I click on the Stripe dashboard shortcut by habit. My heart leaps a bit when I see a new order. This time, it is from my sister. I feel a rush of affection for this quiet, steady presence in my life. It’s the second order I have received on my website for a signed copy of Why is My Skin Brown?
The very first one was from a longtime supporter and cheerleader. Another person who has been following me for ages and has bought all my books so far. A week ago, I was lamenting that I had no one to share my joy with, no one to spontaneously erupt into congratulations. The slow trickle of orders on my Stripe dashboard tells a different story. It speaks to the unseen, often unremembered support I have.
It is humbling. It is also a wake-up call.
I sign the book and hover just a minute over my signature wondering if a heart will be overkill. I decide against it. I bag it, slide in a custom bookmark I got made to give out. The envelope lies in my mailbox for the mailman to take it away tonight.
Three weeks before the book came out into the world, I debated if I should go through the trouble of setting up a payment system, a way to mail the books out to people who want them. Isn’t Amazon or Bookshop easier?
Today though, as I mailed the package, I feel relief that I put that effort in, spent hours tweaking my website to make it possible. There is joy in writing out a personal note thanking the person who chose to buy a signed copy.
Now I wonder if I should have slipped in a letter too?
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