Today, I participated in my first book fair (Hocking Hills Book Fair in Nelsonville, Ohio) promoting my book of poetry, Resurrecting Onions. I had high hopes for the whole event in general, but was cautiously optimistic about my own success. Cautiously was very prophetic.
The Appalachian Literary and Storytelling Festival was going on at the same time. I thought surely that would attract people. If it did, I didn’t see them. Don’t get me wrong, I believe the book fair was well thought out and organized. It was put together by a lovely lady named Gina who runs a small publishing company called Monday Creek Publishing. She promoted it well on Facebook, but I think it suffered from a lack of day of promotion. To be fair to her (no pun intended) she did sit outside most of the day trying to wrangle people in. We were just too far off the beaten path.
I did get to spend the day with my friend and former English teacher, Nik Macioci and our friend Henry. Nik and I shared a table. He had eighteen books of poetry. I was able to make a couple contacts with publishers while I was there. They seemed interested in what I was pitching and both offered some advice.
I sold two whole books. The table next to me read it while we sat there and wanted to buy it afterwards . I guess that says something about the book and their character. All in all, not a bad day. Did I make money? No. Did I spend way more than I made? Yes. But can you really put a price on the experience? You can, but I won’t in case my wife reads this blog.
Speaking of my wife… She made me some beautiful business cards and bookmarks. Very classy. She also altered a table covering to reflect the title of my book. If I can figure out how to add a picture I definitely will.
I won’t stop attending book fairs. I’ll keep trying. But, in the meantime, I’d better write some more.
Let’s talk soon…
