i went down to DC for a twenty-four-hour trip, six of which were spent in transit, for my first book event! i was part of a panel of debut authors and got to speak to a hotel ballroom full of booksellers (for the first time) and saw my book in bound form (for the first time) and signed a bunch of books (for the first time) — and, also, honestly, got my first little taste of the challenges that will be getting the general public to read a book about k-pop.
overall, the event was very well-organized, and my fellow debuts, all fiction writers, were spectacular and funny and so well-spoken. i felt very awkward and boring next to them, but i at least don’t think i spoke super fast, which i tend to do when i’m anxious — and public-speaking makes me super anxious.
this whole getting a book out into the world is strange and weird and uncomfortable in so many ways, and i was immensely touched by the booksellers today who were enthusiastic for my little book that i know is still very niche, despite k-pop having gone super global in the last seven, eight years. the point was never to write a bestseller but to put something out into the world that expresses my love for k-pop and the joy it gives me, while also capturing the cultural, historical, and sociopolitical nuances of a rich, complex industry, and it means a lot to me that there might be readers out there who give my book a chance, even if k-pop is something that is foreign to them.
