I wrote my Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book in 1978. That year, while touring with Robin Williamson and His Merry Band in New York City, I had an appointment with an executive at Music Sales Corporation, one of the three major music publishing companies. I still remember exactly what he said when I showed him the draft of my book.

Although I was initially disappointed, it turned out to be the best thing anyone ever did for me. Because of our conversation, I formed my own publishing company and have had complete control of my publications ever since.

I was recently asked how many copies of my Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book I've sold since I first published it in 1978. Before you read the article below, I invite you to take a minute . . . and guess the number sold in the past 44 years. Write down your answer, and see how close you got!

-- Sylvia

On June 15, I was happy to be part of the Harp Column Academy's newest feature: "Ask Me Anything." This photo of me is from the Zoom event.

One of the questions submitted was how many people have learned to play using my Teach Yourself to Play the Folk Harp book. Of course, I have no idea how many people actually learned to play. But, before the event, I spent time figuring out how many copies have been sold since I first published it in 1978.

In the Zoom meeting, I asked the participants to guess this number. The guesses ranged from 1,450 to 10,000 copies. I then gave them this big hint: "In the past ten years, I have sold about 22,000 copies."

Their next guesses ranged from 40,000 to 200,000 copies! The correct answer was 98,000 copies!

This past month, I found a few more files with sales data from the early 1980s. So, the new total is about 100,000 copies! Wow!

As I said in the Ask Me Anything meeting, "I'm so happy, proud, and privileged to have been able to help so many people learn how to play the harp!"

Thank you all for your support of my books during the past 44 years . . . and, hopefully, for many more years in the future!

Here are some of the PDFs that I've added to harpcenter.com this past month.

Tango Strings - a fun, syncopated composition for lever or pedal harpists

Dragonfly - a flowing original composition for advanced pedal harpists

In the previous two issues of this newsletter, I introduced Caroline Steinford's harp motif quilting patterns that we're now selling. Caroline's designs are inspired by the symmetrical traditional Hawaiian quilting patterns, using one color of fabric on a contrasting colored backing.

My friend Tom Worthen wrote the following article about Hawaii's unique quilting tradition.

Editor's note: The quilt design photos shown in this article are copyrighted by the Pacific Rim Quilt Company. I want to thank Connie Sayler for her permission to use the images. Both patterns shown here feature breadfruit, or 'Ulu, a Hawaiian symbol of plenty and abundance. The breadfruit tree was a key source of food, wood, and medicine for the early Hawaiians and is an essential spiritual and cultural symbol. You can purchase Connie's Hawaiian Quilt patterns at www.pacificrimquilt.com.

In honor of my Teach Yourself book's milestone, my bestselling books and sheets from the last five years are on sale this month with the code word Teach.

To get the 15% discount, enter the code word Teach in the "Enter Promo Code" box on your shopping cart page and click "Enter Code" by August 31, 2022. See the "How to get the 15% discount" section at the bottom of this newsletter for more information.

15% off select sale items when you use the code word Teach

Our newsletter promo codes are redeemable online and are only valid for the products listed above in the monthly sale section. They are not valid for phone or email orders. This month's code word is Teach.

Here's how to get your newsletter discount at harpcenter.com:

#2. On the page where you view the items in your cart, type this month's code word Teach in the "Enter Promo Code" box and click "Apply."

REMEMBER: You must enter this month's code word Teach in the Promo Code box and click "Apply" on your shopping cart page by August 31, 2022, to get the discount!

If you forget, or if you have trouble adding it to your order, email Sylvia immediately.