Launching Penny For Your Thoughts Book #1

I’m sitting in an Internet cafe with a cup of tea (Green Tea Tropical – my favorite) getting ready to launch the first Penny For Your Thoughts book out into the world:

I wanted to give it to a random person, so I left it open on a table in the middle of the cafe:

We’ll see if anyone picks it up in the next few hours. I always feel nervous when I do something like this (not sure why). I decided to leave it open on the front page because if it was closed, I figured everyone passing by would just assume it was a forgotten book and never even look inside.

Now the big question is will I be able to concentrate on all the other work I have to do while the book is sitting there. Fingers crossed.

Update 2:30 The first people (a group of five) stopped to look at the book as they wanted to sit at the table (others had walked by and glanced at it, but not stopped to actually read what was written). They came to a group consensus that the book and the idea was “inane” which I think was one of the reasons that I was so nervous about launching it randomly. Nobody wants to hear that anything they do is stupid.

If I picked a person to give it to, then I know that they would be a bit more receptive, but I also find it good to see how people react (even when it’s negatively). They did read the entire front cover (each person in the group) and they did read what I wrote (flipping through 70 pages to do so).

I wonder if I was a bit more artistic if the initial look of the book would have made a difference. If the book remains for another several hours with nobody taking it, I may have to think about decorating it a bit more.

Update 3:35 The group left and a new group of four immediately sat down at the table (it’s crowded with the late afternoon crowd. They immediately opened up the book and we shall see their reaction…the book remained open, but the group started talking about other topics and ignored it until 3:55 when they closed the book and continued their conversation without a second thought. No idea what they think as they haven’t discussed it. I have one more hour here and then I’ll have to leave and let it go without fully knowing if they don’t come back to it.

Update 4:45: Time to go and the group is still talking away without mentioning the book on the table. I guess it’s time to really let it go free and hope that someone emails me with updates along the way….

Update 7:30: You knew (well, maybe not you, but I did) that I wasn’t going to be able to stay away. Upon returning, the book was still there, but had been moved to another table. I plan on staying until closing, so we’ll see what, if anything happens…

Update 7:40: Two women waiting for coffee glance at book and open it up. Read the inside and a “neat idea” was heard – but as soon as they get there coffee, they move to the back of the cafe and leave the book on the table.

Update 7:50: Another nibble. A young woman walked across the room to take a look at the book, read the front page, then walked back to her boyfriend to explain what it was — but without the book…possibly looking up the site on their phones?

Update 10:45: Still no takers. I need to decide whether to just leave it and let the workers decide what to do with it or take it home and come back tomorrow to try again…

Day 2 11:30 am: I decided to take the book home last night and when I did, my sister and her friends who were over visiting found it and added their thoughts to it. This makes the book look a lot less blank and maybe will encourage someone to write or take it. I had also planned to move where I placed the book to the back of the cafe, but that plan was thwarted when the table in the back was already full, so it’s back where I first placed it. Fingers crossed for better luck today…

Update 1:00 pm 1.5 hours and only a single glance at the book. This might be a lot harder than I thought it would be. Might need to start looking for other locations where it might be easier to find someone to claim it…

Update 2:30: Nothing in the past 1.5 hours – not even a glance at the book. I have decided that I when I leave here in another hour or so, I will leave the book and then check on it in the evening to see if it is still here.

Update 2:36 Woohoo. Two young women opened up the book and immediately sat down and pulled out a pen. One is writing in the book right now. Not sure if they will take it, but good to see something after all these hours of nothing. And the second young woman is now writing…

Update 2:50 Both wrote, but left without taking the book. As it gets later the Internet cafe is filling up which may get more people to look. At least we made progress from yesterday. I must admit, I’m very curious to know what they wrote. Back to the waiting game…

Update 3:30 Time to leave and I’ll leave the book where it is. I will come back in the evening to check to see if someone took it, and if not, make a decision on if I want to try another method to set it out on its way.