Last night was Ladies Night at Eldchrist Winery. There were four 'vendors' there with tables set up to display, and I was one of them. I set up the table with my books and got ready to go while the other ladies arranged their tables as well. One table had jewelry. A friend of mine who came brought three necklaces. There was also a woman from a company called Scenty. And yep, it's all good smelling stuff. :)
The fourth vendor set up beside me and were from a copy called Sweet Mamas. They make cake pops and boy are they good. There were samples and I got to try one. It's not what I was expecting in a really good way. Instead of the spongy type consistency cake typically has, it was more of a brownie. Oh and did I mention they were cute too. ;) Turns out, I went to school with one of the owners and a whole group of ladies I grew up with showed up that night to support them. It turned out to be a mini reunion of sorts as I'd not seen most of them since I graduated high school.
I had a lot of people stop by my table last night. One of them...
It was about an hour into the event when I see this guy across the room. Remember this is ladies night, so he sort of sticks out. He walks straight towards me and says, "You're the author?" After I confirm that, yes, I am the author, he shakes my hand and introduces himself. Nothing strange so far, right? He then asks me about my books, etc.
Everything is going fairly normal. That is, until another woman walks up. The man immediately throws his arm around my shoulders, pulling me up against his side. He then introduces me to the woman and tells me she's his girlfriend. She just laughs, say hi, acts like this is perfectly normal for him to be doing. Meanwhile, I'm just sitting there (I'm in a tall chair) trying to figure out what's going on and if I should just let things play out or ask the man to kindly remove his arm.
Thankfully, he does eventually remove his arm on his own after a little more conversing with the woman and he eventually picks up Slave and says he wants to buy it. I tell him how much, and he reaches into his wallet, pulls out the money and hands it to me. As usual, I ask if he wants me to sign the book. He says yes, but that he's not going to make it that easy for me. No, he wants me to write a dedication to him in the front of the book. And not just any dedication, but something fun and silly based on our conversation. Needless to say, I had to think about that for a while. So he left the book with me and in between talking to other people, I tried to figure out what to write. I did eventually, and he came back to get the book before he left. I honestly have to chalk that one up to one of the strangest experiences I've had yet as an author.
There was one other highlight of the night and that came through a little device I added to my phone two days ago called Square. If you're an author, you're missing out. It's an app you can download to your android phone, iphone, or ipad, and it allows you to run credit card transactions. Seventy-five percent of my sales last night were handled that way. It was fairly simple to use and everyone got a kick out of using their finger to sign on the phone. The best part, the app and the device that is being mailed to me where I can actually swipe the cards, is free. If you want to know more,
click here.
All in all, it was a great experience. I'd definitely do it again. Now, I'm gearing up for the Ohioana Book Festival on Saturday. If you'd like more information on how to come see me and the 80+ other authors that will be there,
click here.
