On June 21, I had the real privilege of speaking at the Dundas Public Library about how to self-publish.
It’s a presentation I hope to give with a colleague at various libraries in the fall. My appearance in Dundas, my hometown, was the first run at it.
You can imagine my thoughts on the way there. No one will show. Copies of The Case for Killing will stay untouched. I’m going to forget what I want to say. The last problem didn’t bother me too much, though. I reasoned that, if no one showed, it didn’t matter that I was stuck alone at the front of the room, red-faced and searching for words.
Well, I arrived, and to my relief and great pleasure, fifteen people had registered. Most showed and a few more came impromptu. I gave away ten copies of my book and signed the front pages. I got through the presentation more or less unscathed.
However, what stood out for me was how welcoming and engaging the attendees were. They were interested in my book, struck up conversation, and listened with interest to my presentation and asked questions. When the presentation was done, there was great one-on-one conversation about fascinating projects, blogging, and the struggles of writing, including, yes, self-doubt.
Self-doubt seems to be the necessary evil companion of writing. For me, it’s a little voice in the back of my head that says as I write, “No one’s going to like this”. Public speaking also has an evil companion – fear of ridicule. Thanks once again to everyone who came out to DPL. You quieted both evil companions.
Copyright © Peter Fritze 2014