Creative Colloquy Reading in November

Lisa pointed me to Creative Colloquy, a group of Tacoma writers that I didn’t know about. I reached out to them on their Facebook page to see if they’d be interested in interviewing me about the DeForest Kelley book and my long friendship with Carolyn and De for one of their podcasts.

 

Instead, they’ve expressed interest in having me offer a reading at one of their larger venues sometime in November! I said yes (that DE-cision was a no-brainer!) and have submitted the information they require to be able to do that.

 

One of the things they want up front is an excerpt from the book. They want to post it on their website so people can take a look at it. (There are excerpts from all of my books here at Yellow Balloon, in case you haven’t spotted them yet.) I picked the “Letter to De” excerpt (the congrats letters I sent him when he was notified he’d get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame) because I want to read one or two other favorites on the night I actually present at the venue…

 

If I get the November nod, I hope the gathering isn’t the same date as the Vocation Station event at Graham-Kapowsin High School, because I want to be there, too…  It would be the sheerest stroke of bad luck if both events happen on the same day. I mean, what are the odds? One in 30.  Pretty good odds.

 

I’m scouring local venues to see where I might be able to pick up additional opportunities to show/share what I have:. I’m considering holiday bazaars, Open Mic nights, library presentations, you name it. But I want to be sure they’re large venues.

 

The Yelm Arts and Crafts venue this past weekend, as you know, was disappointing because only four vendors showed up and I’d be surprised if 25 potential customers came in to see what was going on. Most of the people who arrived to take a gander looked into the courtyard saw how few vendors there were and left again without even coming in.  I did sell two books, so my table fees and sufficient gas money to get me there both days were covered, but that was all. I didn’t make anything. It was a wash. I know if there had been more vendors and more people coming in, I would have done better.  I have no doubt at all of that. So I need to find venues with plenty of vendors and scores of interested buyers at them.

 

I have to be more strategic. Do you know of any local (Tacoma/Puyallup/Sumner/Olympia, Lacey, Yelm) venues that are affordable to get into ($10 to $25) that get tons of foot traffic? If so, please let me know about them… I don’t want to flail anymore. I have to make better decisions when it comes to where to spend my time (and marketing budget).

 

I will have a table at ABC Day on October 1st at Spanaway Lake High School. Thousands of people attend that event every year and there are scores of vendors.

 

Where else should I be between now and January 1, 2017? Are there any Star Trek, comic, or nostalgia-centric events happening locally? Any  arts and crafts holiday bazaars? If you hear of any, please let me know. If possible give me a contact name to the event organizer so I can follow up with her or him…  Thanks!

 

UPDATE: I got the Creative Colloquy gig. I will be at B Sharp Coffee House on November 1st with four other local authors. I’ll get five to seven minutes to read an excerpt.  Looking forward to it!

 

 

 

 

 

http://creativecolloquy.com/