Author Event Aftermath

My circuits were so overloaded, it’s taken a few days to write this

Oct 02, 2025

Trust me, I would rather have been home writing, but sometimes we have to do what we must. Now, though, I’m back at it here. Read on to see what happened and how I survived.

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How the event went:

8:30 a.m. – Arrival at event

Hubby drove me there before going to work. Tables were set up in a part of the building that is separate from the main part. They were not reserved. I grabbed a table and set my stuff up on it. Being paranoid, I stayed at the table, even though the event didn’t start for another hour and a half. Another vendor, selling herbal solutions to medical ills (naturopathy) set up beside me. He had a ton of stuff with him. I helped him a little but mostly watched, feeling that my puny little books would barely get noticed. (I had 3 copies of each there.)

My table at event (photo taken by one of the organizers)

10:00 a.m. – Event opens

My palms were already sweaty by now at the thought of no books selling. A few minutes later, the vendor next to me bought two books (hopefully, not a pity gesture). I tried to sign them. My pen ran out of ink. He lent me his. Nice guy. Then I sold another one. “Woohoo!” I thought. “I might recoup my cost after all.”

12:15 p.m. – Lunch

The folks running the event brought me pizza. Not my usual diet, but by then very welcome. I had sold two more books. While eating the pizza, I sold another book, careful to wipe my fingers free of any crumbs and grease before signing the book. I finished the pizza and sipped some water.

Then I sat, pasted a smile on my face, answered silly questions, sold a couple more books, and sat some more.

3:10 p.m. – Pack up, leave

The event continued until 4:30 p.m. No one attending the even in the other part of the building was coming up to the area where we vendors had been sequestered (and there was no sign saying we were there). Overall, while the event was well-attended, the vendors faired poorly. One left after the first hour. Another left before I did. I had sold a little over half of the books I bought and brought to the event. I had spent hours preparing for the event. All this had taken time away from my work on my other writing, but these are the things we have to do these days, even if we work with a publisher.

4:20 - 11:00 p.m. - Recovery

My brain circuits—beep boop!—were fried by the time I got home. I spent the rest of the day letting my brain recuperate from the noise, and the people moving around, something I’m not used to here in my reading room.

Lessons learned:

Success at these events depends so very much on those organizing them, so work with them closely. I had done a lot of promotion within the town about the event. But two things worked against me and the other vendors:

1. Being separated from the rest of the event

2. No sign that said we were there

3. Access was by a long wheelchair ramp (no stairs)