Hello one and all!! Happy Sunday, September 16, 2018!
It's a crisp, cool morning here in Boise, though the sun is shining and it's beautiful! It's supposed to get up to almost 80 degrees. I must count my blessings when I think about all the people experiencing inclement weather (hurricane) on the east coast. My heart goes out to everyone affected! Stay as safe and sound as you all can!!
I haven't been ignoring anyone by my almost two month absence. There's just been a lot going on and I seemed to have let my weekly blogs fall by the wayside. So, what have I been doing? I've been to a couple of book events in the last several months or so.
First there was Nampa Festival of the Arts, a two day weekend event, that I was at in 2017. It was a great time, though both days in the high 90's and the first day it was just over 100 degrees. No matter. There were so many people that were there. I didn't do too bad in selling books. My general thoughts on this venue. I have mixed feelings about it. It's a great place for people with all kinds of wares to showcase. So no one is going to find anything specific. The sales anyone gets is going to be from hustling butt and working hard. I did my best to put myself out there. I did better the first year. This year, sales fell, but I still had a great time and planted seeds and made contacts. My feeling is making contacts and getting your name and brand out to the public is just as important.
A week or so later, Fragile Hearts was released! That was a great day!! The response was immediate and all the pre-orders were filled! I had ordered copies for myself and they arrived just in time for the signing at the Caldwell Public Library. This was the best event I'd been to in a long long time. Coincidently, I never would have heard about it if I hadn't been to the Nampa Festival of the Arts. So it is important to go to these things, even if sales are not what I expect. Fragile Hearts was the best-seller at my table, which, honestly, didn't surprise me in the least. A few thoughts. The event was at a library. So it really was geared toward book people, rather than random folks who were just browsing for anything. Another fun part of the event was that we got to do a reading. I'd never done that before. We all got to stand up in front of everyone and read from one of the books we were selling. I read a cool scene from Fragile Hearts, where Jakob was on an airplane to New York and had a touching encounter with the person sitting next to him. One book sold as a result of the reading. Though I was completely out of my comfort zone, I found I enjoyed doing that and I do want to do a reading again!
Then, last weekend, I flew to Pittsburgh to attend Authors in the Steel City, a huge event that so many independent authors attended. I met so many wonderful souls there. Many were people that I had only interacted with on social media. It was great to be able to meet many in person and talk with them face to face. Again, I had very little movement as far as selling books, but the experience far outweighed that. Many contacts were made and many seeds were planted. There were some obstacles I encountered, but that just added to the fun. I'm a tad sarcastic in saying that, but it is what it is. I left my cell phone in the car when I was dropped off at the airport, so I had no immediate form of communication during the weekend. The plane was delayed in Denver, so I missed my Uber share when I arrived in Pittsburgh, resulting in a $90 taxi fare to the hotel. I had neglected to pack and warm clothes, because, according to the weather app, it was supposed to be a lot warmer that weekend. There were plane issues on the way back to Boise as well, but all in all, I don't regret going at all! Bonus was being able to see my writing partner, Nicole again for the first time in over a year. They are already setting up for next year. Will I go again? Don't know. I'd like to, for sure. It's a huge expense, but . . . I won't rule it out.
What's coming up? I'll be featured in a few blog posts from different people. That's exciting. I'm working on a short story for an anthology that should be published late November. I'm going to Virginia again over Thanksgiving to see Nicole. I'm working hard to see what things I can set up for us to promote Fragile Hearts while I'm there. Stay tuned! Regardless, it'll be a fun and wonderful trip, I'm sure of that!
I have jury duty for the first time ever the week of Halloween. Oh joy. I mean, I don't mind doing it, I just wish they could compensate the jurors better than they do. I mean . . . well, if you've done jury duty, you know what I mean. $10/day doesn't pay the bills.
Okay folks, I'm going to sign off for now. I have my short story to finish ( hopefully ) today. Peace to everyone and I wish everyone a great upcoming week!!
Love you, one and all!!
Steve!