What a crazy week last week was as I prepared for a market where I was a vendor! It was insane how much work it required, but I was able to get lots of baking done and the market was this last Saturday. So, let me tell you about how it went, why I did it, and if I plan to do anything like this again. Let’s talk about raising money for my first children’s book!
Baking for Raising Money
So, I have mentioned in a previous blog that I was going to do a bake sale to raise money to publish my first children’s book. I knew that it was going to take a lot of work, and let me tell you, there were a few times I just wanted to quit. Now, I’m an okay basic baker. This means simple recipes, for the most part, I can follow. For some reason me and chocolate chip cookies always butt heads, but thankfully this time was a little different. Mainly because my one friend decided to help and I put her in charge of the chocolate chip cookies. For the bake sale I made no bake cookies, chocolate chip cookies, bite sized brownies, poppyseed squares, Nanaimo bars, and chocolate caramel cupcakes. It was a lot of work and there were times I just wanted to quit.
The Journey of Baking
Now, like I said, I am not a big baker. I’m more a cook than a baker, but I do enjoy baking from time to time. In fact, I would like to do more to get better at it. However, there were several times last week where I said I didn’t want to bake for another 5 years because I was so tired. However, there was this small part of me that wanted to start baking more regularly. It was fun getting all these delicious desserts ready. The tricky part was knowing how much to make. I didn’t want to sell out in the first hour, but I also didn’t want to take loads of dessert home. There were quite a few times I had to argue with myself to get myself to do more baking.
Why I’m Raising Money
As I mentioned, I’m raising money so that I can get the next part of the process started with publishing my first book, a children’s book with a cute theme on friendship. Why am I raising money for this? Because publishing a book costs a lot of money. We are talking a few thousand dollars. I don’t make that kind of money at the hotel. At least not with all the debt I have to pay off still. Now, you might be wondering why I don’t just focus on paying off my debt and then I can publish. Because I have put this dream off for the longest time. There were some people who had discouraged me. However, lately I have been encouraged and when I dabbled in fan fiction and complete strangers loved my writing style, I knew I couldn’t keep putting off the dream. And everything is telling me now is the time to start.
How the Sale Went
For my first ever bake sale, I would say that it went really well. I said if I made over $100 I would be happy, but I did have a goal on how much I was hoping to walk away with. $500 was the final goal because that’s how much I need for the first round of editing. And until I can get that money, the publishing process is slightly on pause. I do need to send it to my friend for beta reading because she’s an editor, just not for children’s books. But she can find grammar and spelling mistakes that I missed. And that will help speed up the process. But you don’t care about that. You want to know if I made it. Unfortunately, I did not make my $500 goal. However, I did have a final count of $288! I am very excited that I did so well. It’s not the total amount that I need, but it’s a really good head start.
Will I Be Raising Money Like This Again
That is a very good question. Now, have contemplated it. I have a good idea of what people want to buy verses the things that didn’t sell well at all. Cookies were big sellers. In fact, I sold out of the chocolate chip cookies and Nanaimo bars! That was exciting. The cupcakes and brownies didn’t sell very well, so I don’t think I would do those again. To be frank, I am considering selling desserts at the Christmas market as well. I was told that the spots were filling really fast, so I’ll have to really put some consideration into this. And I need to decide if I want to do that, or actually get paid for working the market in the canteen as I usually do. I can still make the desserts and just have the hotel pay me for all the desserts that we sell. This requires some serious thought.
Moving Forward
First, I want to thank everyone who came to the market and supported it. The other vendors and I are extremely grateful for all the support. And for those of you who picked up a card to checkout my blog so you can follow the updates on how the book publishing journey is progressing, thank you. The support I received was incredible. Now, moving forward, I’ll be working hard at the hotel, at my blog, and my podcast. A quick sneak peek at the progress there – I’m having fun with the stories, not so much with the editing. And I’m reaching out to other hotels for their stories. But hopefully, with all these things, I can start getting some money to set aside for my book. And I’m confident that once the first book is out, I’ll be okay.
Raising Money is Hard
All the things that I want to do to raise money for my book are hard. It’s difficult and requires a lot of hard work, patience, discipline, and pushing through the disappointments. But I won’t give up. I have to keep pushing through and reaching for the sky because no one can do that for me. There are a lot of people who have expressed interest in my book, so that is where the confidence that it will sell comes from. The dream is to be able to become a full time writer, to quit the hotel and have my income supplemented by my books, blog and podcast. And then, if I get blessed with the opportunity to become a mom, I can still be working while being a stay at home mom. Till then, I just have to keep working hard. Because we all know that anything can happen if we try.
