I still remember the day I received over a thousand copies of the book. That day, I was overjoyed. After spending several weeks waiting for news from the printer, I could finally hold those long-awaited books in my hands! I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of freshly printed pages. How long did I spend admiring those books, neatly stacked in their boxes? How long did I take to inspect them one by one? Of course, I had to — I only had a few days to report any potential issues to the insurance company and the printer. Thank God, I didn’t encounter any problems. Every book was perfectly packed and well preserved.
After the excitement came the return to reality. A little fear began to settle in: in this business, nothing is ever guaranteed — but then again, nothing truly is in life, is it? I started asking myself a thousand questions: “Will we be able to sell all these books?”, “And what if they don’t do as well as À la rencontre de l’Okapi? What will we do then?”, “Did we do enough marketing posts about this new release?”, “Maybe I should have started with the English version?” All these questions haunted me. I promise you, I was scared… scared of being disappointed, scared of failing, scared the books wouldn’t sell.
Then I told myself: the books are here now — there’s no point dwelling on dark thoughts, it’s time to move forward. And I wasn’t alone in this adventure. I never have been. I always meet people, whether close or not, who end up lending a hand and contributing in one way or another.
Three years later, the stock has significantly decreased. In fact, we now need to seriously consider reprinting a new batch of À la rencontre de l’Okapi and À la rencontre du bonobo. The start had been slow, but very quickly, word spread like wildfire. À la rencontre du bonobo began to sell… and today, I’m proud of its journey. I’m calmer, more confident, and grateful for the lessons we’ve learned, especially in marketing and communication.
Now, I can’t wait to introduce you to our next baby…
English 
French