The Book Talk

On October 1, 2016 I had the immense pleasure of giving my first book talk. It was for the Indiana Chapter of the Church and Synagogue Library Association.

Many months of preparation went into the book talk. I had a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it in.

As part of my book talk, I was to give a speech, entitled, “Poetry in Motion.” I interpreted that title into my telling my journey as a writer.

I have been a writer for six years. The story of my life as a writer is at once an epic tome, filled with stories of inordinate detail. Yet, it is also a short story, full of high points and ideas that rise above the minutiae. There was so much to tell, so much to convey. How would I begin to tell my story?

I struggled with writing my speech. I was to discuss how I began writing, how I began my blog, how I began to translate written works, what inspired me to publish my books myself, and how I went forming my publishing company. I was to then discuss the steps to creating a business, as well as the further steps to creating a publishing business.

Every draft of my speech got mired in a sea of minutia. I would leave that draft of the speech and try again. Every time I tried anew I got pulled in a different direction of my story.

Months turned into weeks. The more I worked the more the pieces of the puzzle of the speech fell into place. I found a clear, concise way to discuss my beginnings as a writer as well as my evolution into a blogger, translator, and self-publisher. 

The morning of October 1^st finally arrived. On the morning of the event I was prepared. I had refined my speech, and had practiced it, carefully noting the time. I also prepared a packet of information about starting a business, and starting a publishing business. I had a packet for everyone attending the event, complete with a business card with my company’s information on it.

"Info Packets" by Esperanza Habla

I also had copies of my English publications to sell, “I am Hope” and “The Bigger Picture.”

"English Publications" by Esperanza Habla

After running through my speech one last time I packed up my bag of necessities: laptop computer, tablet, the packets of business information, copies of my books to sell, and my speech. With all of this material my bag was difficult to lift; however, I had never done a book talk before. I had to be ready for anything.

The book talk was being held at a local cafeteria in Indianapolis, about half an hour from my house. Luckily the event was first thing in the morning. I was able to arrive at the cafeteria in record time.

As I arrived, some of the guests of the event were in the room, finding their name tags, talking among themselves. Within a couple of moments they noticed me, the new person in the room. I introduced myself, and said I would be giving the morning’s presentation. I was then asked to find my name badge….

As more guests arrived, I stayed to the side, unsure of where I would be speaking. My friend Regina, who invited me to the event, arrived and began to rearrange the room. The tables and chairs were put into a large “U” shape in the room. The podium in the room was placed facing the tables. 

Once the tables were put in place, I began to hand out the packets I had made for everyone. Regina then made her opening remarks, welcoming everyone to the event. She then went on to discuss the events of the day, as well as minutes from the previous event.

At this point Regina began to talk about the presenter for the day, me. Regina and I used to work together in the library system. She told the group about my beginning to write, and my beginning to learn Spanish, which is a great asset to patrons at our library. Regina went on and on speaking glorious words about me. She spoke about how impressed she was that I had become a writer, and that I had become a self-publisher.

When it was my turn to speak, I walked to the podium, amidst a round of applause. At that point I said, “Thank you, Regina, for those lovely words. I hope I can live up to them. Good morning everyone, my name is Esperanza Habla. I thought I would talk to you this morning about my life as a writer, how I got to where I am today. Afterwards, I would like to discuss the packets you have before you on the table, regarding the steps to starting your own business.”

My allotted time to speak that morning was 1 hour and 45 minutes. In the days leading up to the event, 
I panicked when I saw that timeline. I knew there was no way I could give a speech for that length of time. Regina then reminded me, “That block of time also includes time for questions and answers in the business portion of your speech. That will be plenty of time.”

I gave my speech about my journey as a writer. I explained how I began my blog, what inspired me to publish my poetry, what inspired me to create my self-publishing company, as well as the friends who helped me along the way.

After that, I guided the group through the informational packets I had created, answering all of the questions that arose along the way. It became clear to me then that all of the guests to the event that day were librarians. I was speaking to them in a literary language, if you will, that they all understood, being librarians. A book talk to the general public would not have been the same. 

Each of us had come there that morning with a knowledge of books, formatting books, marketing books, editing books, even social media posts and book trailers to promote books. The guests knew what I was talking about, and had questions specific to the topic. It was a wonderful conversation on both sides. Many of their questions guided me to another topic to discuss, or something I had not thought of mentioning. It was a melodic conversation in which their questions and my answers came together in complete harmony.

At the end of the presentation, my friend Regina came to the podium to thank me for my presentation, and for the information I shared in that session. The group burst into applause. At that point, Regina revealed a present for me, as a thank you for doing the event. She gave me the book, “Hamilton: The Revolution.” Regina knows how much I love the musical “Hamilton.” It was the perfect gift, and a welcome surprise.

"Hamilton: the Revolution" by Lin-Manuel Miranda, from Grand Central Publishing

At that point Regina adjourned the meeting and we all went to lunch. It was the stroke of 12 noon. Regina had been right. There was enough time. It was perfect.

Once we adjourned for lunch, I went to my bag of materials and pulled out the books I had brought to sell, on the off chance that someone wanted to buy a book. Before I knew it I was selling books faster than I could keep up with. I took cash payments as well as credit card payments on a credit card reader I had brought with me to the event. I had brought ten books with me to the event. I sold eight of them in ten minutes.

All of the people who bought books asked me to autograph the books for them. That was an immense honor, to have someone ask me to autograph my book. A few moments later, a woman came up to me and said: “Esperanza, I bought your book ahead of time. I just could not wait. I brought it with me today. Would you please autograph it?” I was so moved by her comment. “Of course I will!” was my immediate reply. Again, it was truly an honor.

After I had sold books to all of the interested parties, Regina and I went through the cafeteria line. She bought me lunch as an additional thank you gift for making my presentation. We returned back to our conference room and began to eat our lunches. I set my tray of food down, and then pulled out my laptop computer.

I pulled up my website... http://www.lalunapress.com/

...my personal website....  http://www.esperanzahabla.com/

...my book trailers on YouTube.... https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4Z_APVmNXYA9ZRzoHcUQg77QNfm8pAp

....as well as this blog.

Guests to the event watched some of my book trailers on my website, which prompted more discussion.

After lunch there was a book discussion of the book “Between Shades of Grey” by Ruta Sepetys. 

After the discussion we adjourned, and took group pictures of all attendees. (I have yet to see these photos. If I ever get the pictures, I will share them here.)

Again, this was my first book talk. Now that I have done one, I look forward to the next experience to give my speech. I can also give discussions about how to start your own business, and start a publishing company. I hope this was the first of many such events.

If you ever need a writer and self-publisher for an event such as this, drop me a line. I'd be happy to give another book talk.

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