I need to begin with a hearty thanks to the staff at Thornton Distilling Company. The Dead Drop / Rock Shop Words & Music Festival drew far more attendees than anticipated and forced staff members to pull double and triple duties. All in all, for a first ever event, it went pretty well. Unlike the lit fest I expected this was more akin to a Turkish Bazaar and that made it more fun. One lady selling custom semi-erotic stickers, near a guy selling hand made holiday cards, next to a guy with non-fiction books about the Sicilian experience, and so on. There was something for everyone, the mood was festive, and your favorite McSciFi caught some love.
One thing I must do is give a shout out to, fellow presenter, Jotham Austin, II who, along with his wife Ginger, went above and beyond the call of duty helping this mobility challenged writer navigate setting things up, assisting my wife so she could get product up numerous flights of stairs and, genuinely, being awesome humans. Then they helped reverse the process so we could go home at the end of the day.
Others helped as well as the day went on, but Jotham stood out.
One decision that got made after the event, and some discussion with the nice folks over at Azoth Khem Publishing, is I’m going to do more events in bars, libraries, and so forth instead of conventions. After paying table fees, badge fees, budgeting for food and hotel costs, and then dealing with vastly reduced numbers of attendees, I’m not seeing the value. To be blunt, at a recent con my bride and I sat unaccosted for over five hours before the first person approached our table. While not every pitch yields a sale, zero pitches in five hours is a waste of time and money.
By comparison, while the turnout at smaller events is numerically less than a con, there are also fewer vendors, so everyone gets some attention and, if you can spike their curiosity for a moment, odds are you’ll make a sale. If nothing else, you’ll get some new blood on your mailing list.
As always, if you can’t make it to any event I’m at, and you still need a McSciFi fix, just head over to my online store and have fun.
Until next time, stay safe and sane.
