Blog No. 281
Still no word on The Thinking Machine. I am in talks with the printer and hope it will be a matter of days, but we’ll see how that turns out. I’m rather disappointed because Saturday is the Windsor Small Press Book Fair and I was really looking forward to launching my new book there. It’s local, it’s filled with authors I like, and I know I will spend too much money, so having my new book could have helped recoup the funds. That is, because I assume that everyone will want one because they are so cool. I’m not going to put up a cover until I know they are on the way. With any luck, that will be next week’s post.
The Windsor Small Press Book Fair is just the first in a long string of events that runs until June. And, by then, I will likely have more events to add to the schedule. In the past I’ve tried to do one or two things a month. Last year, there was a bit of a laps since All These Crooked Streets wasn’t out yet, and going to the same places selling the book everyone already had didn’t make much sense. Christian and I sold a large number of No Light Tomorrow, so most of the local (and semi-local) markets have been tapped out. All These Cooked Streets is still fresh, so we haven’t taken it to too many events, but we’ve been trying to get into or plan as many as we could to get the ball rolling on those sales. I was hoping to have two new books to offer, but one will have to do for now.
In April and May alone, I will be going to seven events. The Windsor Small Press Book Fair is the first, but next will be a Signing at Indigo, Shock Stock 2018 in London (for the third year), A reading at Biblioasis, A trip to Toronto to read at the ChiSeries event there, a booth at the first Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market of the year, and the first ChiSeries Windsor of the year at Phog. By the time I hit May it’s something every week. Fitting it into the day job is tough, but thankfully that’s one thing that’s good there. Every employee is something else (musician, writer, entrepreneur, actor) so we try to cover for each other as much as possible. I’m hoping to keep things going in June too. Heck, all year if I can. I’ll have Thinking Machine out soon enough and I’m trying to get book two (The Neon Heart) out by the end of the summer. The more places I go, the more readers I get.
I’ve been lucky in that it seems like the hard work over the last few years is paying off. I enjoy writing and going to events, but it is work. I haven’t made a profit, but I’ve sold a lot of books and gotten some good reviews. I’ve made some cool friends and had some unique experiences too. Now, I’m starting to see some growth here on the website and I’ve gotten some interesting opportunities that wouldn’t have come about if I wasn’t doing all these events. That’s part of the reason why I’m pushing to get so much out this year. I want to make use of those opportunities and keep the growth going. It all starts at the Windsor Small Press Book Fair this Saturday at Green Bean from 11am to 4pm. I may not have The Thinking Machine there, but I have plenty of copies of All These Crooked Streets, and it’s currently my best writing. I suggest you check it out. Plus, I’ll be surrounded by a ton of local talent and probably your new favourite authors.
Ben Van Dongen 