Event Report & New Event

Monday night, April 25, I spoke about Kansas 1874 to the annual meeting of the Butler County Historical Society. The meeting was held at the Butler County History Center in El Dorado. I used to go to these meetings every year for a while, when I was entering the Jesse Perry Stratford essay contests and placing in the top three.

I read a few excerpts from the book and took a few questions. No copies were sold after my talk, but I did get two possible leads on future book talks. The museum gift shop was down to 1 copy of Kansas 1874, so they took 6 more. Overall it was an good night.

My next event is on Saturday, May 14.  I'll be doing a book signing for Kansas 1874 at The Bookshelf in McPherson, KS (206 N. Main). I won't be the only author there.  I'll be there with Marci Penner, who will be promoting her new book, 8 Wonders of Kansas Guidebook. I imagine she's going to draw a lot of people! I'm hoping some of them will want a copy of my book too.

I'll let you know how that goes, and I hope to have a pic when I post about it. Until then, I'm going to post some reviews of the books I've picked up recently. I'll probably do one a week, with the signing post in between.

And don't forget, I'll be selling my SF/F books in the dealers room at ConQuest 42 Memorial Day Weekend!

See you next week...

Event Report - Oklahoma Steampunk Expo

This past weekend I went to the first OSE, as an artist/vendor selling my books.

The hotel was decent enough, but for some reason management only opened the restaurant for breakfast and dinner. Most of the activities were on the ground floor, but the panel and reading rooms were on the second floor.

I know there were some hiccups with the con. For one thing, the panel and reading schedules got set back one hour on Saturday and Sunday. Overall I had a good time. I sold 10 books over the con. I'm not sure how much of a "reading crowd" the attendees were, and this was my first appearance in Oklahoma City. I can't say if I did well or not, but I think I'll try again next year.

I did meet quite a few people at the con. Almost all were new faces, though I did run across a few familiar folks. There were a handful of authors, and since I didn't spend much on meals, I bought some of their books. Stay tuned for possible book reviews in the future.

Meeting all those others fans reminded me of what I liked about going to cons back in the "old days." Now that I have books that need to be promoted and sold, I'm looking forward to getting back out on the area con circuit. It's nice to have personal interaction with people you have common interests with.

It's also nice to think that perhaps I've made some fans of my own; that I can see them in person every so often; and hear what they think about my books.

My next event is a talk on Kansas 1874 at the annual meeting of the Butler County Historical Society at the museum in El Dorado. It will be Monday, April 25; social hour begins at 6 PM, with the meeting sometime later.

Event Reports

Wow. It's been something like six weeks since my last post. Well, I've been busy, and I caught a sinus virus, and I strained some muscles in my right hand, and did I mention I've been busy? I'll try not to let so much time pass between now and the next post, but no promises.

So, I've done my first events for the Kansas 1874 book since the last post. First was a signing at The Book Grinder in El Dorado on March 26. Just a few books sold, but I had a good time. This black and white cat hung out with me for a good part of the day (the other two cats in the store slept in one of the comfy chairs.)

Next was a book talk on March 29 at the Marion City Library. Turnout was between 15 and 20 people, and I sold several books. It rained a little that night while I spoke. Oddly enough, the last time I spoke there it rained that night too. I think they now know who to call if there's a drought...

Also on that trip I placed books at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Goessel, at the library in Hillsboro, and at the Bookshelf in McPherson. I may have some additions to the schedule to relay later due to those efforts.

Then on Sunday the 10th I was at the "Meet the Authors" event at the Kansas Originals store in Wilson. Several other authors were there including Max Yoho and Cheryl Unruh. Several of my books were sold. I also got to talk to a few people about self-publishing. I hope what I said was encouraging.

This weekend I'll be at the Oklahoma City Steampunk Expo. Hope to see you there!