So I made it to Avon Park this morning to set up for their first Spring Book Binge at their community center. After the heartbreak of not selling any of my works at Gainesville, I was afeared of how things would go this time.
...
The drive went faster than expected given the distance - I worried I left too late in the morning - as there wasn't as much traffic that early on a Saturday. I got there just at 9am with enough time to get set up for a large table display. I was able to use the big book wire stand this time, for one thing.
Alas, the retractable banner I've had over the years just doesn't want to stay upright. I dread it has run its course. I will need to see about getting another author banner - or table covering - of some form.
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| I don't think I will ever get my hair figured out |
The community center is about the size of my library's general meeting room, so it had decent floor space for the twenty or so authors appearing. Included in the mix is RM Hamrick, whom I've met for previous NaNo writing events before the controversies ended my tenure with NaNo.
The event ran from 10am to 4pm, and we had a decent cycle of turnout. I was able to promote my works - there were a lot of questions about the Strangely Funny anthologies - and even made a few sales.
(Doing a head count) Okay, I traded a Funny Locations with another author Nicole LaBrocca for her novella Shadows of Betrayal; sold three copies of Funny Locations, one copy of Strangely Funny VIII (after I wowed the customer with how the Murder Hornets story came to be), and my last print copy of Strangely Funny I (Sarah, Gwen, got any I can order in bulk???).
I did miss a purchase because my PayPal electronic account is outdated: the card reader no longer works and I'll need to get a chip reader to replace. I do hope the lady follows through and purchases the Mardi Gras Murder book off of the online retailers.
Also, Avon Park's Community Center is just across the parking lot from the Avon Park Public Library... and as a librarian, I am compelled to visit each library I see, during which I dropped off a two copies of my latest books to see if they were interested in adding them to collection.
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| Not in picture: the Amtrak train tracks to the left. Apparently it's not too noisy, but the vibrations may shake the bookshelves from time to time... |
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| It's AVON PARK PUBLIC LIBRARY! Support Your Local Libraries, Florida!!! |
In all respects, today was a good day.
That said, on the drive back I swung through Frostproof - a small Polk County town that is way off the main highways - for several reasons: 1) when I studied Florida history in the second grade our history book used Frostproof as a model community to describe the state, so it's been in my mind for almost my whole life, and 2) it's one of the few Polk County libraries I've yet to visit (Polk City and Dundee remain on my to-do list). Alas, by the time I got to Frostproof the library was closed, but the ice cream parlor Frostbite was still open and I got a butterscotch sundae (yum).
If I do this book event again, I will need to write another book and get published soon...
(struggles to get the princess cheetah storyline back up to speed)
