By Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D.
LA JOLLA, California — One of the venues publishers like to send their authors to are book stores where the author gives a talk and sells books. Our local bookstore, Warwick’s, regularly sends out a newsletter advertising an author and his/her book, such as Hillary Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, and Julie Andrews. I lectured there about half a dozen times on my various books. Warwick’s does a great job organizing space to hold 140 chairs. What I like about the Warwick’s talks is that there a lot of familiar faces in the audience.
The last lecture at Warwick’s was in 2019 about a book I co-authored with Irwin Zahn, my client. Irwin, a business man, started writing poems that he sent to me via email. They were interesting because they were very much from a male perspective. I could not resist, but send him back my poems which I wrote using his subject matter written from a female perspective. We went back and forth this way until I realized that we had the contents of a book on our hands. He Writes, She Writes – A Dialogue of Contrasting Views Written in Verse was published by Amazon in 2018. Warwick’s gave us an evening advertising us in their newsletter. We had a full house with a crowded standing room. Irwin would read his poem and I would read mine on the same topic. It was a surprising success. This “dog and pony show” continued at several local venues. Later that year we even performed at the Shiley Eye Institute for a donor celebration event where our book was given away, not sold. It was huge fun.
I was asked to give a talk at Barnes and Noble book store about my book on retirement. With no advance information, only a sign outside the store advertising the author to speak that day. I was taken to the back of the store where half a dozen chairs had been set up. A loud speaker announced that I was about to give a talk. Five people showed up. I spoke about my book for about fifteen minutes. There were no questions. I don’t think we sold any books; I did not ask.
In the early 1980s one of my assignments was for a book signing at the local B. Dalton Book Store. It was a first for me to actually be selling my books live at a mall. I was looking forward to this new venue. Flyers had been sent out and newspapers carried the following ad: “Natasha Josefowitz will autograph her book, Paths to Power: A Woman’s Guide from First Job to Top Executive at B. Dalton from noon until 1:30 pm. She will also offer help with your career problems,” it was warned. Offer help with career problems? I had not promised that; visions of a Charlie Brown lemonade stand with 5¢ for a one-minute psychiatric consultation came to mind. How will I handle the hundreds of people standing in line wanting help? I donned my best red (power color) suit and went off to my first book signing session in a mall. A large table with a checkered cloth was standing half-way between the store entry and the sidewalk. My books were piled high on each and I sat between them, pen in hand, ready for the onslaught.
“Is there a deli nearby?” asked a woman passing by. I didn’t know, but asked her to report back to me if she found out. A young man angrily berated me for writing about power when nuclear waste is the more critical issue. I agreed with him. Another man questioned me relentlessly about my background, my current activities, my future research. I finally asked if he was interested in my book; upon this, he took off. A couple of people leafed through the book, but laid it back gingerly, half-apologetically.
I found myself smiling hopefully as people approached and sighing as they walked by. I was taken for an information booth, for a Dalton’s saleslady, for a sidewalk chit-chatter. There I sat amidst Paths to Power feeling anything but powerful, wondering where the deli was, and what I was doing there, peddling my wares on the sidewalk. In an hour and a half I did not sell a single book. Evidently middle America was not interested in making it to the top.
© Natasha Josefowitz. This article appeared initially in the La Jolla Village News. You may comment to natasha.josefowitz@sdjewishworld.com