Positivity Postcards!
Hi Friends and Family,
Last month, I purchased some gorgeous watercolor postcards of bookstores around the world—one-hundred to be exact. You may be thinking, ‘Why do you need one-hundred postcards?’ Well, my writer friend @TaylorHudsonWrites posted a story on Instagram with the following caption, ‘I loved having a pen pal as a child. How about a Writer’s Postcard Exchange?’ This sounded like so much fun! I quickly hearted the story and exchanged addresses with her. Then, I shopped for postcards. Luckily, a selection was available on Amazon, including these amazing bookish postcards, with next day delivery. When I received the postcards, I selected one for Taylor with a bookstore from a coastal village, which is where some of her stories are set and wrote her a note. But then, I had 99 left…
What was I going to do with all these postcards? I selected a few for my inspiration board and then had 95…
Perusing through Twitter, I read a tweet from another writer who said that the #writingcommunity raised her spirits after she tweeted that she had just finished her first novel, but wasn’t sure if anyone would ever want to read it. The response: overwhelming messages of encouragement, cheer, and inspiration from writers including published and unpublished authors. I left an uplifting response, but wanted to go one step further—I wanted to spread more love and positivity to others. After all, my goal as an author is to spread more love into the world, one book at a time…even if it’s a bookish postcard.
Writing can be very solitary. It’s you, your pen and paper, or computer, and the story. It’s wonderful don’t get me wrong—escaping into the story with my characters is an adventure—but it’s a long process that begins with an idea, then transforms into drafts, revisions, beta reader reviews, more revisions, and finally, a polished manuscript. Some writers have friends and family who write, some have supportive critique partners, and others find their community on social media. When I struggle, I’m lifted by other writers. So, I decided to use these postcards as a vehicle for encouragement and positivity.
On Instagram and Twitter, I posted a video, noting that I recently purchased these fun bookish postcards. I asked writers and authors to leave a comment, tell me what they’re writing or editing, and I’d pick ten recipients to receive some happy mail.
One lovely aspect about social media is that you get to meet people from all over the world. Writers from across the United States and various countries responded, including from the United Kingdom. One respondent from Wales sent me a message saying that she’d love to receive one, but understood if the postcard was too expensive to ship. I have to admit that I’ve never mailed something to a foreign country except for hard copy proposals for work (but that’s entirely different). So, I stopped at our local Post Office where the mail clerk happily told me I could buy a First-Class Mail International Global Forever Stamp for $1.40 each. What a bargain! Plus, they were the cutest flower stamps. With mailing issues wrapped up, I wrote down all the recipients, notes about their stories in progress, and addresses. Then, I searched the postcards for bookstores near them (the postcard included the bookstore name and address), so they could imagine going to that bookstore to do an author reading or book signing. Great visualization, right? That's what I thought too! After a wonderful response, especially on Twitter, I actually hand-wrote two dozen personalized postcards.
This was such a wonderful experience. I met new writer/author friends, chatted about their exciting stories and genres, learned about their backgrounds, even received a gorgeous book of poetry, and sent some inspiration to my Critique Partners—you know who you are! The postcards traveled more than 5,000 miles across oceans to other continents!
Below are some of the postcards and the sweet notes left by new writer friends who allowed me to share. I’m so glad they brought joy and inspiration to others, and I can’t wait to do this again, soon.
Until next time, I send you lots of love and great books!
Erica
