What To Do When an Event Goes Bad

Recently, I was the storyteller at a charity event. It was a national event with hopes of hundreds of people showing up. First that did not happen. Mostly the attendance was made up of the vendors and their children. This leads to my role, I became the babysitter. Only two families visited the storytelling room that were not vendors; but the room was full most of the time with small, bored children. I left without selling one book after reading to children for three hours. My real goal of networking with the community did not happen, my name was misspelled on the advertisement flyer, and I did not even get a proper thank you from the parents I babysat for. I was down emotionally to say the least.

As a children's book author, there will be many times when an event will not be what you expected. Take stock of the situation and learn from it. Ask yourself, should I have attended the event to begin with? Was I the only Author there? Was I offered any compensation for my time and expenses? Did I fully understand my role? Would I do it again?

Now comes the part of what to do to lift your spirits when you are down from such an event. First, put the negative feelings in the past and don't dwell on them. Start thinking of more productive ways to spend your time in the future. Start the outline of another book, that will always cheer you up. Go to your on-line networking forum such as Facebook and send a gift to a friend. Read your e-mails which have stacked up from other author friends. Last but not least, remember the children that benefited from your time. After all, you are a children's book author.

Please enter your thoughts on this subject. They will be appreciated.