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Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday On April 29, 2007, my parents and I headed to the Outer Banks of NC. My plan for the week was to meet with bookstore owners and store buyers about Lilah and the Locket. In the weeks before this trip, I'd contacted a number of stores and was prepared to meet with them. I compiled various handouts and used these to create a store packet for buyers. It contained a flyer about Lilah, a full color oversized postcard with the cover art, an order sheet which contains all ISBN's and contact information to order books. The envelope also contained a bookmark and a flyer about my Misty Cove novels and a postcard with two book covers. This is a summary of our travels -- Sunday April 29, 2007 - Arrived on the Outer Banks and visited the Visitor Center. Gave information, postcard and bookmarks to the volunteers who were working and gave the same information to the women at the rental office for the house we stayed in for the week in Kill Devil Hills. Monday April 30, 2007 - Several of the people I wanted to meet were off from work or closed on Monday, so we roamed around the area and visited consignment shops. This was a great opportunity to hand out bookmarks and to tell people about the movie. The film crew is getting ready to arrive to begin filming Nights in Rodanthe, based on the book by Nicholas Sparks. I had several people ask if I was that author. I assured them I'm not Nicholas Sparks and I'm not here with that book :)
We stopped at a favorite bookstore that is located near the turn for
Tuesday May 1, 2007 - Tuesday, we headed to Hatteras Island. It was a beautiful day to roam along NC 12, crossing the bridge at Oregon Inlet and driving between the Atlantic Ocean and Pamlico Sound. Our first stop was at Hatteras Realty in Avon. This is the office where Danny Couch, the local expert that helped me so much. He was out of the office, but I was able to show the book and bookmarks to the women in their office.
Our second stop was at Buxton Village Books - owned by Gee Gee Rossell. Gee Gee is a great person and her shop is located less than 5 minutes from the Cape Hatteras lighthouse. I'll insert a picture of the shop, soon. We walked in and said it was great to see her again. In a way of introduction, I pulled a copy of Lilah from my tote bag and she knew who I was right away. We talked about the book and she bought copies of Lilah and the Locket, Widow's Walk, Lady Lightkeeper and Stormy View for her shop. From Buxton, dad and I headed south to Hatteras Village. Our
third stop was the gift shop in the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum which is
located next to the ferry landing. I'd spoken with the museum director Joe
Schwarzer and his wife Melanie when I was working on my research in May 2006.
The gift shop purchased books to be offered. There is a great collection of
books of local interest - Lilah's in good company.
From the museum, we drove to the Dolphin Realty office. We rented a house from them in 2006 when I traveled to Hatteras to finish my research. During that trip, I had a chance to take my laptop onto the porch and work on Lilah with waves crashing on the shore and the lighthouse in the distance. That's an awesome setting to write my stories :) The women at the office remembered us and where happy to see the finished book. We left bookmarks with them and they suggested a couple of stores that might carry my books. On the way north, we stopped at the Frisco Shopping Center (located across the street from the Frisco airstrip and my favorite ramp onto the beach). The Frisco shop purchased books to sell in their local book section. They have an interesting selection and I've checked it for titles each time I visit the area. On our way back through Buxton, we stopped to see the books on Gee Gee's shelf and she took a picture of me with the books. We also stopped at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse Gift Shop and left order details when I showed them the finished book. After leaving the lighthouse, we drove back to Kill Devil Hills after a great promotional day. Wednesday May 2, 2007 - Some friends were on the Outer Banks the same week and we went to see them on Wednesday. Two of the women wanted books to read and Linda got a copy of Lilah and the Locket, Barbara got a copy of Lady Lightkeeper. After a short visit, we drove up the coast to Corolla and just past the Corolla lighthouse is the historic village where Island Bookstore has a store. I talked with the owner and he purchased copies of Lilah for each of his three stores. We left the store and headed north a couple of miles to the four wheeling area and rode on the beach next to the horses. It was a pleasant day with incredibly beautiful weather. Thursday May 3, 2007 - I've been talking with Joe Chambers from the North Carolina Department of Transportation about the original work that was done to build NC 12 on Hatteras Island because I might use that road construction as an element of one of my stories. So, on Thursday we headed to Elizabeth City to visit the NC DOT office. On the way to the highway department, we stopped in Elizabeth City at the Page After Page Bookstore on Water Street. I heard about Page After Page from one of Lilah's MySpace friends. (Thank you Brian. Click here to learn about Brian Hobbs. We listened to Brian's CD - Impressions of the Outer Banks and it was wonderful.)
We stopped at Page After Page Bookstore and visited with Sharon who was working. The owner was out of town, but I left one of my book information packages and a copy of the book for her. She has a great collection of local interest books in the store. We left the store and headed north to the DOT office. They were expecting us and dad and I set up a work area in their break room. There's an entire drawer of files about NC 12. I sifted through a lot of papers and dad made copies of the pages I wanted. Interesting information that I hope to review in the near future. While we were in the offices, a storm rolled through. Before we left, dad sold a copy of Lilah to one of the NC DOT employees and I spent some time talking to him about earlier days along the Outer Banks. We had a nice day and met some really nice folks while we were in Elizabeth City. Friday May 4, 2007 - By Friday, things were starting to wind down and I was looking for a chance to take a break and maybe just enjoy the beach. But, there were a few more errands to run. We took a copy of Lilah to The Coast reviewer (Mary Ellen Riddle) to Manteo Booksellers. On the way back up Route 158 on the main road through Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Kill Devil Hills, we stopped at The Cotton Gin and The Farmer's Daughter gift shops and North Carolina Books.
I left book information packages at each store and showed the book to employees. They gave me contact information and promised to forward my package to the store's buyer. I showed dad and mom the Wanchese are on Roanoke Island and after loosing 50 cents in the newspaper box, we drove to the Sentinel office. They were very nice and I met the woman who could review Lilah for the local paper (The Sentinel). I left a package of information with her. When we left the building, dad saw an antique shop and after searching extensively, he found two nautical themed figurines which will be used as bookends for my books. We went back to the house, fixed big plates of my special nachos and settled in to watch old episodes from Alfred Hitchcock Presents, season 1. Saturday May 5, 2007 - Saturday was a day to relax in the morning and we headed to Manteo in the afternoon. The Elizabeth II Museum Store offers a great location (beside the North Carolina History Center) and is located within Festival Park on Manteo. We went into the store and I spoke with two employees. One was from Roanoke, VA which is close to my home and we talked about VA and NC. I mentioned the local history that inspired the story and we talked about people who were involved in those events. We had a great talk and I left a package of information with her. It was time to head to the rental house and start packing to go home. It was a great week. I met a bunch of great people. They gave me great feedback on the book, the cover, the pictures which are scattered through the story, the background and research and much more. They liked my information packages and I was very encouraged. We sold almost 40 books, got them placed in six bookstores and distributed information to six or seven other locations. I'm very happy with the things we accomplished and am looking forward to repeat orders. I also discussed the possibility of book signings with a good number of these people. In addition, Lilah, Nathan and Kristie may be dropping by Buxton Books to meet Gee Gee later this summer. If you receive the Island Breeze newspaper, check the listing for Lilah and the Locket in their summer book roundup. For much more information, visit www.nikkileigh.com/lilah.htm. Nikki Leigh Spring 2007 on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
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Last modified: 07/21/08 |
