We, as writers, dream of the day we’ll be sitting in a giant bookstore, dishing out pithy sayings and scribbling our names on countless hundreds of books that go flying through the cashier’s stand.
The truth is often far different. In many cases, we’re luck to get even five people. Very lucky.
And book signings or readings in libraries? Unless it’s a huge event with other authors, you can probably forget that too.
But there’s one place we shine. I mean, like a lighthouse on a fog ridden coast.
The markets. Casual shoppers/tourists love meeting a real live author and get jazzed by the possibility of owning a book by someone famous (ahem). They often work at finding a reason to buy our books. Gifts often come to mind.
Because, well, books ARE great gifts.
The markets are hard work, sure. But we’re writers. We should be used to that. And if we take any (ANY!!) trip out of town, we often book at local markets there too.
Even more so, the local Christmas markets. We can easily triple our regular market sales.
What I’m saying is, as you plan your holiday season, don’t write off your book sale season. It’s just getting ready for the grand finale.
Wendy L. Koenig 