Time for a Change

My table at Time Eddy 3

A while back I mentioned that I'd taken down the "Events" page here at my blog because I wasn't doing many in-person events this year. The only one that I planned to have a table at was Time Eddy 3, the local Doctor Who con.

With TE3 now past, I've decided that so are my days selling my books at conventions. There are a couple reasons why I've come to this decision.

First is related to my minimalism. You need to have lots of "stuff" to vend books. There are the print books themselves, along with a display rack, handouts, boxes or bags to carry the books in, and something to move all that stuff around. That means having space to store all of that stuff. One day I'll be moving to a smaller space. Where would all this stuff go? By deciding to stop now, before I move, I won't have to worry about where it goes or trying to make it fit.

There's also the financial cost. Books have to be ordered. Handouts either have to be ordered, or they have to be printed out, and that takes up ink cartridges and paper. Table space has to be paid for. I need to buy food that I can carry with me, or buy food at the venue. If I have to spend money to promote my books, I'd rather spend it reaching as many readers as possible, rather than just who shows up at a particular event at a specific place and time.

For now, I'm looking at other opportunities to get the word out about my books, such as online ads. I'll try to keep you posted about what I do and how it works.