I tell you what, if I thought last holiday season was busy, this year is going to be twice as busy at least! So far it’s kicked off with the Fall Gathering of Authors event in Texarkana on Nov 1 & 2 (more about that in a minute), followed by the Valley Ridge PTA Fall Carnival in Lewisville on Nov 2 in the evening. This week I set up flyers at the Dallas Farmers Market to advertise it, connected with a business owner who would like me to do a book reading during a wine & cheese event they’re holding in December, and have a long weekend of events happening this weekend. We’ll be in Allen & Keller Texas this weekend for their annual craft and trade shows (more on that in a minute too). This is our first year doing the holiday craft and Christmas markets and so we’re full of nervous excitement around here. The logistics to doing these events is impressive.

[image error]The 2013 Fall Gathering of Authors was one fantastic event and definitely one I’ll repeat year after year, for no other reason than it does so much good and is so well organized. When a local writing friend of mine, David N. Walker (author of Fancy & Heaven Sent) suggested we go, I was a little skeptical. I always am because I don’t like being disappointed. I’m happy to say I wasn’t. This is the fourth year they’ve done the event and from what I can tell it was their biggest yet. They had close to 26 authors present plus a group of young authors who had published a book called Dream Catchers 2. It was also a charity event (those are always dear to my heart! Ha Ha!) to raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s hospital and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. There were a flat out ton of giveaways – books, swag, t-shirts, merchandise, gorgeous jewelry, and so much more. Literally, it took them all day to give it all away. It was so impressive! Here’s some of the highlights of the day:

1) A local public school librarian named Denice Jones stopped by our table to look and I engaged her in conversation. I asked a simple question: How does an author get his/her books in the hands of the kids at her school? Her answer STUNNED me. She said basically you can’t unless you donate it. Her budget is so small that when she started as librarian four weeks ago she had $2.13 in her budget remaining. My eyes must have bugged out of my head! $2 – that’s it?! School isn’t even through the second semester yet! And she said not only that but they have circulation policies they follow – not all of it made sense to me – and basically they try to replace 10% of their oldest books every year. If the library has a collection of 2,500 books, then 250 of them have to be replaced each year. And usually they try to have enough copies for a class to all check out the same book (i.e. 20-25 copies of the same book). I couldn’t believe it. I sat there stunned as we chatted some more but my friend, David, genius and giver that he is, took action immediately. He went up to one of the hosts with the microphone and shared this woman’s story to this room full of authors. Ya’ll, this woman left crying with a big bag full of books for her library! Free. From the generosity of the people in the room. If I had had any more books on hand I’d have given her a stack myself but as it was I promised to mail her some copies. I tell ya, we authors are a generous bunch and it was in full display this weekend!

2) I was surrounded by amazing local talent. Our evening entertainment on Friday was a young singer named Kassi Holder who sang Jesus Take the Wheel. That song brings a tear to my eye every time but to hear and see this beautiful 13 year old girl pour her heart and soul into it in front of a room full of strangers – I was in awe! Then, surprise of the night for me (even though it was in the program), our host sang too! I got video of both of them and posted it on Facebook.

3) I sold the very first two copies of the hardcover versions of Jason, Lizzy & the Snowman Village. Mind you, these are collectors items (we’re already planning to change the cover for next year!) and a limited printing. We’ll only print enough to meet demand and I don’t expect to sell more than 1,000 of these this season (and it’ll probably be closer to 100) so if you’re local, check out our upcoming events (coming soon) for details on where to get your copies or you’ll be able to order them through the website soon for a limited time. They make fantastic gifts for the holiday season (nothing is better than sharing a little holiday spirit!).

4) I met some really fantastic authors, picked up some great new ideas, and just enjoyed a nice weekend away from home. I was so busy I barely had time to even miss my family! How crazy is that? I always miss them but it seemed like I was back so quick I barely even left.

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Okay, so there’s a ton going on from now until Christmas. I hope I can keep up with all the blogging! Our team is HARD at work on the website doing yet another iteration to better serve customers. My webmaster, Sabrina, has created a much more streamlined and cleaner home page. We’ve fixed the navigation to make it simpler to get where you want to go. The shopping cart now features a shipping API courtesy of the USPS so you can now calculate exactly what shipping will cost you based on your location and only pay that price. We will possibly add a small shipping and handling charge (after all, we do have to package the books and take them to the post office) but we’re trying to keep that cost as low as possible. And of course, sales tax. The State of Texas wants their share. We’re including an event calendar so you can see what’s happening where and when, plus information about booking an event with me or hiring me to work with you. All in all, it’s very exciting!

Speaking of events, we’ve got quote a few coming up right now. We’ll be participating in the 1st Annual Allen FFA Craft & Trade Show this year. It’s on Saturday, November 9th from 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. at Allen High School Cafeteria. 300 Rivercrest Blvd, Allen TX. Also this weekend we’ll be at the 11th Annual Fall Gift & Craft Show hosted by Central High School Lightning Dance Team in Keller. It’s Saturday Nov 9 – 10.

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