The Distance We Crossed Reaches Its First Bookstore Shelves
Some moments don't arrive with a drumroll. They arrive quietly, on a shelf, tucked between other books, waiting for someone to notice.
That's what makes this milestone feel so special. A year after my pen first touched paper and began the story that would become The Distance We Crossed, the book has officially made its way into its first few local bookstores: Pauper’s Books & More in Clayton, NC; Wild Hare Books in Oxford, NC; Angel's Wings Books & Bistro in Oxford, NC; Online and soon in-store with Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, NC.
There will be more bookstores after this. I hope there are, anyway. I hope this is only the beginning of a long journey for this story. But there will only ever be one first bookstore shelf - Pauper’s Books & More in Clayton, NC, and that makes this store part of the story now, too.
For a book that started as a collection of memories of my life with my wife, then became pages, revisions, files, proofs, and finally glossy covers, seeing it become something a reader can discover in a real bookstore is hard to describe. It feels surreal. It feels humbling. More than anything, it feels like one more reminder that stories can travel farther than we first imagine.
From the first page to a finished book
When the first words of The Distance We Crossed went down on paper, the finish line still felt far away. At that stage, a book can feel more like a private promise than a real object. There was no cover yet. No ISBN to think about. No reader holding it. Just an idea, a blank page, and the hope that the story is worth following.
Writing a book asks for more than inspiration. Inspiration may open the door, but the real work happens after that first rush fades. It happens in the quiet hours when a sentence refuses to sit right. It happens when a paragraph needs to be reshaped, cut, or rebuilt. It happens when the story asks for patience.
Over the past year, this book moved through every stage that turns a manuscript into something readers can actually hold:
Writing the first draft
Editing and revising the story
Rethinking structure and pacing
Designing the finished book
Preparing publishing files
Reviewing proofs
Setting up distribution with my publisher
Learning how each platform works
None of those steps are glamorous from the outside. They don't always make for exciting updates. Still, each one matters. Each one brings the book closer to the version readers will meet.
There is a strange shift that happens along the way. At first, the story belongs mostly to the writer. It lives in a notebook, documents, thoughts, and after thoughts. Then, little by little, it becomes something separate. It becomes a manuscript. Then it becomes a designed book. Then it becomes a product listing. Then it becomes a package in the mail.
And now, in Clayton, Oxford and Raleigh, it has become something else again: a book on a bookstore shelf.
That may sound simple, but it is not. For an author, especially one who has carried a story for decades and then from the first page through publication, that shelf represents time, trust, and persistence. It represents every moment when quitting would have been easier. It represents a story that made it all the way from pen and paper to a place where readers go looking for their next book.
Why the first bookstore matters so much
There is something different about finding a book in a bookstore.
Online listings exist, sure. They make books easy to order, share, and send across the country. They help readers find a title from anywhere. I am grateful that The Distance We Crossed is available through Amazon, IngramSpark, and Lulu Direct, with more platforms still to come.
But a bookstore shelf has its own kind of magic.
A shelf invites discovery. Someone may walk in looking for one thing and leave with something they didn't expect. A reader may pick up a book because the cover catches their eye, because the title makes them pause, or because they are curious enough to turn it over and read the back. That small moment of curiosity is powerful.
Pauper’s Books & More in Clayton, and now Wild Hare and Angel's Wings Books & Bistro in Oxford now hold that possibility for The Distance We Crossed. A reader can walk in, see it, touch it, flip through it, and decide whether the story is coming home with them.
That is why this first placement means so much. It is not only about distribution. It is about the book entering a real community space. Local bookstores are where stories become part of everyday life. They are where readers browse, talk, recommend, and return. They are where books can have a presence beyond a screen.
There will always be something special about the first store that says, "yes".
For The Distance We Crossed, that store is Pauper’s Books & More. My first. I am grateful they made room for this story. I am grateful the book now has a place there. And I am grateful to everyone who may discover it because it is sitting close enough to pick up.
The publishing path keeps opening doors
One of the biggest lessons from this process is that publishing a book is not one single finish line. It is a series of doors.
Finishing the manuscript opens one door. Completing edits opens another. The cover design, interior layout, proof copies, publishing platforms, and distribution choices all open more. Each step brings new decisions, and each decision shapes how far the book can travel.
Right now, The Distance We Crossed is available through online suppliers at:
Amazon
IngramSpark
Lulu Direct
More platforms are still to come.
The IngramSpark piece is especially meaningful because it gives bookstores and retailers a way to order the book wholesale. That matters because many bookstores use wholesale channels when deciding what they can carry, order, or make available to customers. Having the book accessible through that route opens the door for more stores, not only nearby, but around the world.
That does not mean every shelf fills overnight. Bookstore placement takes time, patience, and follow-through. Some stores may order it for their shelves. Others may make it available by request. Some readers may ask their local bookstore to carry it, which can help introduce the title to new places.
Every path counts.
This stage of the journey feels both exciting and uncertain. The book is no longer only in my hands. It is now moving through systems, stores, conversations, and reader recommendations. That part cannot be controlled in the same way a draft can be controlled. It has to be released.
That is both scary and beautiful.
A writer spends so much time shaping a book in private. Then comes the moment when the story has to do what stories are meant to do. It has to leave. It has to travel. It has to find readers one at a time.
I am excited to see where it goes next.
Maybe it will land in more local shops. Maybe readers will ask for it at stores near them. Maybe it will reach people I have never met in places I have never been. That possibility is one of the most humbling parts of writing and publishing. The story begins in one place, but it does not have to stay there.
~ Tex
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