the last decade shopping in the area (this time I only went into one shop instead of usual 10+, not counting the distraction from window shopping), I stepped foot into the bookstore. It was aro
und 10:15am, perhaps a bit too early for work. The two staff were very much engaged in a conversation of last night TV series EastEnders (a popular British TV soap). After standing in front of them for 5 minutes, they noticed my “invasion”. I “broke the ice” and their EastEnder conversation, for that matter, by saying “Good morning!”. I introduced myself and asked them if the store would take books directly from authors. They answered negative and explained that they only accept books from major publishers. They wasted no time to return to their discussion on EastEnders and when I left the store, the discussion progressed onto another British TV series Downton Abbey.
What did I do? I took refuge in retail therapy since I was in such an advantageous area, but I rebounded promptly after reminding myself that the negative response was nothing personal. Marching onto the next bookstore!