Do Books & Brews Mix?
In which I check out a different way to hopefully sell some books, get some good writing news, and forget to check a script.
Over the many years that I’ve been attending various literary and pop-culture conventions, no matter the size of the event, from a local library to San Diego ComicCon and everything in between, one constant has been that prospective book buyers make the effort to come to the event.
Over the last few years I’ve had several conversations, perhaps most notable with Mark Finn, as to how we can instead get the authors out in front of the buyers where they are rather than expect them to come to us.
So shortly after joining the Maryland Writer’s Association, I was intrigued to see mention of an event called Books and Brews. A book event to be held in a local brew pub. This seemed exactly like the sort of thing we had been talking about, so I signed up.
It would be an experiment on several levels:
First event in the Baltimore area.
First event in a craft brewery.
First time I’ve focused on just my fiction at a show.
First time having all the books at a single price point.
First time using QR codes for online payments as well as my usual credit card and cash options.
So how did it go last Saturday? Did the drinkers buy books?
Not really. I don’t believe the event drew any book buyers to the pub either. It didn’t seem to be that well promoted in the run up or on the day itself, and there was no signage in the pub to explain what all these people stood at tables were doing there.
As a result most people just did what they came to the brew pub on a Saturday to do - have a drink and a meal. But having said that a few did wander over to the area where we were all set up, and we made some sales.
As for the experiments, it was a definite learning experience:
It tuned out to be a great way to network and meet other local authors,
Book sales were slow. It seemed that of those who did stop by the table, no-one was really interested in short story collections. In retrospect, I wish I’d taken some non-fiction too.
I am glad that at the last minute I decided to take the Science Squad comic as that seemed to draw people to the table and the comics outsold the books. Which is very unusual.
The fixed price point worked well and made transactions easy.
The QR code experiment worked well. For the first time ever we had no credit card sales, all were either cash or Venmo using the QR code.
Apparently, the owners of the brewpub were happy and felt we had brought in enough extra traffic that they want to hold the event again next year. I just hope that it gets some more promotion and better on-site signage.
The organizers are also looking at doing a similar event in the spring of next year at another venue.
I think we will give it another go.
I am still firmly of the opinion that we need to go where the readers are. It will take some experimenting and development, and for me this was a valuable first step.
Alan
Other Stuff
Thanks to the dead bird
Last week’s post on why I quit Twitter turned out to be the most popular and widely read of my newsletters to date. Thanks to all those who read it and signed up for a subscription. - Thanks also to the folks who signed during the Books and Brews event last weekend. - Welcome to my weekly ramblings
Each week when I sit down to put one of these newsletters together I’m always grateful to my subscribers. If you aren’t a member of that wonderful group of folks yet, then click the button below and join our growing community of readers and commentators to get these missives delivered directly to your email inbox every Friday.
Brabazon Bits
The manuscript copy editing of the Brabazon book is now complete, and a highlight of this week was receiving a note from the publisher's copy editor thanking me "for a very nicely written account about a fascinating subject." - That made me feel good.
If everything goes to schedule “Bristol Brabazon: The Ocean Liner of the Skies and its Ongoing Legacy” will be published on 30 MAY, 2025 in the UK and 30 JULY, 2025 in the US.
It’s also available for pre-order on both Amazon UK and Amazon US sites.
Word Slinging
While at the Books and Brews event mentioned above I received an email letting me know that I had landed my first choice essay assignment for an upcoming comics history anthology project. I’m looking forward to diving into the research for this one. I really can’t say more at the moment.
And talking about not being able to say more, I also had some good news about a potential new book project mid-week. Things still need to be finalized, but fingers crossed.
Podcast Procrastinations
This week’s lesson while recording the audio for the next edition of THE FORGOTTEN BEATLES series.
Make sure you have the correct episode number in the script. It’s no fun to finish the recording and prep all the files for editing, only to realize that you said the wrong number in your intro!
Pages and Screens
Books Read in 2024 - “Moon Over Soho” by Ben Aaronovitch.
The second book in this fun series of a London policeman who is also a trainee wizard continues to delight.
The mix of fantasy, horror, crime, police procedural, and a witty take on life in modern-day London provides a perfect mix, that engages and entertains from the first page to the last.
It does help to have read the previous volume as this one references back to events and people from it, but that isn't essential to following the plot of this one as our hero investigates a series of jazz-vampire murders that strike a little close to home.
Our online bookstore at Bookshop.org is fully up to date with the books read so far in 2024, so you can pick up copies of any that interest you, while also helping out local independent bookstores.
Weekly Web Round-Up
Forest Comics & Books - This week we added Batmobiles of all shapes and sizes to our eBay store alongside the Batman and Doctor Who Funko Pops currently listed. More collectibles will be added overt the next few days.
Batman On The Cover - The journey through Batman’s comics publishing history continues as we move into September 1969 with comics published in Brazil, Denmark, France, and Germany.
I think that Sage Editions, the French publishers of Superman et Batman et Robin win the prize for the most dramatically posed Batman of 1969 with this cover.
Where on the Web is Alan?
You can now find links to all the places you can find me online, websites, newsletters, social media, and more in a single LINKS page on my personal website.
As always, thanks for joining me this week. If you know someone else who might enjoy the contents of this week’s newsletter, or just my weekly ramblings in general - please feel free to share by clicking the button below.
See you next time
Alan J. Porter
The Can’t See The Forest (TM) newsletter is a production of Megrin Entertainment, a division of 4Js Group LLC