There’s nothing scientific about my observations and the conclusions I draw, but I’ve come to rely on these insights to inform decisions about which events work best for registering as a vendor.

My books (and paintings) do best with an eclectic crowd. I’ve noticed that at such events as the Beech Grove Artists’ Collective Art Walk in Beech Grove, Indiana and the Clifton Gorge Arts & Music Festival. These are “country-style” arts and crafts events where it’s okay to be a little different, but not necessarily avant garde. My work tends to be a little too traditional or tame for events that celebrate the outrageous and avante garde. This was made evident at Art on Vine where passersby praised the paintings as beautiful, but few were so persuaded by that appeal to purchase them. That doesn’t mean I’m going to change what I write or what I paint, but it may help me focus on what to stock.

The economy also plays a huge role. The well-heeled shoppers at Art on Vine and those shoppers in lower tax brackets were equally choosy with their spending, many opting not to spend their money on what they could not consume. The coffee, tea, and other consumables vendors did pretty well. Vendors selling art had a much more difficult time. The two jewelry vendors near my table seemed to do a brisk business. Should I return to Art on Vine, I hope my sister-in-law who makes chain mail jewelry will join us. She’d be a welcome addition and would probably do quite well.

The type of crowd matters. Several attendees at the Northwestern Band Association Craft Show informed me that they either did not read for pleasure, read little, read only nonfiction, or read Christian fiction. That’s all well and good. I have no objection to their reader preferences or non-reading preferences. It just shows that I ought to vary the type of books I bring to events of a similar caliber.  At events like that one, readers expressed preferences for historical fiction and mysteries (preferably the clean and sweet kind) and young adult fiction. At Art on Vine, readers expressed more acceptance for grittier, more explicit fiction, even if they didn’t buy it from me.

Very few people overall will admit aloud to a preference for explicit romance. There’s still a stigma attached to the genre. Interestingly, a lot of people will answer “mysteries” when I ask them what they like to read. That response has led to my book FOCUS being my bestselling book at events.

The organization of events means a lot. Event planners who are organized and current on the details are surely underpaid and underappreciated. When the planner makes things easier for the vendor, the vendor—at least this one—is more willing to return the following year. I was glad to have printed my receipt for vendor registration and brought it to Art on Vine, because the organizer questioned my presence after he’d assured me that he believed me when I stated I’d paid for it. That left a bad taste in my mouth, but I was glad to have had that proof of purchase and not be forced to move my display and merchandise. (I was also glad we brought chairs, because the venue provided a table, but no chairs.)

Hours of operation influence an event’s success. Strong attendance was cut in half on Saturday’s craft show, because people left to go home and watch the OSU football game. At Art on Vine, the crowd thinned after 4:00 PM. I think event hours could be trimmed accordingly.

All in all, I appreciate the various opportunities to bring my books and paintings to the public and am deeply grateful to those who purchase them. Their support is immensely gratifying.

I’m finished with events this year. The next may be as early as March, pending approval as a vendor. I will continue to seek appropriate venues that offer a good mix of pedestrian traffic and opportunity. If you know of any such event coming up in the next 12 months that’s within a 5-hour drive of Springfield, Ohio, please let me know. Send me the URL so I can check it out.

I’ll be seeing you in person next year!

Hen House Publishing vendor table at Art on Vine, November 13, 2022.

Sales. Revenue. Profit. These terms make the world go ’round, because business cannot sustain itself without them. Because of that, currency is the simplest and typically the only metric used to determine success. When it comes to participating in events, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking “I spent $X on this event and I earned $Y.” If $X exceeds $Y, was the event a failure?

Not necessarily.

When it comes to business, determining the return on investment on marketing activities is tricky. Sales don’t normally happen right away. Oftentimes, potential customers need repeated “touching” to build awareness and stimulate demand. Then, once a potential customer opens the wallet and buys, the vendor must do well enough to satisfy that customer’s expectations for the customer to both justify a second purchase and to recommend others to purchase, too.

I have read that an authors’s main focus in participating at event should not be sales, but marketing. I can see why folks would say that, but I cannot entirely agree. Sales must factor into the decision to return to an event.

If I participate as a vendor at an event and there’s no traffic and/or few potential customers, then the excursion is a waste. A roomful of vendors trying to sell to one another is no fun. There must be opportunity to recoup costs if not make an actual profit. If I participate as vendor and there’s no traffic and/or few potential customers, it indicates that:

1. The event caters to an audience that’s wrong for me and my books
2. The event organizer erred in the venue and did not take the necessary steps to attract a committed audience of attendees.

In either case, that’s not an event I care to lose money on again.

Some events change. One, the Imaginarium in Louisville, Kentucky, completed its turn of focus from being a gaming event  with readers to a writers conference. Writers (or aspiring authors) are not my target audience; therefore, that is not an event to which I’ll return.

Because my modest budget cannot sustain repeated losses, I do factor in cost and revenue. Some events are free, thereby incurring little in the day of direct costs beyond mileage, inventory, and time. Especially when I have a cheap (or free—thanks, brother!) place to stay, these events make sense. I can build my brand and fan base while minimizing the financial stress. (At the last Beech Grove Artists Collective Art Walk, one woman ran across the street to tell me she’d loved my book, FOCUS. What a giddy feeling!)

With some events that are young, meaning they are first-time events or recently begun events, I often give them more than one chance to mature into profitable venues for me. The Monday Creek Publishing Book Festival held in Nelsonville, Ohio is one of those events with lots of potential. My costs were time, mileage, and inventory. I did better than anticipated and will be happy to return in 2023. The organizer is working hard to make this the premier literary event of southeastern Ohio. I just returned from Lust in the City, a brand new event focused on the romance genre and taking a different tack by soliciting committed attendees through advance ticket sales. I didn’t come close to breaking even, but I can see the immense potential of this event. It, too, has an extremely dedicated organizer who I believe will make this an extraordinary book fair as it matures. I want to be there as both events grow and mature.

Other events that oftentimes work out well are not book-related at all. I’ve gone to various art shows where I sold no paintings, but did sell books. The lack of similar competition makes my wares memorable and stand out from the other vendors’ offerings. I’ll be taking advantage of that uniqueness next weekend at the Northwestern Band Association Fall Craft Show in Springfield, Ohio and Art on Vine at the Rheingeist Brewery in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Although I’ve been doing this for several years now, each event adds to my experience and helps to adjust my expectations and manage my hopes. I like to think I’m getting better an judging which events will prove profitable from both financial and marketing standpoints.

#hollybargobooks #marketing

Career gurus advise freelancers to “niche down” and specialize, because there’s big money in specialization. If you don’t believe me, then take a look at salaries of healthcare specialists like plastic surgeons to generalists like primary care physicians. The same goes for writers. Writers who specialize in financial technology or blockchain command higher rates than those who are generalists.

I’m a generalist. In short, I know a little bit about a whole lot of stuff. Some of that comes from lived experience, some comes from knowledge acquired through researching myriad topics, and some comes from simply reading a variety of informative sources.

When it comes to ghostwriting books, another factor comes into play: desire. Or perhaps you might call it interest. A lot of people want to hire ghostwriters and are willing to pay a lot of money for a ghostwriter’s expertise. These are generally nonfiction projects for, by, and about high-powered business executives who wish to impart their insights and life journeys to others. These projects require extended interviews with the subjects, interviews with others, and intense focus.

If I were that kind of ghostwriter … but I’m not.

I prefer to ghostwrite fiction.

There’s a misconception that fiction requires no research. Actually, it does. Writing fiction requires a great deal of research to establish verisimilitude, that level of realism that serves as the base for plausibility. Research imparting a factual basis to what happens in the story is crucial to enabling the reader to suspend his or her disbelief.

Of course, realism isn’t the only factor that goes into making a story good. It involves the ability to create engaging dialogue, action, emotion, motive, and more. It requires an ability to develop characters with more dimensions than a paper doll. It requires knowing how to write primarily in active voice to make the verbs perform the heavy lifting.

Interviewing subjects to obtain their insights isn’t one of my better skills. To be candid, I don’t like prying and digging into someone’s recollections for insights. I prefer to simply hold a conversation. In fiction, it’s great to experience the characters revealing themselves through dialogue, action, and introspection. I flatter myself in thinking I do a good job at that.

Value doesn’t necessarily confer reduction to dollar value. I find value in the relationships I develop with my clients and in the quality of what I write for them. I won’t earn the six-figure salary that a big company’s CEO will pay to have his life story and lessons learned transformed into a motivational or inspirational tome, but I’ll do what I’m best at doing: writing stories.

That does, of course, lead into the question as to whether it’s wise to hire a ghostwriter to write your story. The main objection—beyond the financial implication—is that the ghostwriter won’t write your story exactly as you would. Of course not.

However, have you considered that the ghostwriter may very well write that story better than you could?

Just as a home cook can make a tasty meal, but not necessarily have the skill to serve as a chef in a fine restaurant, your writing skill may be adequate for business reports and not up to the challenge of writing a book that engages readers. When you want a nice meal, you cook it yourself. When you want a great meal, a chef cooks for you. The same goes for writing stories.

Let me be your chef de fiction. Let me write your story.

#henhousepublishing #ghostwriting #fictionwriting