If there’s one thing I have learned from the process of self-publishing a book, it’s that marketing is essential. Unfortunately, I’m terrible at marketing! Therefore, my book has not been doing well.
I have a job, so I’m not desperate for money (although I am hoping to start being able to break even after spending quite a bit of money on this project), but the biggest reason that I want my book to succeed is that I believe this book shares something that is helpful for all of us to consider.
Most of what Americans read about China comes from the news. I don’t actually like reading the news (I consider this a fault of mine because I think it’s beneficial to know what’s going on in the world). The benefit of not reading the news, however, is that I am not bombarded with all of the negative things going on in the world about my own country and other countries.
For example, a lot of the Chinese people that I talk to are afraid to visit America because they have read about the shootings in America. While the shootings are terrible, I let my students know that the media doesn’t report every American’s normal daily life of going to school or work. The media focuses on the dangerous and the terrible and the shocking. When I tell my students that before I came to China, I thought it might not be very safe here in China, my Chinese friends and students are always shocked. As humans, we are afraid of what we don’t know and what we don’t understand.
I want to share my book with as many people as possible because I want to help more people, Americans and Chinese to understand each other.
I’m just one person, and my experiences are limited, but I am thankful for all of the things that I have experienced as an American living in China. I have had the opportunity to get to know more people than I could ever hope to put into one small book. I have heard countless stories from countless people who have chosen to confide in me about their struggles.
A FEW OF MY STUDENTS WHEN THEY WERE TAKING GRADUATION PICTURES
I have cried and laughed with friends and students as they shared their joys and struggles with me.
I’ve talked with students who are battling depression (one 5-minute exam lasted for 20 minutes as a student poured out some personal struggles).
I’ve talked with students who tell me how relieved they are after passing a big exam (I’ve also listened as they share their fear as they prepare for those big exams).
I’ve talked with students and friends about struggles that they have with different family members back home.
After I write stories, I try to share those stories with the people who inspired them. I do that for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t want students or friends to feel like I’m taking advantage of their stories and trying to make money off of the hard times that they have experienced. Everyone who reads about their stories has been overwhelmingly supportive of my writing projects. Sometimes they have corrected errors in what I have written, and I am always thankful for these corrections. In fact, I’m hoping for these corrections, and that’s the second reason that I send the stories straight back to the sources. I want my stories to accurately represent the lives of the people who inspired them.
I’ve also had many friends, especially Chinese friends, say that after reading the stories, they understand my life and my struggles a bit more. However, I often have to mention that I do not actually like coffee because one of the characters who is a parallel of me drinks a pumpkin spice latte in one of the stories. I love the smell of pumpkin spice in the fall, but I don’t like coffee! I’m much more of a tea person–especially herbal teas because then I don’t have to worry about the caffeine.
I wrote these stories to share pieces of China, this place and these people that I’ve come to love, with people back in America. I’m thrilled that friends here in China also enjoy the stories so much, and I hope that both Americans and Chinese can use these stories to learn a bit more about people from another culture.
I’m excited to keep writing and to keep trying to let more people know about these stories so that more people can learn about the things that love and understand the people that I love.
Because of that, I’m planning to put the books on sale soon, and I’m also planning to make the stories available on my website. More updates to follow! Stay tuned!