I Thought I Was Going Viral. I Wasn't.
It was about nine in the morning on Sunday, and I was out in my North Carolina garden picking blueberries. Alone, in my pajamas, with a bowl. The sun was already warm, the air smelled like dirt and berries, and I was planning a slow morning — pick, eat, then walk to the lake with my husband after breakfast. My phone kept buzzing in my pocket. I almost ignored it. But I pulled it out, and the screen was full of Stripe notifications. One after another. Sale after sale. My heart did that little jumpy thing — the one that says oh wow, this is finally happening, the digital product business is taking off . I was standing in the dirt with blueberry-stained fingers, smiling at my phone, thinking I was having a moment. I was not having a moment. When Everything Fell Apart I opened my store dashboard, and the whole picture changed. The sales were all for one product — my Valentine Ballerina doll repair instructions . And something was off. The names were obviously fake. The emails were obvious...
