My first novel had been published. It’d been a dream of mine since I was a kid. But this was where the rubber met the road and it was time to put my faith in my product to the test. I packed up my car, headed back home for my high school reunion–the first one I’d been able to attend, since I’d retired from the military. Beside the suit I was going to wear and enough pairs of undies and socks, I had a box packed with 24 of my own books. I’d ordered them from the publisher to sell. To put some added pressure on myself, I made sure I moved all the money from my travel account. I had enough money to fund my road trip but would have to rely on the money from the books I sold to get me back.

Here are some steps on how I capitalized and got the job done:

1. Go in with a Plan – I priced my books at $15 a pop, asking for a donation for every autograph. $360 was a lot more than I would need for the ride back and, though I expected to sell every copy, I positioned myself to where I could afford to take a hit. There were three events scheduled that would allow me to ply my trade: a meetup with some elementary school classmates on Friday evening; my high school reunion, which consisted of a dinner on Saturday night and a picnic on Sunday afternoon; I also had dinner scheduled with family and friends at one of the local restaurants.

2. Listen to a Coach – My coach manifested in a classmate who attended both elementary and high school with me. Trevy was also a published author, herself. When we got together with other former students on Friday night, she suggested I announce that I had copies of my book for sale. I’d only told a couple of buddies but hadn’t put the word out to all the other folks who’d showed. I sold 5 copies that night, which put me off to a great start.

3. Find a Cheerleader – I didn’t know why, when I arrived at the reunion dinner, Rhonda was pacing back and forth with a sly grin on her face. Yeah, she’d proudly announced on social media that she’d purchased one of the first copies when my book debuted a few months before. I could tell the drink she had in hand was far from her first. As soon as I presented my ticket for entry, she hit me with a barrage of questions about characters and plot lines. She continued to keep up her antics throughout the night and it couldn’t have worked better. Other attendees began asking about the book and where they could purchase a copy. “Well,” I would say each time, “it just so happens I have a few in my trunk.”

I sold 10 more copies that night.

4. Follow Through – By the time Sunday arrived, there was a buzz. I sold a few more at the picnic and had to ensure I still kept a few copies for that evening’s dinner. In fact, I had to make special deals to fill orders after I’d run out.

Here’s the deal: nobody will believe in your vision if you can’t see clear to believe in it yourself. Do your research and promote your product but be willing to be audacious enough to put your money where your mouth is. Take a chance on your greatest investment: yourself. Here are three bonus steps to take:

5. Journal the Details – Sounds simple enough but most folks won’t follow this important part of the process. Remember that feeling of triumph or failure on a lower scale. Ask yourself, what could you do better? What worked or did not work? These questions are the ones you want to answer for the next two pieces of the puzzle.

6. Scale It – Using the initial model–be it with selling books or marketing your skills in some other way–begin to think and plan big. Don’t bite off more than you can chew but don’t become satisfied with remaining small, either.

7. Repeat Success – Continue to challenge yourself by using what you’ve learned and creating a pattern to follow. Ever hear of a living will, that can be changed to match evolving circumstances? Well, the pattern you set should have some basic tenets (for instance, you may want to publish a new book every x-amount of months or years and you spend x-amount of time writing per day to make that happen) but also have other working parts that can be easily modified as you go. Be open to learn new ways of doing business but stick to what works for you.