Peeking My Head Out In Public

Last week I mentioned the North Shore Authors Collection, where over seventy authors in the North Vancouver and surrounding areas were being represented in a special section of the library.

This week, they held a book fair where those who wanted to could put those books (or other books) on sale as well.

It lasted about four hours. I brought fifty books with me. I sold three.

(Or, to put a positive spin on things, I sold three more than I expected!)

So why am I smiling?

I’ll let you in on a little secret: I wasn’t really there for the sales.

I was mostly having a nice day hanging out and talking to other authors, supporting one another, talking shop and generally having a good time. This wasn’t a major convention or anything, so I wasn’t expecting much.

It also gave me a chance to prepare for bigger events and try out some ideas. Like bookmarks. Who doesn’t like a nice bookmark? So I designed one that had nice leather vibe to it…

And on the back, something that shows off the fact I do books and comics.

I figured I’d also take some of my pictures and add them to my book displays, laminate them so I can use them in future events. I also put my drawing tablet to good use, cycling through a bunch of images from my comic in the background. What do you think?

I did have a few people think that I did graphic novels instead of regular novels because of those images, though, so maybe I need to work on the idea a bit more.

A lot of great authors showed up for the event. Some first time writers, some who have been in the game a lot longer than I have, some with publishers, some self-published. Fiction, non-fiction, pretty much everything under the sun.