Over the past several years, I’ve attended a lot of events as an author and more lately as an artist. I don’t attend the same events every year. Some I decide to attend because they sound interesting, others because I think the venue has potential, and still others because the registration is either so cheap or free as to justify cramming it into my schedule. Over the years I have begun to get a feel for what’s “reasonable” when it comes to vendor registration fees—or, at least, what’s reasonable for me.

This year, I’ve begun keeping a more formal record of event revenue and expenses to better track event results. They don’t always match my gut instincts. Thus far my profitable events (revenue minus expenses [not including mileage or time] have been:

• Apple City Book Fair
• Missing Falls Brewery Arts & Craft Show
• Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganza
• Ohio Authors Book Fair
• Hocking Hills Book Fair

Of those five, I earned the most at the Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganza, although the hours worked were brutal that weekend.

If I calculate mileage and the cost of my time, none of the events made any profit whatsoever.

The highest earnings came from Oddmall: Inside Out and the Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganza. The registration fee, hotel expenses, and per diem food expenses eclipsed what I earned at Oddmall. With next year’s vendor registration fee rising, it’s not a sustainable commercial venture for me. The Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganza brought in the most money, but working more than 30 hours over a 3-day weekend was really, really hard on me.

The Hocking Hills Book Fair, formerly the Monday Creek Publishing Book Fair, is a second-year event for me. This year it was held on the second floor of the Logan Theater in Logan, Ohio. Location not on the main pedestrian pathway often proves problematic, but organizer Gina McKnight did a great job of directing people to the event. The event piggybacked on the Washboard Festival, a public street fair still recovering from COVID-19 shutdown protocols. My best friend, Cindra (the artist who accompanies me and often sells her paintings alongside mine), suggested looking into registering as a vendor at the 2024 Washboard Festival. We’ll look into that.

The upshot? I did better than expected at the Hocking Hills Book Fair, if not as well as I’d hoped. You see, I always go into every event with sky-high hopes. I suppose I’m doomed to disappointment, because hope springs eternal.

I recently became aware of two more book-oriented events: The Columbus Book Expo hosted by the Columbus Public Library and Beyond the Read Author Event, also held in Columbus, Ohio. I’ll be checking into these events for next year.

So, what’s next in this year’s calendar?

Zinnia Days is coming up on June 24 and 25 in Xenia, Ohio. After that is Art on the Hill & Wine Tasting on July 8 in Mantua, Ohio. No overnight accommodations will be necessary for either event, so that eases the expense side. Then I’ve got some time off while my husband travels to Alaska to visit our son. (I’m staying home, because someone has to take care of the animals. When I’m away, my husband takes care of the animals. Since I’m away more often than he is, I don’t begrudge him this vacation.)

In other news: Champion of the Twin Moons is available for pre-order! This book is a bit of a departure from the others in the series in that it more closely follows the hero than it does the heroine. I hope you enjoy it.

I’ve worked pretty much nonstop for the past couple of weeks, and the busy-ness will continue through mid-July. After Oddmall, I participated at the Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganza. Both were interesting experiences, as I’d not been to either before. (Read the May 23rd blog for  my report on Oddmall.)

Overall, sales of books at the Springfield event were good. Paintings not so much. However, the hours of operation were grueling. By Sunday afternoon, Cindra and I were utterly exhausted. We left early. Although I more than recouped the registration fee and per diem expenses, I’m not sure that I’ll return.

The following weekend we got a small respite with a one-day event: the Ohio Authors Book Fair at Destination Outlets in Jeffersonville, Ohio. The outlet mall is massive and the 40 or so authors present were scattered about the complex. We were almost invisible. Double or triple the number of participating vendors (i.e., authors) would have made for a stronger presence noticed by shoppers. The event was, unfortunately, plagued by a power outage. We’ll give it another try next year.

This past weekend Cindra and I went from one event on Friday evening to another event on Saturday. Friday evening’s event was the BGAC First Friday Art Walk. We attended three of the Art Walks last year and, overall, did pretty well at them. At one, we sold more paintings than books, another time more books than paintings. At the last one in October 2022, I sold no paintings and several books. This time … what a disappointment! I sold two books, one of an old friend who made the trip to Beech Grove from Carmel just to say hello. (Thank you, Sharon!) Neither Cindra nor I sold any paintings.

Last year, we were informed the prices we put on our paintings were far too low for original artwork, so we raised our prices to havel what was suggested and which was twice what we were charging. Regardless of the reason—high prices, inflation, tight budgets—we have both noticed that sales of paintings are lagging this year.

Although Cindra and I do travel to some interesting places, we don’t get to mix business with pleasure much. The pleasure part of that equation is expensive, and we’re trying to make a profit as well as build our creative reputations. When we can, we try out new restaurants. Finding a great new restaurant is truly a pleasure for both of us, especially since our dietary preferences differ. Once in a great while if we’re located in a downtown area, we’ll take a tour of the locale and maybe pop into a shop. We find some great jewelry that way. (Both of us are jewely junkies.) Mostly, though, we’re in and out of the event location, glad to escape to our hotel rooms or get back home to rest after a long day of trying to be saleswomen.

If you want to know where Cindra and I will be going, check out the EVENTS page. If you’ll be going to any of those events and want to reserve copies of the books I’ll be bringing, make sure to fill out the reservation form. No payment is required at the time of order.

The Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganza is a 3-day event larger than any I have attended as a vendor. With over 1,500 vendors outdoors and countless more filling the Arts & Crafts, Annex, Mercantile, and Youth Buildings as well as several of the Clark County Fairgrounds’ livestock barns, this is a big, big event. Most of the vendors are indeed antique dealers, with fine antiques located in the Youth Building. About 25 to 30 percent of the vendors were more of the flea market variety selling a diverse array of food and wares. Hen House Publishing was located near the front of the Mercantile Building between a dealer selling Amish-made cheeses, jellies, and pickled vegetables and an antique dealer selling old dolls and vintage clothing and across from a dealer selling pork rinds and sundry snack foods and another dealer selling Tupperware.

I thought the flea market aspect of the event coupled with the large numbers of attendees (reported between 19,000 and 22,000) would make for a likely venue to sell books and paintings. I truly thought the paintings, being original artwork and unusual for such an event, would draw the most attention and sell better than the books. I brought only my four latest titles to sell: Focus, Knight of the Twin Moons, Russian Revival, and Double Cut. As usual, my best friend, Cindra Phillips of CR Ranch Creative, joined me. We set up three tables: two with our paintings and one with my books. As customary, I draped two of the tables in glittering gold tablecloths with easels and one in maroon. Cindra strung blinking Christmas lights to attract attention. I erected my bannerstand. We set up two floor easels to display more paintings. We rearranged the tables a couple of time until we found a configuration that suited us within the 10 X 10 space. The smallest table draped in maroon was at the front and displayed my books.

Cindra and I quickly discovered that the organizers did not fail their promise to bring in the crowds. We had no complaint about event attendance; there were a lot of people, many of whom made it to the Mercantile Building and wandered through more than once. Several attendees brought their dogs which were all quite well behaved. We enjoyed meeting the dogs. Several food concessionaires also joined the throngs of vendors: the usual “fair food” types.

Friday’s hours were long: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday’s hours were shorter: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday had the shortest hours of operation: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday’s hours were ridiculous, far too long for a weekday when most folks were still working. Saturday’s hours worked well. Sunday’s hours could have started later and ended an hour earlier. (I would have liked to have been able to go to Mass without a conflict in business hours.)

So … sales. Sales were, in a word, disappointing. Cindra sold, if I remember correctly, two paintings. I sold two paintings. I sold quite a few books, though. Both Friday and Saturday evenings, I departed with a list of titles to restock from at-home inventory. We couldn’t blame a paucity of attendees for poor sales; we accredit the lackluster performance to a mismatch of audience. The Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravaganze is not a good venue for us; the audience isn’t a good match for what we sell.

All in all, I did make a small profit over what I call “direct” expenses (mileage, food and beverages, registration fee). If I count in the cost of inventory, I could probably cut the profit by half. If I count in the hours spent (27) working the event—even if I only paid myself state minimum wage ($10.10 per hour for Ohio)—then I lost money.

On the upside, the event was well organized and ran smoothly. We met some really nice people. And a couple of the attendees swore that they’d read and/or purchased my books before and recognized my author name (Holly Bargo). It’s gratifying to know that brand awareness of my author name is building. I hope the folks who bought my books enjoy them and, perhaps, will leave positive reviews.

As for the Springfield Antique Show & Flea Market Extravanganza … we won’t return as vendors. It’s a great venue for the antiques and snack foods sellers, but not for us.

Until the next event: the Ohio Authors Book Fair on Saturday, May 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Jeffersonville Outlets, Jeffersonville, Ohio. Cindra and I hope to see you there!