Weekend Wrap-Up/Guest Blogger coming soon

Saturday was the day I participated in a book and craft fair in a suburb of Albuquerque nicknamed "Little New York" because during the 1950's hordes of New Yorkers purchased land in Rio Rancho and moved there. Now it resembles Long Island, with patches of housing sub-divisions and strip malls.

The book fair was held at the Inn of Rio Rancho. The room was jammed with local New Mexico writers and a few craft booths, so competition was fierce for book sales. I was situated between a fantasy and a mystery writer, both of whom were consummate sales people. I am not.
If someone came near the table, they would stand up, reach their arm across the table, introduce themselves and say, "I am a fantasy/mystery writer...." I could only watch in awe. I did stand up and introduce myself if someone stopped at my table. I did have chocolate and book marks available. Isn't that enough?

I had been dreading the event, imagining sitting there from 10 to 4 with not one person stopping by and not one book sale. That was not the case, however. People did come and chat, and at the end of the day I'd sold three books. Not bad for a memoir in the midst of mysteries, fantasy and childrens' books, all very popular genres.

There were other reasons to be grateful I participated. One of the women who purchased my book, as she was skimming it right there in front of me, looked up and said, "You are an amazing writer." When I asked her what she meant, she said, "You've taken a very difficult subject, a heavy one, and made it readable. That's a real gift."

Needless to say, that made my day, even if she hadn't bought the book. Then I connected with another writer, one from Santa Fe. I bought her book; she bought mine. Towards the end of the day, a woman who runs a book club asked if I'd consider talking at their club. Duh! Love to, I said.

Lessons learned: It's not just about book sales. It's about connecting. It's about getting the name of your book out there, even if people don't buy in the moment. Networking is key as well.
The connecting is especially true for memoir because it's so darn personal.

But I did tell my hubby, who, by the way, came with me and sat there all day, that I was considering switching to murder mysteries. My table partner sold 25 books!

And now for a cool announcement:

I wanted to let you know that Julie Lomoe will be posting a guest blog right here on Following the Whispers on Wednesday, 11/11. She'll be writing about dogs she's known, both real and fictional. She thinks she'll call it Truth can be stranger than fiction: the tragic saga of Lucky, her golden retriever. Julie is a fabulous writer and her blog posts are always interesting and well thought out. Please stop by on Wednesday to see what Julie has to say.





Blessings,
Karen