Working live events - the ups and downs

     I started a newsletter today, and it took Rina and I down a memory lane that I wanted to share. People have this preconceived notion that being an author means you get to sit behind a desk sipping Earl Grey tea and daintily snacking on bonbons as you tap merrily on your keyboard. 

     Snort.

     That's what we thought too, and we couldn't have been more wrong. I know I've shared some event history, like the time Rina witnessed a fight and was hit with pepper spray, or her standing in the rain in Florida because the bookstore hosting her event didn't think she was good enough to sign books inside. But let's start at the beginning, shall we?

     April 4th, 2020, launched us on a journey that changed the course of our lives. Rina turned 19 and published Isle of the Dark. After a successful launch, due largely to a community of YouTube friends, we thought selling books would be a breeze. But after the initial buzz, sales on Amazon were quiet. We joined forces with other authors and did an anthology called Tales of the Weird and Strange. Rina wrote Acceptance in Ice, then Sinner.

     So many books, we thought. Not many sales. So my gears started turning, and after a weekend visit to our local farmer's market, I thought, hey, how do we do this? Can we sell books here?  Luckily, most of the folks there knew us and helped us connect with the event coordinator, someone who sold tents, and we were off and running. It rained before our first event, so in the wee hours of the morning, I stacked and stacked books on our table to keep them from getting wet.

 The table collapsed. Just...folded in the middle, spilling our stuff all over the wet concrete.

It was a spectacular introduction to our neighbors and working events in general. With a borrowed table and no idea what we were doing, we began. Here was our first setup. You'll note the handmade sign, which makes me chuckle. 

     I don't know how many books we sold that day, but I do remember the feeling afterward. People stopped, listened, and supported. Aha! 

     My obsession began. If we could do markets near home, why not in other towns? So we carted our heavy crap to Castle Rock and worked several miserable events in a gravel lot in high wind. We came home with books full of dirt, shirts covered in grit, and fairly pissy attitudes. Did that deter me? Ha. No. I decided we needed more punishment! Two events in one day! 

     Enter the Summerset festival in Clement Park. We had the privilege of paying money to show up at 5 A.M. and be told we couldn't park near our spot. So we hauled our assortment of items across the entire park. Then, as Rina set up, my son and I dashed to location 2, a pet store festival. Unfurling our second-hand tent, we set up amongst folks handing out cat food samples and treats. I lost count of how many dogs peed on my tent, and I sold 1 book. Undeterred, I packed up, dashed across town, and helped Rina. There were multiple authors in a row, and as they watched Rina sell, they adopted her sales technique. At least we had something right...but we only sold 5 books in total that day.

     Meanwhile, our tent was evolving, as well as our strategy. I re-edited Isle of the Dark, and we hired a professional artist to do the cover. We heard about a show in another park (oh goody, more hauling!) And I added more items to lure people in.       While we were working these events, I thought, well, how do we get attention outside of live events? I came up with bizarre scripts, lame costumes, and even worse videos. Frankly, I'm lucky Rina was such a great sport. There are some extremely cringeworthy attempts out there to sell our books on social media. 

     Terrifying, aren't I? And I'm not even close to being done. This year, we did our first comic con. Boy, did I have high expectations! We did OK; it was more of a learning experience. But we met some cool people, and my son had epic cosplay.

     There have been events at stores, malls, and coffee shops. We've been outside, inside, rained on, driven through ice storms, and had a bookstore close quietly, taking all of our books. A major hub in town shut down their consignment program and shoved inventory in the basement without telling any of the authors. Over time,  Rina has called hundreds of bookstores across the United States, trying to get our titles on shelves. Yesterday she cleaned out her Gmail, deleting thousands of unanswered emails.

 We are editing Winternox, and will be re-releasing it soon. We just launched our first collaboration, 40 Going On 14! You can grab your copy here if you want to see how 2 authors took a year to write a spy story with a lot of heart. 

     We still have 3 Christmas shows coming up, and 2 are on the same day again. What am I THINKING??? I'm thinking my daughter has a dream, and by God I am going to help her achieve it, one hellish event at a time. Until the Amazon Gods bestow their viral Andy Weir-ness upon us, that is.