There's something a little bit scary about clicking the button. The button that says, "Okay, I'm ready to send this out into the world.

I just did that today. I clicked the button. I approved the final version of my next book.

This is a very similar feeling to completing a piece of artwork. You know ... that moment when you sign your name to the piece declaring IT IS DONE.

I am a do-it-yourselfer. If there's something that needs to be done, I'll get in there and do it. Sometimes I don't even know how to do what needs to be done. But, I do it anyway.

Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't. And, the times that it doesn't work, can often result in mistakes.

When you spend a lot of time in your booth, you invariably end up listening to a lot of spiels from other artists. You hear them said the same way over and over again. And, you start to notice certain things.

A few days ago, I was with a customer. She was looking at my handbags. The question came up, "Which one is the most popular?"

Well, since I have sold two of the red ones, I immediately responded, "The red one."

BIG MISTAKE!

Sunday, I was in my booth at the Art-A-Fair Festival. A couple came up to me and started chatting like they knew me. It took me a few moments to realize that I had spoken to them the day before. The first time I met them, they gave my work lots of compliments; but, they weren't buying anything.

I do a lot of selling on eBay, and so I've gotten to know my mailman very well. Today, when I gave him a bunch of invitations to my next art opening to mail, I also handed one to him. As I was explaining to him what the invitation was for, I could see that he was growing more uneasy.

I recently acquired software called

It's software that along with a microphone, you can use to speak your words and have them typed into your word processor or e-mail. If you're a bad typist it's a really big help. But that's not why I bought it.

_ I am working on the next book in The Shy Artist Guide series. I haven't settled on the title yet.  For now I am calling it The Shy Artist's Guide to Answering Those Annoying Questions. It is filled with all those questions and comments that artists and crafters hear all the time. You know, like, "Did you make these?"

So, I was working on the chapter dealing with the comment, "That's the most hideous thing I have ever seen!" I have yet to come up with an appropriate response to this comment. And, I think it is probably best left alone. Here's an excerpt from the book. See what you think …