{"id":44056,"date":"2025-08-04T20:57:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/44056\/"},"modified":"2025-08-04T20:57:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T20:57:14","slug":"if-you-think-writing-a-book-is-hard-try-selling-it-at-the-county-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/44056\/","title":{"rendered":"If you think writing a book is hard, try selling it at the county fair"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\tQuickTake:<\/p>\n

The author shows her daughter the ropes, spending a couple of days trying to pitch passers-by at the Lane County Fair authors\u2019 booth: \u201cAuthors are notoriously better at writing than marketing\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

I am teaching my daughter the ways of author events as we set up at the Lane County Fair. \u201cIf someone says, \u2018I had a lot of good conversations,\u2019\u201d I tell her, \u201cit actually means, \u2018I didn\u2019t sell any books.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether at the county fair, the state fair or the annual library fundraiser, book sales have their own rules, rituals and traditions.<\/p>\n

Hauling boxes of books from the bumpy, grassy parking area to the Lane Events Center in the July heat is always a challenge. The author Bob Welch<\/a> once told me that the real competition isn\u2019t who sells the most books but who has the niftiest book hauler.<\/p>\n

Then he flicked his wrist and unfolded an aluminum wheeled device that clicked into position with authority and smooth precision. We all looked on enviously. Bob beat all the competition that day.<\/p>\n

The fair lasts five days. Emily and I signed up for two of them, thanks to Jason Kilgore who organized the authors\u2019 display and invited us. Emily has written two books; I have nine.<\/p>\n

\"\"The author with her daughter, Emily, at the authors\u2019 table at the Lane County Fair this July.<\/p>\n

While we enjoy chatting with readers and selling books, the lasting memories are made by sitting beside other authors for an afternoon, or a day, or a week. Authors are notoriously better at writing than marketing, so we quietly observe each others\u2019 techniques. What\u2019s the best way to snag a tired fairgoer who is wandering by eating a dish of ice cream or pushing a stroller?<\/p>\n

Jason draws readers in with, \u201cDo you like to read fantasy?\u201d much like Carola Dunn used to bring people to her display of Daisy Dalrymple books with \u201cDo you like to read mysteries?\u201d<\/p>\n

Some of us are less assertive, making eye contact and smiling. After two hours of waiting for the traffic to pick up, we try to look welcoming but not desperate. Heaven forbid that I impose on people who are there only for the air conditioning.<\/p>\n

We are also hungry by this time, leading to another conundrum. If we pull the ham and cheese sandwich out of our tote bag and take a large bite, a potential customer will immediately appear and ask what our books are about. So we nibble furtively.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy marketing strategy is to compliment people on what they\u2019re wearing,\u201d Emily says, calling out to mention a young woman\u2019s strawberry-shaped purse and a woman\u2019s lace-trimmed straw hat.<\/p>\n

I sit beside Joe Blakely, who has written 20 books about Oregon topics \u2014 from Bigfoot to the Highway 101 bridges. He is a congenial and constant presence at the end of the row of tables.<\/p>\n

I could easily sell Joe\u2019s fascinating historical books for him, such as the story of the \u201cTall Firs\u201d that I bought years ago for our son. In fact, as the hours pass, we authors memorize each other\u2019s spiels without even trying. Jason\u2019s is \u201cThis is a fantasy series written from the point of view of an ancient dragon and a young female mage.\u201d Last year at the state fair I asked him what a mage is. \u201cEssentially a magician,\u201d he said. He attracts so many customers that some of us wonder if we should switch genres and venture into fantasy.<\/p>\n

At the table beside us, Guy Maynard explains that he came to Oregon from Boston in 1971 to start a communal farm and live off the land. He has pictures of himself and his wife, genuine members of the hippie movement. \u201cI was raised in that era,\u201d a woman says, nodding at Guy\u2019s photos. Like many of Eugene\u2019s ex-hippies, she tells him her adventuresome story. But she walks off without buying. \u201cAlmost!\u201d Guy says.<\/p>\n

His two-hour shift ends, and he packs up to leave. \u201cWell, I had a lot of lovely conversations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

We smile knowingly.<\/p>\n

The day goes on. Outside in the sunshine, people are no doubt riding the Ferris wheel and tossing rings to collect stuffed animals. We sit and wait. Emily collects only-in-Eugene quotes from customers. The woman in a long red skirt says, \u201cI kind of developed my own mystical style.\u201d Another, reminiscing on her hippie days, states, \u201cI was part of a loosely affiliated group of cults.\u201d A woman in a white tells me, \u201cI\u2019m Unitarian Universalist, on the progressive side, but I love your writing.\u201d<\/p>\n

I realize it\u2019s that connection that makes coming to the fair worthwhile and that motivates us in the hours of silent and solitary writing that precedes our books.<\/p>\n

On our final day, Emily makes occasional sales. I do not. I wander off for a cup of coffee. A man who lived on our property in the 1950s tells me what the neighborhood was like back then. Emily gets hot water for tea. At 4 p.m., we dig our boxes and inefficient book haulers from under the table and pack up our business cards, book racks and remaining inventory.<\/p>\n

Emily is pleased with her sales that day. I try to be happy for her.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh well,\u201d I tell her, \u201cAt least I had a lot of great conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"QuickTake: The author shows her daughter the ropes, spending a couple of days trying to pitch passers-by at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[457,96,8934,25177,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-44056","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-premium","11":"tag-todays-top-story","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}