Uncertainty on book stock needed = stress!

I have a book event coming up toward the end of August called Sellersburg Celebrates. This is an annual festival held in Sellersburg, Indiana Aug 23 - 25th, 2018. They have bands, a parade, tons of booths, rides and games, and food. I have talked with the writers group I am in, and several of us thought this would be a cool event to go to.

I have never been to the festival at all, and this will be the first time I go to an event that we are solely responsible for set up - of everything! We need a tent, extension cords, fire extinguisher, tables, table covering, fans (because it is usually hotter than Hades in August!), sign advertising our writers group (which we don't have and haven't really talked about), and probably more that I haven't thought about.

I think I have the logistics of what's needed under control. At our next 2 writers group meetings we will work out the schedule of who's going to be on hand due to the fact that our booth must be manned at all times when the festival is open. Luckily the times Thursday and Friday are early afternoon. We will take an inventory of who is going to be working the festival and what books they will be bringing. We have a wide range of genres covered and should offer an excellent selection for anyone in the market for a new book.

My dilemma comes in with the number of books I should have on hand. The most books I've ever sold at an event was 4. But I've NEVER gone to an event where they expect 5,000 - 10,000 people visit! I don't want to buy too many books in which I'm stuck with a bunch of inventory for years. Is twenty to buy too much, not enough? I do have 2 more selling events lined up within a month after Sellersburg Celebrates, so I would have more opportunity to sell more.

I am thinking I need to have between 20 to 30 books on hand. It is a lot of up-front cost, but I don't like the idea of running out of inventory during such a well-attended event. On the other hand, there are not a lot of book sellers at this type of event. It's a gamble if anyone is going to want to buy books, and even more of a gamble if those book readers happen to be into the genre I write.

So, I'm going to put a hurt on the pocketbook for some more books, but it won't be earth-shattering if I don't sell a lot. I was hoping to have the 2nd book in the series out before the festival, but it seems it's slow going with my publisher. We'll aim for later for the newest book.

Okay, I'll keep you posted on how this event goes!

Happy writing and stay Paranormally Weird!
Penny

"Fireworks" review - No fireworks here.

I had such high hopes for "Fireworks." I ADORED "Your Name." It was such a fantastical, stressful, almost-there, but not quite-ism. And I was engaged the entire time with the 2016 anime. I cannot say the same with today's movie. If it weren't for Moviepass, I would be severely depressed at the money I paid.



Nazuna

Courtesy of marcusgohmarcusgoh.com


 

Fireworks is a very pretty movie, and it had moments that made me hopeful. But after the first "If this would happen," I wasn't impressed. I get that it's a coming of age movie and boys will be boys, but all the female characters were one sided, whereas they filled out the male characters more fully. The characters Nazuna (quiet girl), Norimichi (quiet boy) and Yusuke (not-so quiet boy) don't make sense to me at times. Nazuna was quiet until she would burst out in quick one liners that made her seem totally off her rocker or super ditzy. Then she would go back to quiet girl that wouldn't look at anyone. I won't even get into the part where she dreams/ hallucinates being a singing princess flying around. All the while, Norimichi just stands by with wide-eyed... I don't even know what. I'm not sure if he was really seeing this or not!

Honestly, at the end I'd given up caring if Norimichi could fix things. And I've never been so glad when the credits rolled.

My rating: D (and I usually am the one that loves even the most mundane of movies)

Anyways, here's to hoping Ant-Man and the Wasp is better!






Page 69 Challenge from Heaven's Fiction Reviews

I joined the Page 69 Challenge set forth by Heaven's Fiction Reveiws.  You can visit Stevie McCoy's blog to join in on the fun: http://heavensfiction.blogspot.com/

Here's my contribution:

Penny PearsonJuly 3, 2018 at 9:29 AM

Heat licked at Dale Hicks’s skin, excruciating and throbbing. Pain obscured his thoughts down a never-ending tunnel that twisted and turned, getting narrower and narrower. It burned in the most painful way he’d ever experienced. Opening his eyes, he stared around in terror. What happened? His surroundings sparked no sense of the familiar. He thought back to his last memory, yet it seemed so unattainable. He could almost reach out and touch it, but every time he mentally grabbed at it, the memories floated away, leaving a vast emptiness. The rough ground tore into his back, and he propped himself up against a stone wall behind him.

Red, flickering light illuminated the room. Fear shot down Dale’s spine. Something bad had happened.

A large figure came forward. Shadows rippled across the massive frame. Red eyes, sparking fire, focused on Dale. Large scales and protrusions dripped with liquid ooze. “You have arrived sooner than expected,” the creature rasped.

From page 69 of WIP -untitled (I don't come up with title until first draft is complete - but I am SO close!)
Twitter:
@Author_AngieMcP

I like these paragraphs because they show something spooky that's coming my characters' way.

ReplyDelete

Replies

Stevie McCoyJuly 3, 2018 at 9:54 AM
OMG! What happens next?! Who arrived? Great page 69!

Entering the final stretch!

So, it seems as if I have been working on this manuscript for forever! I don't remember, but it's possible I feel this way with every story I write. This will be my 6th finished, even though I only have one book available for purchase at the moment.

I am just shy of 60,000 words and entering the final big scene on my newest . Once I'm done, I'll go back and flesh out any scenes I didn't go into enough detail. This is a sequel to another story I did, but know I am thinking I should make this book the first in the series and move the first book back to the sequel release. That would set any future books to fall right in line for their releases.

After I complete my story, I will try to figure out a title. I don't name any of my stories until they are done. They don't have to be in final draft form, but mentally I feel better when the rough draft is finished. My conundrum is that I'm not quite happy with my first book's title, A Bequest of Blood. It never really sat right with me (even though my husband helped me come up with it). The title does fit, it just doesn't roll off my tongue easily.

So when I complete this book, I will try to find a new title for my completed (book 2) and a name for my work in progress (book 1). It is a series on the Wizards of the Vatican, so I have a lot of possibilities.

Stay tuned! Probably more coming up on future title ideas!
Happy 4th of July!
Penny

Renaissance Fair Fun!

I love going to ren faires! Every summer I look forward to seeing all the outfits parading around. Some dress as medieval ladies, belly dancers, super heroes or just as themselves. This year I came out with a completely new outfit including a new stomacher and hoop skirt. My husband just smiled and said, "Sure, dear," when I asked if he thought I should buy the new outfit. I couldn't pass up a cream and gold striped circle skirt.

My 6 year old was super excited to cheer on France (red team) during the jousting, and even though our knight lost, everyone had loads of fun.


We also got to see the "Untrained Dog Show" and Fool Hearty, Ima Nut and Marquis - a married couple and their "un" trained dogs.

Fool Hearty
Courtesy of Facebook

Turkey legs and funnel cakes were our food of choice. A new Viking show was added that mixed comedy and staged fighting. This is a new addition, but hopefully one that will continue!  

For anyone in the Kentucky area, a visit to the local ren faire is worth it!
http://www.kyrenfaire.com/

Happy summer and write on!
Penny
 

Book signing / Meet the Author event!

Tomorrow I will have my first self-instigated book signing and selling event. I've done all the advertising that I can without seeming creepy or desperate. The game and coffee shop, Pearl Street G & C House, has never had an author event.

So it's a first for everyone!

I have pulled together all my materials and even some extras. A great idea was presented to me with selling my older, self-published books, as "pre-releases."

This might be a great opportunity to:
1. Sell my old stock that I thought to be unsellable
2. Offer to new readers a chance at reading a book BEFORE final touches are made (editing, cover design, story lines, etc.)
3. Offer new readers a big discount due to the status of the book
4. Build my email list in order to let people know when my next book is available

All that is left is hope that the rain system on the forecast treats us well and we'll be on our way!

I'll keep you updated!
Penny

Deadpool 2 review - My new favorite movie of the year!!



(THERE WILL BE SPOILERS!! SO DON'T READ IF YOU ARE UNFORTUNATE ENOUGHT TO NOT SEE YET!!!)


Courtesy of hdwallpapers.in

I couldn't stop laughing as I watched Deadpool 2 yesterday. I am not a snorting sort of laugher, but I couldn't count the number of times my body did this weird, not normal, sound. I laugh-cried, too. It was too much and not enough!

Foreshadowing at the beginning set my fears in motion that something was going to happen to Vanessa, and, darn!!!, something bad did happen. My love for her from Firefly carried over to Deadpool and I didn't want her to die, but I see why they did it. I still didn't like it.

Courtesy of cinemablends.com

Luckily, the action moved quickly and you were able to think about something other the sadness of love - cut short. Honestly, in the world of super heroes, everyone should know NOT to reproduce!!! Show me a happy super hero couple. Maybe Penny and Tony Stark. Debatable, though.

The number of times people died unfortunate deaths were numerous. Don't even get me started on the scene when X-Force landed with their parachutes! The entire theater was rolling in the aisles. I really liked Domino and her luck, and the rapport between Deadpool and her was great.

The fights with Cable and DP entertained greatly, and managed to make the most squeamish of us squeal in horror when he landed on/off the table in the prison. Excruciating!

The ending was perfect, and the extra footage during the credits set things to right. Yea, Nessa! This was such a great movie, I'm planning on seeing it again. Sad I can't use my MoviePass for round two, but c'est la vie!

Movie rating: A+