Last month, Tina and I were sitting in the lobby of the Harraseeket Inn in Freeport, waiting for a table at the Broad Arrow Tavern. A stuffed polar bear sitting at the piano prompted a woman sitting nearby to say something about Bowdoin College for which the mascot is the polar bear. I struck up a conversation with the woman and her two friends. That conversation led, not accidentally I confess, to the book that I co-authored with Anneka Williams, a Bowdoin College student who graduated in May. The woman wanted to buy the book so I rushed out to my car to get a copy of “A Flash Fiction Exchange Between Methuselah and the Maiden: Short Stories to While Away the Hours.”

Two weeks later the woman sent an email recounting a story about the book. Her cousin was celebrating a 65th wedding anniversary, and the guests were instructed to give something to the couple. She chose to read one of the stories in the book, which had the prompt, “Write a story that takes place over breakfast.” I had written about a couple in their 90s who were having breakfast, and the woman wanted to know if her husband loved her. After much grumpy hemming-and-hawing, the husband said that he did love her. The woman said “Good” and returned to her oatmeal.

That was just one of the positive experiences I’ve had while marketing the book. There’s the, “Oh-you-wrote-a-book?” response when I show the cover to people. And the “What a neat idea!” response when people learn that the book represents the combined creative efforts of a 78-year-old man and a 21-year-old woman. One guy said it was a great idea, but that his wife would kill him if he came home with another book. I’ve traded books with three people who wrote their own book, a win-win situation. One woman said, “I love your book, but I wanted to know the ending to one of those stories. Now you have to write a novel!”

After reading the book, one woman bought an extra copy for a friend with cancer. Incidentally, I’ve given away several copies: to people going through cancer treatments, to women who’d recently lost their husbands, and to local libraries and bookstores.

Not all experiences have been positive. A teacher I met at the Bath Art Hop promised to send a check if I gave her a book. She never sent a check. Some people seemed affronted that I even brought up the possibility of buying a book from me. Several “sure sales” have turned me down, counterbalancing the many strangers who have bought the book just because they thought it was a cool idea, which would be a fun read. Rain downpours have forced the cancellation of an Art Walk and the postponement of a library reading.

A few lessons learned along the way:

1. It takes patience and determination to complete the whole process of publishing a book. (Maine Author’s Publishing out of Thomaston has been a most supportive partner at every step of the process).

2. It takes guts to ask strangers to part with $17.95 so that they can read your words. I gained confidence on that front after several people who had read the book said how much they enjoyed it.

3. Facebook has proven to be an excellent vehicle for generating sales. (I haven’t bothered with Instagram.)

4. Several younger people have urged me to get a Venmo account, but I’ve resisted that suggestion to date, probably to my detriment.

5. It’s helpful if your book has an easily explained concept, such as: “An older man and a younger woman write a series of short stories, each one of which is based on a short prompt, such as, ‘the smell of chocolate’ or ‘What a way to die!’ Each chapter starts with a prompt followed by their two stories.”

6. It’s great to share the experience with another person. Anneka Williams and I kept each other going; that was easy to do because we both enjoyed the process so much.

7. I’m a better reader of short stories and novels after having written flash fiction.

Here are some thoughts for those considering writing and publishing a book.

1. Don’t expect to make big bucks or, for that matter, any bucks. You’ll be doing well just to cover the cost of your investment. (This book might do so….but just barely.)

2. The vast majority of your sales will be made through personal contacts, special events or online, not through bookstores.

3. Don’t publish a book if you’re not willing to help market it.

Will I write a book in the future? Not sure. I did start a flash fiction project with four members of my former writing group, and it’s proven to be most rewarding. In the meantime, I’ll keep on reading and writing and asking questions. That’s just what I do.

David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw575@aol.com. (David’s latest book co-authored with Anneka Williams, who graduated from Bowdoin College this past May, is entitled, “A Flash Fiction Exchange Between Methuselah and the Maiden: Sixty Stories to While Away the Hours,” is available at Gulf of Maine books (Brunswick) Mockingbird Books (Bath),Paul’s Marina (Brunswick) or on Amazon.)