EVENTS

Last Saturday I was at Thame in Oxfordshire and the event started strong with a sale, albeit a small one, 15 minutes before we even opened. The morning then rushed along and I’d broken even by eleven am, then building strongly until around lunchtime when the weather turned and things slowed down. I was still getting sales but it wasn’t a patch on the morning. I ended up with a profit above the average for last year across all events but below the average for Thame.

I had some lovely feedback about the design of my table, with one person saying my marketing was on point. The banner is working really well and it stands out amongst the other stalls and from a long way off! I can see it catching people’s eyes as they come up to my stall. I’m already thinking about a possible second banner so I can advertise my sci-fi series when it’s ready.

FATE’S AMBITION was the stand out book but the other first in series sold well too, along with a couple of my other titles. Once again I could have sold a copy of LOST AMONGST THE STARS if it was ready.

Despite it being a very strong weekend, the profit level I achieved pushed the event down to 6th overall, but it’s very close between Lyndhurst (with one event only) and Salisbury (with five previous events). It’s also one of three events that I have attended the most (six), and it will firmly remain on the target list of events for next year. That certainly cannot be said for my next event.

Out of the three events at Hungerford I have had two poor days and one good day. If I was making the decision for 2025 right now I wouldn’t include it, but it has one more chance to redeem itself! It’s less than an hour travelling time, and has very convenient parking, so I kind of hope it stays on the calendar.

WORK IN PROGRESS

LOST AMONGST THE STARS continues to come along strong and I’m at the tail end of the current editing pass with around five thousand words to go. I think it will be at least one more pass before I push it through ProWritingAid then another before it goes off for edit. With the double bank holiday filled with chocolate this weekend, along with some gardening, I hope I can make good progress and wrap this pass up.

MARKETING AND PROMOTION

There’s not much going on here and my sales reflect it. It’s head down time for writing as I’m trying not to linger on how difficult it is to sell books.

That’s it for this week. Back next week on the eve of Hungerford. Comments and suggestions welcomed as always.