Wanda's Book World

I am already having so much fun. My cameraman/husband and I went off to Happy Bookseller yesterday. We had to argue in advance to make sure we were late to meet Natasha from The State Newspaper and I would say it was all Patrick’s fault but that would be a lie. I was surprisingly nervous and quite excited as I stood having purchased my 10 $100 BookSense cards. It seems that you cannot buy a $1000 Booksense Gift card or a $500 Booksense Gift Card and so we just jumped down to $100 to ensure the process. Natasha from the State spoke to me and Andy & Carrie Graves (co-owners of The Happy Bookseller and proud parents of beautiful Henry) and then I waited for customers. Traffic was light when I first got started around 3 PM. I approached this kindly gentleman who seemed somewhat taken aback by my offer but took me up on it. I bought his daughter-in-law’s Christmas present. While Patrick was filming us, I saw several customers come in the door and sought out a young woman and offered to buy her a book. She simply could not get over it. She is a Junior at Richland Northeast High School and she purchased a book of poetry and the only paperback. One woman mistook me for an employee and I helped her determine how many cards were in a box and as she was paying for her two boxes of cards, I asked her if she was in a hurry and she indicated that she was but when I told her about my offer, she decided she had plenty of time. Every customer seemed cautious and then delighted when I approached them. The toughest part of this is the video camera. I think we got some good footage yesterday and it is my goal that by the end of the year, we have something pulled together. We will see. We are going to visit six stores today, one in SC and five in GA. And after spending nearly two hours in The Happy Bookseller yesterday, I just hope all of the stores stay open really late. I will write more tonight. Read more in The State Newspaper and Shelf Awareness.