Saturday’s
inaugural Sunshine State Book Festival hosted by WAG (Writers Alliance of Gainesville) was a resounding success. I learned a lot about the rich literary
history of Gainesville. World-renowned poet Robert Frost and Pulitzer
Prize-winning author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings once called Gainesville home. Today,
over two hundred authors live in the Alachua County environs.
My book table
was at the exhibit entrance; I was thrilled to greet book dabblers and story
lovers, but no homeschoolers stopped by to check out my books. In hindsight, I should
have reached out to that audience on social media before the fair. WAG promoted
extensively on television and radio, but most homeschooling families don’t watch
TV or listen to the radio.
The books
I sold included three copies of my memoir Children of Dreams, one copy
of my children’s picture book The Donkey and the King, and two copies of
my cookbook Food for Thought. I also gave away dozens of postcards to
download Seventh Dimension – The Door for free from Amazon and Barnes
& Noble.
I connected
with a librarian who invited me to speak at a local school, and I helped an elderly couple who locked their keys in their car to call for roadside assistance
using my AAA card. Most of all, I enjoyed mingling with the authors
and learning about their writing pursuits.
If you
have an opportunity to visit a book fair, don’t miss out.
Click to tweet: Reading is a pleasurable
pastime and print books are making a comeback—especially among young adults
and teens—as the most eco-friendly, sustainable form of entertainment on the
planet.
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