Fandom Fest Photos: Me with Adrian Paul and Jewel Staite

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While I spent most of my time at FandomFest 2013 at my table in the vendor's hall or on the various literary panels, I did slip out to briefly meet and get a photos with several of the guest celebrities.


Adrian Paul signing a Katana
for the Stan Lee Foundation

I briefly got to meet Adrian Paul (Highlander the Series) and also watch him interact with others getting photos with him and also in one of the dealer areas, where he made his way to the table representing the Stan Lee Foundation. There he signed a wooden katana for them.

Now, I've not met a lot of television celebrities, but compared to most, he was friendly, at ease, and appreciative of his fans, addressing them and making them feel at ease.

Unfortunately I missed the Q&A panel with Adrian Paul. Folks told me it was a great panel.

Adrian Paul and Me

I also got the chance to briefly meet Jewel Staite (Firefly)and get a photo.

Jewel Staite and Me

She too was friendly and appreciative of the fans that wanted to meet and get a photo with her. Jewel Staite was a little quieter than Adrian Paul but I could tell from her smile that she really was happy to meet and talk with people.

Okay, some folks might say, "Hey, their actors. They could've been faking it." Maybe, but their smiles lingered even when the fan(s) they were intereacting with had turned away.

My complaint was that people were rushed through. Unless you made a point to say a thing or two, and engage, you were ushered in and ushered out by the photo op people. Even then it was more like a pressing assembly line than anything else. Other conventions I've attended, it wasn't like that.
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Taste Test: Old Twinkies vs. New Twinkies

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As many of you may know, Hostess, the maker of many snacks treats, including Twinkies went bankrupt and closed up shop. Fortunately, portions of Hostess were sold off during the bankruptcy proceedings and some of Hostess's former products have returned...including Twinkies.

New Twinkies on the Left vs. Original Twinkies on the Right

In theory, the formula for making them (ingredients and baking) were supposed to remain the same. Now, to be sure, the Ervin household doesn't devour a lot of Twinkies or other snack cakes, as evidenced that the box of Twinkies purchased before they went bankrupt survived half full in the cupboard until after the release of the new Twinkies.

I thought it would be interesting to have a taste test to compare the old Twinkies vs. the new Twinkies. Now, most folks who've known me long enough have have come to realize that my sense of taste isn't all that discerning. Subtle differences are pretty much beyond my recognition for most things. So, I recruited the rest of the family for the experiment, and a friend to the family (Kyle) to taste and compare.

The opinion or results all agreed:

1. The old Twinkies taste just a bit sweeter than the new Twinkies.
2. The new Twinkies are a little less dense or solid, being more cake-like than the old Twinkies.
3. Other than that, the overall taste is largely the same.

If you have the opportunity--if you have any of the old (original) Twinkies sitting in a box behind the Ritz Crackers, Pop Tarts and Hamburger Helper, get a new box to compare and see if your taste test results agree.

Finally, while the point of eating Twinkies has little to do with nutrition, I've included that below--for those who might be interested.



New Twinkie Nutrition Info

Original Twinkie Nutrition Info

Sales Observations at Book Events Since November 2012

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Now that I have three works available, and a few years of signing events in a variety of venues, I've begun to notice some trends. I'll focus on events since Genre Shotgun has been available.

 

Overall Sales (rounded off to nearest 5%):
Flank Hawk: 45%
Blood Sword: 15%
Genre Shotgun: 40%

At SF/Fantasy Conventions, Flank Hawk outpaces the other two works.

At venues where it's a repeat appearance for me, Blood Sword's sales rise, most of those sales are people picking up the second novel in the series after obtaining a copy of Flank Hawk the previous year.

When it's a new event for me/first time attending, I get very few Blood Sword sales, even though it's written as a standalone novel in the series, compared both to Flank Hawk and Genre Shotgun. On occasion a reader will pick up a copy of both Flank Hawk and Blood Sword, usually when the reader is very interested in the concept of the First Civilization's Legacy Series.

Even if potential readers seem a little bit more interested in Blood Sword's storyline, readers usually select Flank Hawk, since it's the first novel in the series.

If I am attending an event that attracts a more general audience (festivals, group author events and the like), Genre Shotgun sells better than Flank Hawk, and far better than Blood Sword, of course. At such events, the reader usually picks up Genre Shotgun for his or her reading. When they pick up a copy of Flank Hawk and/or Blood Sword, it's intended as a gift for someone else--son, daughter, grandson or granddaughter (either accompanying them at the event or to be given later).

This has affected my writing of Soul Forge, the third novel in the First Civilization's Legacy Series. It takes a lot of effort to get theplanning and tricky structure just right to make a novel in a series stand alone, complementing the first two for readers of the series up to that point while, at the same time, being novel a reader new to the series can pick up and read first.

Soul Forge will be a standalone work, but not as clearly and cleanly as Blood Sword. Why? I would expect that sales of the third novel will be similar to sales of the second, but to an even greater extent. This sales trend between Flank Hawk and Blood Sword has been consistent since Blood Sword's release.

Online sales, which include the ebook and audiobook versions, and the few brick and mortar sales, are somewhat more murky but seem to largely follow the pattern discussed above. The main difference is that Blood Sword sells much better than Genre Shotgun as an ebook, but not as well as Flank Hawk.

It's difficult to know why because, unless a reader posts a review of more than one of my works, or emails me about my writing, I have no idea who selected the novel and why. It's a situation far different than when I meet customers/readers face to face. Then I have the opportunity to describe my works and discuss their interests and reasons for deciding to obtain a copy (or copies) of my work(s).

This is my observation. Trends for other authors may vary greatly. It'll be interesting to see how Soul Forge and hopefully my science fiction novel, Relic Tech  (if/when it gets published) affect sales trends.
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Roundup: Fandom Fest 2013

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Death Latches onto a Con-Attendee

My wife, Kathy, and I attended Fandom Fest 2013 (July 26th to 28th). It was our second time attending the event and this year was far larger than last year, including the number of special media guests which definitely drew in larger crowds of fans. While the convention's planning and organization showed some growing pains, it has to be remembered that everyone on the staff and organizing team was a volunteer, giving up unnumbered hours of their time preparing for Fandom Fest 2013 and showing up to do their best to make sure everything ran as smoothly as possible.

As Fandom Fest is largely a Television/Movie Media driven event, the focus wasn't on the Literary Track and authors--far from it. That doesn't mean we were invisible, but it was difficult for those con-goers interested to learn about and discover where the various literary/writing panels were held. That said, it was an improvement over last year, and I expect the Literary Track to take another step forward next year.

My Wife (Kathy) with three of the Firefly Crew
 

Adrian Paul (Highlander Series)
signing a wooden katana for
the Stan Lee Foundation

With Stan Lee as a primary Guest of Honor, many of the readers attending were interested in comics, art, and graphic novels. That doesn't mean that science fiction, horror, paranormal (romance) and fantasy novels were ignored. They were just a tougher sell.

Even so, I met a lot of neat people, some new readers interested in my novels and short stories, and learned a few things about writing and promotion.

Me at the Table in the Dealers Hall

Roundup: Piqua Farmers Market

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I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate in the Authors Day at the Piqua Farmers Market on July 25th.

I was one of four authors attending, two of them local authors I'd never met before. That's aways fun.

While a Farmers Market isn't the typical venue for books, both avid and casual readers do visit such markets and it was an opportunity to cross paths with some I might not have otherwise.

Mainstreet Piqua, which invited me and the other authors, provided the tent to shelter us from the sun overhead and promoted the event in the local news paper and through internet notifications.

In the two and a half hours there I met a lot of readers and sold a few books. Can't complain about that!

 

Set up at Piqua's Farmers Market

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Roundup: Art Affair on the Square 2013

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The Art Affair on the Square (July 20th) turned out to be a disappointing event on some levels, mainly due to the weather. Rain. Hard rain, and gusting winds arrived about ninety minutes after the festival started and lasted about thirty minutes.


The Storm Arrives

This drove away many of the early festival goers. I believe it kept away many of the people who
might have attended later on.

Luckily my wife called, warning us of the storm passing through St. Paris (about 15 miles west of Urbana) so we were prepared, even thought the approaching dark clouds were warning enough. But we were given a clue as to the storm's intensity.
 


Flood Flowing Behind Our Table

The tent provided by the city and the Champaign County Library held up well, and the Douglas Inn largely at our back offered protection from the downpour. I also bring along large trash bags as part of my 'signing kit' for random needs, including covering up books, book marks, etc.

After the storm passed, three of the six author bailed, leaving the tent only half full. My experience at events, when there are empty tables or they look less than full, proves to be a deterrence to potential reader/customer interest.

In addition, many of the tents/artists/crafts folks near the Literary Arts Tent packed up and left, including the emergency response tent (At the time I commented, "Do they know something we don't?"). I don't blame the vendors, especially those that specialized in water color paintings or crafts that don't respond well to water. There was a chance for more rain later in the day.

But for me, getting to the event...once there, I'm going to stick it out. I formed this attitude years ago when I worked in the fast food industry (Taco Bell). If business was slow, a manager would go around and ask crew workers if any wanted to end their scheduled shift early. It amazed me how many jumped at the chance. Heck, I was there to work and get hours to earn larger paycheck. What's the point of showing up only to go home after a couple hours?



I keep the display basic,
especially when outdoor
wind is present

In any case, the Literary Arts (Author) Tent was set up on the southwest corner of the square in Urbana. All the folks on the southeast corner left after the rain. I am guessing they got the worst of it. That left only one food vendor and one photograph/art vendor near us, with the rest of the festival running along the street to the north of the square and extending along the street away from us. There appeared to be very little reason for folks to walk around the square, past one food vendor and cross the street (cars and trucks were still driving around/through the square along U.S. Route 36) to explore the two tents (ours half full) and a small food vendor, when there were probably five dozen or more tents along the north-running street, and food vendors closer to them.

Does that mean I didn't meet any readers or sell any books? No. I met some neat folks and sold a few before the storm arrived and a few after, but the visitor traffic before the storm seemed to be about 1/3 the number of last year, and after the rain, maybe 1/5th on our end. I think it was considerably better along the festival's central route.



Domestic Diva Tent

The Domestic Divas, for example, did pretty well. They were on the main strip and had some protection from the buildings too. So there were plenty of potential customers.

If asked to be an author guest next year, I'll jump at the chance. The Champaign County Library folks were wonderful (both this year and last year). Sometimes bad luck occurs, especially with respect to outdoor events--oppressive heat, rain, strong winds, etc. As an author, I just roll with the punches, look at the good, and move on to the next opportunity to meet readers.

A Butterfly on my Daughter's Shoe.
She thought it was pretty neat. Me too.

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Three Events: Art Affair on the Square, Piqua Farmer's Market, FandomFest 2013

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Over the next week or so, I'll post on the three book events I attended in close succession as July 2013 came to and end:

• July 20th (Art Affair on the Square)
• July 25th (Authors Day at the Piqua Farmer's Market)
• 26th-28th (FandomFest 2013)

As a minor teaser, I'll post three pictures, one from each event. Maybe you'll be able to guess which picture matches with which event.