I thought I would share some of the many pictures from the last two months of events and activities I participated in to support my book's launch.
Also, thank you to all who have reviewed and/or rated my book on Amazon and Goodreads. I have over 64 reviews on Amazon and 40 on Goodreads which is a major accomplishment. I can’t thank you enough. If you haven’t found the time to do this yet, below are the links. Just a rating or a quick sentence or two does the trick.
Book Launch- 9/5
It was a beautiful night for my book launch. Everything worked out as planned. The music, food, and friends and family made it very special. Fifty people came and listened to American Pie played to a sold-out crowd! A real Marta even showed up to it.
Flour Girl Book Crawl- 9/15
The Flour Girl held their first-ever book crawl and invited six local authors and ten craft and artisan vendors. They sold 150 tickets and we had a great time talking to the very engaged throngs that came through. I don’t know if it’s true but someone shared that at events where people must pay to enter, they tend to be serious about buying “stuff” versus free events where many people come to soak up the fun but aren’t there to buy.
Third Thursday Street Festival-9/19
I tried this on a whim and it was fun to be out on Mainstreet, Willimantic, CT. It was difficult to locate me at my black table after dark. A friend walked by three times before she spotted me. So next time, I’ll have my table further out on the street and try to shine a little brighter. Frogs are the symbol of Willimantic so thought I’d share this pic as I can’t be in every picture.
Colebrook Village-9/20
We had a good crowd of twenty residents from the lovely retirement community in Hebron, CT. After I spoke, the first question was whether my book came in large print which unfortunately it doesn’t. My mom, brother, and sister (pictured) came to support me.
Barnes and Noble-9/21
This was a book signing event with my table located near the entrance. It started a little slow but many friends from my HSB days (my old company) showed up and a few customers wandered over and buy a signed copy of my book.
Douglas Library-9/24
This is my local Hebron library. Twenty people showed up which was a nice crowd. Many friends from Hebron who I hadn’t seen since our kids grew up came to support me. A couple drove up from New Jersey which was sooo nice.
Brooklyn Book Fest - 9/29
My first bust of an event. Due to the drizzly weather, we had few people interested in stopping to buy books despite being protected in Ziploc bags. It was doubly disappointing because I had such high hopes as we were told to bring at least 50 books to the event. We made the best of it as there were three of us at the table and it was wonderful to meet the other authors in person and chat after seeing them on Zoom for over a year. Also, I got a cool video from the event and you can check out the crowd deterring weather for yourself.
Saratoga Book Fest - 10/5
This was my first time visiting Saratoga, NY and as many people told me in advance Saratoga was lovely. The book fest was well organized and there was a nice flow of people wandering through. I learned a valuable lesson from my table partner, Sharon Dukett, about how to entice people over to check out our books by offering them a free bookmark. It was surprising to find that most people were more excited about the bookmarks than the free Hershey bars. Go figure. Handing out bookmarks now is something I do at events. If someone has my bookmark, there’s a chance they will consider buying my ebook or audiobook when they get home.
Priam Winery Author Event - 10/6
It was a gorgeous Sunday at the Colchester, CT winery. Ten authors set up outside on the patio. It turned out, we were the winery’s best customers as it was just too beautiful not to enjoy a crisp, cool glass of their award-winning rosé. Friends, family, and even pets showed up!
Beckish Senior Center, Columbia, CT- 10/10
This was my first event in my hometown of Columbia. It was exciting being “home” and here I had the opportunity to talk about how my fictional town of Brunswick, NJ is similar to Columbia. Several of my elementary school and high school classmates attended, making it extra special.
Charter Books, Newport RI 10/24
This was my first bookstore event. Celine Keating(a fellow author) and I entertained the group with stories about our publishing journey and then answered some great questions from our lively audience. My new grandson, Rhodes, made a guest appearance. Charter Books is a lovely store in Newport that was so accommodating and welcoming. They also allowed us to sign their author wall, which was a first for me.
Below are my events for the rest of the year. I’d love to see you there.
11/19 7 PM Author Talk at the Saxton B. Little Library in Columbia, CT
11/20 11-1 Book signing at HSB’s cafeteria during the United Way campaign
11/23 10-2 Vendor Market at Ct ValleyBrewing Company in South Windsor, CT
12/7 12-4 Author Event at the Rule of 3 Brewing Company, East Hampton, CT
12/14 1-4 Author and Wine Pairing Event at the Lost Acres Vineyard, No Granby, CT
Freebie
Because the three audiobook codes posted in my previous newsletter were snatched up, I want to offer two more as a thank you to my lovely subscribers who have supported me through my long and often long-winded journey.
Please enjoy two free audio review copies of Again and Again Back To You: A Novel, now available on Audible. Redeem the one-time use code below at https://www.audible.com/acx-promo
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Such a lovely newsletter - I love the way you bring us all in to your events and thoughts about them. You've done an really awesome job on behalf of your wonderful book.
Great photos. Looks like you have had some successful events. Good luck on your future events.