The Launch

Today was quite a special day. It was my first home party for Barefoot Books, the launch party as an Ambassador (which I guess is a fancy word for being a salesperson). It was supported by Moira Lumby, who is an experienced Scottish Ambassador which made everything rather easy. Slowly but surely the way it all works is starting to make sense, and emerging questions have been answered so that from now on I feel that I know roughly what I'm doing.

We spent the last week reading a lot of stories from the books, for me to get a bit more familiar with the vast stock, much to the delight of Cubling, who would read stories all day long if that was an option.

I'd invited both some friends and local parents because I'm quite keen to connect with people very local to me and this seemed like a welcome opportunity. It wasn't about selling, just about having an opportunity to get to know other parents of young children living in the neighbourhood, because after years of living in anonymous communities, I personally would like to know my neighbours. Interestingly though, nobody came whom I didn't know already - so maybe this invitation of strangers was a tad out of people's comfort zone. Of course it may have other reasons, people may have been at work/on holiday/enjoying the fabulous sunshine we had after a month of daily rain.

So it was a comfortable small party, where almost everyone knew everybody else.

What I like about this new little venture is that it's as small or as big as you want to make it. It's going to be a hobby, an opportunity to raise funds for some groups or charities I'd like to support, a way to connect to new people or a different way to connect to existing people. I'm not a good salesperson in general - not one who likes to ask people to buy or even donate, but the thing is that I really love these books and it's just about sharing the love, without any ambition for quantity of sales or anything like that. It's something I feel comfortable with.

Oh, and did I mention how great it is to test the books with my girls? It's like having your own library. We already have our favourites, and I look forward to the many hours of booksharing that this little venture will bring to our house.

If you would like to order Barefoot Books through me, you can do so through my Marketplace, you can also keep in touch and receive special offers by liking my facebook page or signing up to my Barefoot Newsletter (simply send an email to barefoot @ cartside.co.uk; leaving out the spaces in the address).