ROYALTIES, AT LAST!

Just the sound of the word royalties brings one to a vision of red velvet and gold tassels. When the envelop arrived from IUniverse I was surprised. I'd given up on anyone buying through them, even Amazon. But no, there it was. $52, representing an unknown number of copies purchased.

I remember imagining a writer's life as a stream of words onto paper everyday (this was before computers) with a lovely view outside her window, and royalties arriving every month which paid all her bills. I have a huge capacity for imagining the world I want, not necessarily the world as it is.

But there has been a little more activity recently. I spent a week around Whitefish, Montana, chauffeuring professional medical folks to a conference focused on "The Healing Moment" offered by Dolores Krieger, creator of Therapeutic Touch as a scientifically proven model. In between arrivals and departures I dropped into bookstores which I had already contacted by phone and postcard.

The first was very disappointing. BOOKWORKS, in Whitefish, is a small store with of course rows and rows of books without any special focus I could perceive. The owner approached me and listened to my brief spiel. "Well, you won't sell any!" she said, as if declaring God's own truth. "I'll order a couple, but they'll just sit on the shelf." I expressed my appreciation and inquired if she had a shelf for local authors. "Sure, but without publicity you won't sell any. Even with publicity only one usually sells."

Sometimes I am adept at not taking things personally; after all, she said she'd order a few. I wandered over to CRYSTAL WINTERS, an amazing store only a block away that has been open for 31 years. Craig, the owner, is an old friend of my husbands, and he recognized me with little prompting. We had a wonderful chat, then I mentioned the book. "Oh I'd love to buy some," he said, "how about four. I'll buy them outright. I'm sure I can sell them!" I was pleased to say the least. The store is not really a book store but a wonderful collection of party items, clothes, games, mobiles of crystals and bells, postcards, funny jokester items, incense and candles too. I walked out with some items I'd purchased as stocking stuffers for Christmas, and a check for four books minus the 35% discount I offer book stores.

I had a display at the workshop, and sold four and traded one. I also went to a big chain bookstore and the lovely young woman promised she'd order two from the web. She was excited by it, and thought she had two places to display it.

On the way home I stopped at Doug Allard's Trading Post in St. Ignatius on the Salish Kootenai Reservation. The woman at the counter said she couldn't purchase anything and the manager would return the following week. I gifted them a book, saying how much I was looking forward to them having one. After all, Sun Bear was the first vendor at the Arlee Pow Wow to sell books about native topics. And of course I gave her a postcard in case they wanted more.

And my dear friend Jules bought two, and insisted I take her check even though I spent the whole week in her lovely little cabin, driving in at 12 or 1 at night and leaving early in the mornings. We did slide in some good chats and one playful afternoon and a dinner too, but I'm looking forward to our next time together.

So let the checks roll in! This next week I'll leave all my books at home. We're floating the Missouri and there'll be no commercial opportunities. Hoping your summer included a wild adventure and a few royalty checks too.