Sometimes, we mess up

I had a whole graphic made up and an exciting sale planned for the 4th of July

I was going to announce it today on my blog. It even had a catchy title, “Four on the Fourth.”

My plan was to have 4 of my novels discounted to 99 cents each across the 4th of July as a way to celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, one of my favorite holidays.

But somehow… I messed up.

I’m still trying to figure out how it happened. My best working theory so far is that I was in a hurry when I was setting up the sales. It’s also possible that I got interrupted halfway through, walked away, and never came back to check that I had actually set things up the way I had planned. It’s a good working theory. I felt like I was rushing around a lot in June, and interruptions are easy to come by in the summer.

But still.

The biggest frustration about this whole thing, of course, is that I had already announced the sale on my other social media platforms.

It’s disheartening and embarrassing to make a big announcement like that only to discover that when you said, “Four books for 99 cents on the 4th of July” what actually happened was ONE book at 99 cents, TWO books at $1.99, and a third that for reasons I still cannot figure out never went on sale at all.

So embarrassing.

It’s not a good feeling, embarrassment.

But I think it can be good for us. If we don’t let it rule us. Just like with any emotion, embarrassment has its place. For me, it’s often either a reminder not to repeat the same mistake over again, or it makes me take a good long hard look at myself and whether or not I’m putting too much emphasis on what others think of me.

In a case like this, it’s definitely a reminder of that first one. A reminder to slow down and make sure that I am being methodical with my plans, and not just racing around pell-mell.

I hate disappointing people and letting them down. And I feel like I did that this week. And I had to apologize.

But apologizing is good for us, too. It keeps us humble. It keeps us others-focused.

And this whole thing has been a good and probably much-needed reminder to me that I am not superwoman… much as I might try to be. There comes a point where I overload myself and start dropping the things I’m supposed to be keeping in the air. Too many spinning plates. I guess I’m just human, after all….

So… my sale this week is not as flashy and wonderful as I had planned. Since the wrong prices are already running on Yorien’s Hand and Minstrel’s Call Amazon won’t let me change things in the middle of the sale… so I can’t do anything about that.

However… while not as exciting and wonderful as my intended “4 on the 4th” deal:

An Echo of the Fae is currently 99 cents

Second Son will be 99 cents July 5 - 12

And I will run 99 cent deals on Yorien’s Hand and Minstrel’s Call in August when Amazon allows me to do so once again. We’ll call it a “back to school special.”

For anyone who saw the wrong dates and prices, I deeply and humbly ask you to please forgive me. I messed up.

I hope you all have a blessed Independence Day.