Today is a day of FIRSTS!

Last night Pako and I made a video to send to Ellen. At first he was just filming me but I was doing a horrible job…he kept saying (in the sweetest Pako way) you need to be more passionate. I was so nervous and sweating like a cow in August…it was not good. Then I had the brilliant idea to have him do the video with me…we took two takes and created magic! Today I emailed Ellen and mailed her One More and One Less. I am hopeful that she loves our energy and loves our books and wants us to come on the show! When we get on the show I will bring Words and Shelby’s Imagination Station! It’s perfect! Maybe by the time we get on the show book 2 of SIS will be finished!

Here is the link to youtube if you want to check us out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18tYpTHTD9M

My second big FIRST today was announcing the WINE & SIGN event! My first event as an author! My friend Bob who owns Northwest Cellars offered to let me have a book signing in his tasting room! It couldn’t be more perfect…two of my favorite things...books and wine! J The event is Sunday, October 28^th from 2:00-5:00pm. 11909 124th Avenue NE Kirkland, WA 98034. If you can come I’d be honored! 

YAY!

My 2-year-old niece just “read” her first book! It was Words, by Shelley Sleeper! I feel so proud. All this hard work just might pay off! 

Hitting the bookstores…again!

Today I am going to go out and push Shelby’s Imagination Station to all the bookstores that are carrying my board books. I feel 100% better doing it this time around. I feel confident that I will be able to speak in complete sentences and present myself in a more professional and believable manner. Who knows, they may even order more board books! That would be awesome! One thing is for sure; today I am going to learn about how the board book sales are going. Hopefully all the bookstores have at least sold one copy of my board books because if they haven’t I highly doubt they are going to be willing to take another chance with me…but enough negative thought. I need to remember my mantra from my 20’s…eye contact, smile. It worked then, let’s hope it’ll work now!

Shelby’s Imagination Station is HERE!

OMG I can’t believe it. I have been waiting since NOVEMBER for this book to get published. I have to admit there have been days…probably even weeks when I thought this was just NOT going to happen. But as the saying goes, ‘good things come to those who wait’. And as one of the most impatient people on the plant I have to say that I really hate that saying.

Tuesday my wonderful husband and I hauled in 250 Shelby’s Imagination Station books into our bedroom to add to the already 3000 board books that have been living there since the end of June. I have to say the addition of these 9 boxes really added to the ambiance of our bedroom! If I had kids they would be getting out all our blankets and making a serious fort city!

Now that the books are here I “get” to go back to doing what I love the most…pushing my books to bookstores! YUCK! I really wish I had enough money that I could hire someone to do my social media, my sales, and my marketing and I then I would have time to write another book. Hopefully one day it will all happen. I have to say that for the majority of my adult life I have felt like I was living a pretty awesome life and today I’m living an even richer and more fulfilling life then I ever imagined living before so who knows…it might even get better than this! 

Summertime!

 I am taking a little break from being an author, marketing director, sales person, accountant, secretary, and I’m sure some more roles that I can't think of to enjoy summer! My husband and I just spent a week on a little island in Maine with some dear friends and Friday morning we are off to Hawaii to celebrate our second wedding anniversary! I will be 110% back in action come September!

I am excited to say that Shelby’s Imagination Station is now available on AMAZON! I have to admit, it is pretty cool to type my name into amazon and see my book pop up! J

Smiling!

Last Friday I went to the Boston St. Children’s Everything Store to see if they would be willing to buy my books. The owner was out getting coffee so while I waited I chatted with the very friendly woman who works there, Barbra. When the owner came back she wanted to take FOUR sets of books on consignment! Needless to say I am thrilled about having my books at such a cute children’s store in Pike Place Market.

Today, Barbra called me to tell me a woman was in the store and she LOVED my books! She said they were “awesome”! Barbra’s called made me smile!  And made me think about what a quick and simple call it was to make and what a difference it has made in my day. I think so often we get so busy doing who knows what and we don’t take the time to brighten up our world. I am going to make a conscious effort today to brighten up the world. Thank you Barbra!

Keep on truckin'

So walking into stores and asking them if they would like to carry my books has been quite an experience. After my balloon was shot down and sadly floated to the ground on Friday Harbor I had no choice but to pick it up and blow it up again. This time though I had to take it to Seattle where the big kids play.

The first store I went into I do not blame the lady at all for not even wanting to keep my sample books for a week. It was one of the most awkward moments of my life. I wish that I had the excuse that I had been drinking but unfortunately I was completely sober and the only thing I have to blame is…well me. I was so nervous that I couldn’t form a complete sentence. I would start one thought and then interrupt myself with another random thought, which had nothing to do with the previous one. The lady politely refused to accept my cute little orange bag of books and said “I’ll call you” and I’m sure with her inside voice she finished her sentence with “don’t call me!”  The good news is I think I can live a pretty happy and normal life without ever having to go back to that store again. To bad it is (I guess now I should say, was) one of my favorite little boutiques.

I called my husband and immediately went into pity-party mode. Explaining that I’m not a salesperson and I guess we’ll just have to make the 50 boxes of books a permanent fixture in our bedroom…(It has been a long time since I’ve made a fort!) when he interrupted me and said, ‘every no is one closer to a yes’. (Is that like, ‘so you’re saying I’ve got a chance?)

Luckily I have some good friends in marketing that gave me a pep talk and a few confidence boosters. My favorite one was, ‘Shelley you look really skinny today!’ (I have such great friends that know exactly what lie I need to hear at critical moments and they know I gladly take compliments even if they aren’t true!) With my delusion of feeling skinny I went to three more bookstores and to my surprise I was able to speak in complete sentences!!!

This all happened last week and this week I had to go back to see if any of them wanted to buy the books. (And I was stressed about just dropping them off!)

I am happy to say that there are now six stores in Washington who are selling my books!  I am learning about the ins and outs of being a salesperson and I think improving. (I set really small expectations for myself so I can celebrate my accomplishments!)

My other accomplishment is my website. My second husband (don’t worry my husband knows plus he’s gay and he works for my husband. Plus, my best friend is my husbands’ second wife! It sounds way more fun and I’m sure kinky than it really is. Just incase I’ve offended anyone these are just nicknames because we all spend so much time together. Nothing inappropriate has happened. At least not to our standards of inappropriateness!)

Okay, I need to get this train back on track. SO I am working with my second husband on making my website. He is doing all the difficult stuff and all the design but I am learning and have done more than I ever thought I would be able to! It is shelleysleeper.com and is still a work in progress but it’s pretty cute and you can even buy my books from it! (Was that pitch way to obvious?) :)

So I am going to keep on truckin'...keep going to stores, keep working to make my website awesome and keep setting small expectations for myself so I can keep celebrating!