~What will I need to bring with me~

[Monique]

If you have not been to one of the previous UK GLBTQ Fiction Meets and you have no idea what to expect, and if you are travelling from outside the UK you may have some questions that can easily be answered here.

[Bookwatcher]

The clothing is a good question! I don't dress up formally much so I will be in trouble if I will have too
Lol

[Josephine]

Answer: Anything you feel comfortable in! I enjoy dressing up a bit, but we've always had plenty of people there in jeans and T-shirts. Basically, anything goes, even for the evening events.

[Clare]

Agreed with Jo :) It really is all about being comfortable. There's nothing that requires special clothing, no long walks or awkward climbs, the hotel will be air-conditioned and/or heated - whichever we need most, this being a British summer LOL - and the evenings out are with the same friends from the day time.

[Clare]

Mind you, I forgot to say that Jo always looks *gorgeous* x

[Charlie]

We always say wear what you feel great in!

[Kate]

Also, if you fancy straying into the village in the evenings, the club dress code is pretty casual: smart jeans and (T-)shirts are more the standard than glamorous frocks :-)

[Anna]

are the authors doing swag again this year? My summer release from 2012 leant itself to a pretty obvious giveaway... if Cricket is released on time (that is, according to my schedule!) then it should be out around the same time as the Meet. Only problem is, I'm having a much harder time thinking up cricket themed goodies...

[Clare]

LOL at the thought of you two playing an over or two in the main lobby :)

Yes Anna, we're encouraging the authors to offer swag again, just like last year. All things welcome! but we're definitely interested in quality rather than quantity. That means we're much happier with a small, attractive/useful token than a handful of postcards that - unfortunately - often get lost or thrown away.

[Anna]

@Melanie - that would be AWESOME. high liklihood of breaking something though. the hotel looks expensive. probably best not to do any damage there :/

Thanks, Clare, I'll try and get thinking of more things to do. If the worst happens I might do another round of teabags. (No teabagging jokes please. This is a serious group.)

[Bookwatcher]

Melanie wrote: "Let's have a game of cricket."

lol

[Josephine]

Melanie wrote: "Anna wrote: "I might do another round of teabags. (No teabagging jokes please. This is a serious group.) "

*opens mouth...reads...closes mouth again* Oh. Boo!"

A serious group? Damn, I'm in the wrong place! ;P

[Mandy*reads obsessively*]

Ok, I'm going to throw a question out there.
The authors and publishers selling books are the pricing/ payment going to be in £ or € or even $?

[Clare]

Hi Mandy. I'm happy to sell my copies in any of the 3 currencies, but I won't be able to offer change. I suspect most authors will want to deal in their home currency, whatever that is - which doesn't really help you :(

Or they may decide to use £ only, because we'll be in the UK.

Anyone know what currency Dreamspinner took payments in last year? I know they had the facility to take credit card payments as well as cash, so that probably accepts any currency.

[Josephine]

Clare wrote: "Hi Mandy. I'm happy to sell my copies in any of the 3 currencies, but I won't be able to offer change. I suspect most authors will want to deal in their home currency, whatever that is - which does..."

I would have thought most people would be happy with sterling if it's cash, but some US peeps might be using Square to take payments by card in USD (can we use Square over here, Clare?). I think we're leaving it up to the individuals how they choose to charge for their books.

[Josephine]

There's always the option of Paypalling monies too. I'd be happy to take Paypal for the books I'll be bringing if people can do it there and then, and that could be in USD or sterling. Probably Euros too, if I set up my account to handle them.

[Clare]

I don't think Square works outside the US and Canada. There's a similar app called iZettle that works in the Uk on the chip and pin system with mobile devices. And there endeth my knowledge :)

But the Paypal idea is excellent! We'll have wifi access on the day, and can therefore pay in cross currencies from one device or another.

[Monique]

Jo and Clare are you both bringing paperbacks of your books?

[Clare]

I will bring a few, if people might be interested *blush* :). Let me know any specific requests!

And I'm also offering a couple of my published short stories for free on the USB stick - any requests for those, too?!

[Monique]

Clare I NEED to have Seve and Max in my hot little hands... So I most definitely want a copy of Compulsion, with your lovely scrawl inside <3

Jo... Alasdair and Cosmo have insisted they come home with me so Screwing the System please <3

[Enny]

Josephine wrote: "There's always the option of Paypalling monies too. I'd be happy to take Paypal for the books I'll be bringing if people can do it there and then, and that could be in USD or sterling. Probably Euros too, if I set up my account to handle them. "

PayPal simply converts any payments made in foreign currencies to yours (minus a transaction fee) so this would an easy way of paying those authors who don't want to end up with lots of BPs they have no way of spending.

[Eepa *mm loving bookworm*]

Enny wrote: "Josephine wrote: "There's always the option of Paypalling monies too. I'd be happy to take Paypal for the books I'll be bringing if people can do it there and then, and that could be in USD or ster..."

Does it actually take a fee? I have used Paypal couple of years to buy my ebooks and I have never seen any fee taken from these purchases. And almost every ebook seller uses dollars while I'm part of the euro area.

[Clare]

I imagine the fee is absorbed in the exchange rate used when you buy a book online from a publisher or bookstore, OR the publisher is accepting it within the original price.

But for other purchases or transfers online, there's usually a fee - I'm sorry to say we lose a fee from all of your registrations!

If we transfer money on the day through Paypal, it's a good idea to class it as "personal payment to friends", and then that's usually free of charges if it's in the same currency between the two accounts. If it has to be converted - yes, you guessed it! - there's a fee deducted again.

My Paypal accepts GBP and USD - and Euro, I expect - so I don't lose fees if I pay from the same currency.

I know! Confusing :)

[Enny]

When buying stuff, the one who gets the money pays the fee. When I buy books online, I don't pay anything but when an author sends me money, I pay a fee.

For across-border, personal transactions, it's 0.4 or 0.5% when the sender uses their PayPal account as opposed to a credit card where it's 3.9% and the sender can decide whether she or he will pay the fee. For commercial transactions, the fee is 3.9% and the fee is always paid by the recipient.

Strictly speaking, buying books doesn't fall under "personal transactions" so you have to make sure that there's no reference to the book in the transaction. The author gives you a book for free and since you're so grateful, you in return send them a gift through PayPal ;)

PayPal isn't in the business out of the goodness of their hearts in order to promote international relations but compared to the 40 € fee I once had to pay when a US friend sent me a check, sending money through PayPal is pretty cheap.

[Blaine]

Mandy*reads obsessively* wrote: "Ok, I'm going to throw a question out there.
The authors and publishers selling books are the pricing/ payment going to be in £ or € or even $?"

Good question.
I can at least accept £ or €. I'm not sure about $, since I have no idea when I'll ever be able to use them myself (unless to buy other books during the weekend...) Though, yeah... I might not have change for all currencies.

I'm hesitant about the paypal option right now... Enny's percentage talk has me a bit confused about it...

[Mandy*reads obsessively*]

Well I'm bringing £ and $ and a few €.

[Jordan]

I'm hoping to bring a prepaid credit card that I can use in ATMs to grab local currency cash. I have yet to get the card though. But I'm hoping this works best. I'm just assuming US dollars will be useless, though I might have a few on me anyway for the return trip if needed.

Also, I'm wicked glad I don't need to dress up. I hate dressing up. lol. But I think I'll have to be a little spiffier for the ballet performance I'm attending in London. Boo! :-)

[Mandy*reads obsessively*]

Jordan wrote: "I'm hoping to bring a prepaid credit card that I can use in ATMs to grab local currency cash. I have yet to get the card though. But I'm hoping this works best. I'm just assuming US dollars will be..."

I used $ for some of the paperbacks from US authors. And of course £ but I didn't need any €.

[Teodora]

Hey, guys!
This is going to be my first Meet this year and I'm a bit overwhelmed! I already started making the things I'm going to put in the bags (I was advised it's good to start early LOL), but I have a few more questions to those who have been to other meets:
1. What else, besides paperbacks,do you have on your table? In the email from the organisers it said you can have books and book related items, but what does that mean? Swag? And if so, do you charge for it? I've never sold swag before, I usually give it away...
2. Do you sell your paperbacks for the cover price? I have absolutely no idea what to charge!
3. Any ideas what promo stuff to bring will be greatly appreciated!
I feel like a fish out of water right now, I have no idea what I'm doing...

[Jordan]

Teodora wrote: "Hey, guys!
This is going to be my first Meet this year and I'm a bit overwhelmed! I already started making the things I'm going to put in the bags (I was advised it's good to start early LOL), but ..."

Somewhere around here we had a short discussion about swag items. Those are given away. I think we came up with the idea that it should be small and useful, and not really a paper good, like postcards. Though I think notepads or sticky pads are great. magnets were very popular. Gotta be useful though, whatever it is.

[Teodora]

I already know what I'm doing for my swag for the gift bags ;) It's not paper ;) I'm more concerned about what I should have with me at the author signing event...

[Mandy*reads obsessively*]

Teodora wrote: "I already know what I'm doing for my swag for the gift bags ;) It's not paper ;) I'm more concerned about what I should have with me at the author signing event..."

If I remember correctly ( which, with my memory is always questionable) I think most authors had bookmarks of their books and signed those and gave them away. At least I have a few from authors I love from Manchester. :)

[Teodora]

I'll be sure to bring some, then. Thanks, Mandy ;)

[Jordan]

YES! signed bookmarks would be PERFECT. I want to bring books with me for people to sign, but I'd rather not have to carry things I'm not going to need with me. But bookmarks would be just right. I've got a collection of them, so yeah, that. lol. Should have thought of it sooner!

[Becky]

Bring a brolly - the weather forecast is a bit showery. :D

But then again, if I check the forecast again on Thursday it will probably be entirely different!

[HJ]

For the non-native English speakers -- "brolly" is slang for umbrella! It's always a good idea to have one (or a light raincoat) when visiting the UK.