LOVE THOSE BOOK FAIRES

Do you go to book faires? I don't mean "go" to them, I mean "participate" in them. If you have written a book, published your own booklets, or have a comb-bound selection of poetry, you need to be at a book faire. Being a part of the authors group, meeting other authors, and facing an audience with a brief spiel on your creative offerings, is good practice and an excellent way to sell yourself as well as your writing.

Today I was one of a list of thirty-two authors who spoke about their books at a museum in Escondido, CA. It was an event I had attended in the past but had not been a part of. There is a wonderful difference in the two--I could sit at the table with an award-winning, many-times published romance writer and a firt-time author of a unique young adult book about a girl hired to be a Pony Express rider. I could speak with the men who wrote and spoke about their experiences in war, primarily the last war we actually won. I renewed acquaintances with poets who were once a part of a monthly "performing writers" group I was a mmeber of. And I sold books!

It may seem funny to show that as the last item in my list of good things about the day but I feel it was merely icing on the cake. The comradeship with other writers, the sharing of information about agents and publishers, the warm feeling of making new friends and the "feel" of being with (and one of them) true professionals was worth far more than the dollars I collected in sales.

Today was a day I would not have missed. It was enlightening, helpful, and interesting. If you have the chance, don't fail to sign up to be a part of a book faire. Forget the nerves--we all have had them. Forget the lack of confidence--we have all learned to overcome that and you can too, maybe by just being there and speaking about the love of your life--your writing. There is a place for you at a local book faire.

There are always people behind the scenes. Mary Quigley and her always exuberant husband, Patrick, and her extra pair of arms and legs as Mary describes Mona Jones-Owen, were the angels who set up everything. Thank you so much for a wonderful day! We all look forward to doing this again--for the Fourth Annual Book Faire of the North County Authors and Poets (NCAP). We authors are forever grateful to your efforts to give us a venue.
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Please attend events that support writers. If you aren't ready to showcase your own work, you can support writers by showing up, listening to their lectures, purchasing their books and/or telling an author you enjoyed meeting them.