Sometimes You Win…

When the Wind Blows… Legendary Author/Legendary Readers

Sometimes You Win…

Watermelon Bust June 2023 5x6 smaller

Doesn’t this park look like a great setting for an event? I’ve been branching out by trying new festivals where I can sell my books. I loved the trees behind me, and the beautiful lake across the road added to the feeling of being surrounded by nature.

I was certain I had prepared properly for the hot summer day. We carefully selected a site that would have shade in the afternoon and had a small cooler with bottles of water. See the ceiling fan inside my tent? That was an addition after my previous festival.

It took us less than twenty minutes to set up, then I puttered around with the books for five minutes. I always switch up how I present my books at each event because I have so many books, and I don’t want the table to look cluttered. This time, I organized them by series. I set the first book of each series at the front of the table with the series stacked behind its Book One. I put my newsletter sign-up sheet on the small table, so people would have room to write.

See the truck and trailer behind me? My next-door neighbor vendor took almost two hours to set up; she had a double site and a lot of trinkets to put on exactly the right table and in exactly the right spot. I was in awe. It was almost like watching a train wreck.

The festival was supposed to begin at ten, but the downtown parade that was ten miles away started a little late, so no one showed up until closer to noon; by then, we had turned on the ceiling fan, and it was great.

I had plenty of time to wander around and chat with the other vendors. I asked one question, “Is this your first time here?”

I was hoping to glean some hints from some of the veteran sellers. I didn’t find any vendors who had attended any prior years, but I did buy a tiny $10.00 bottle of non-deet bug spray for the gnats that were driving me and everyone else mad. The best news of the day: the spray worked, and now I’m almost sorry I didn’t buy the larger tiny bottle for $20.00. I was the only person around that was not flailing maniacally at invisible gnats.

People slowly trickled through then back the other way as they headed toward the exit. The vendor on the other side of me, not the trinket lady, pointed out that no one was leaving with a sack in their hands. After that, I continued to smile, wave, and watch for any sacks. Still none.

At one o’clock, a few more people arrived; and each small group included a high school aged girl with impeccable makeup, high heels, and a bright red sash with Festival Princess printed in gold. Evidently the announcements and presentations after the parade had ended. The families and the princesses posed for pictures in front of the trees and in front of the lake. Some seemed a little annoyed with the background of tents, not that I blamed them, so they trudged to the far end of the park for pictures. Still no vendor sacks escaped from the park.

By two o’clock, my ceiling fan quit. We had forgotten to charge it up completely after we tested it, and to make it worse, we also left the charger at home in the garage. At least we were in the shade, and I had my non-deet spray and bottles of cold water.

It was a brutal, hot day. There was an elderly man across from us who was in the full sun with no tent across from us. He was hustling for sales with very little luck. In between the few people who wandered past, he slumped against his table. FarmerMan took him a bottle of cold water and a soft taco from a nearby food truck a little after one o’clock; later, FarmerMan strolled across the wide lane and handed the man a second bottle of cold water.

We were happy when the old man pulled his rusty car close to his site. The vendor next to him rushed to help load the old man’s items into the trunk. There was a huge sigh of relief from quite a few vendors when he slowly drove away.

It sounds like the festival was a bust, doesn’t it? In terms of sales and even people signing up for my newsletter, it was. However, we stayed at an absolutely wonderful campground. Their pool was sparkling and a perfect temperature to counter the hot day. The dogs enjoyed their spacious dog park and the large field where they could run and chase grasshoppers. I talked to the campground manager about the ins and outs of campground management, so if you’re amazed at how realistic the Wren and Rascal Cozy Mystery Series books are in terms of campgrounds, you’ll know where that came from. I gave the campground manager a business card, so he’d know I was legit and not some strange, old lady asking random questions, which I was, but he didn’t mind at all.

He chased me down later; he had checked out my website and wanted to know more about Danger in the Clouds. I gave him a copy for his help with my research.

Sometimes you lose, but this wasn’t one of those times for me!

Bloodshed in the Badlands Cover April 24 2023