I know I shouldn’t be updating my Blog at the moment, as I’m tired, cold and frustrated – I’m bound to sound negative, but wanted to write while it’s still fresh in my mind.
Waited for my promo leaflets to come, so I could give some out in Hexham, but they didn’t arrive. So decided to go up anyway, since my book was going to be on the Independent Northern Publisher’s stand – so what if I didn’t have leaflets, I could still talk to people, couldn’t I? Started the morning off well by going to Mrs Miggins’ Coffee House and having a fantastic bacon and mushroom sandwich, then headed off to Queen’s Hall to see what was going on (and for a brief photo opportunity). Not a lot happening, at this point, but they pointed me in the direction of the INP stand in the Market Place.
I scanned the stalls, unsuccessfully, looking for a copy of my book. I found the Mslexia stand (http://www.mslexia.co.uk/) and spoke to two very informative ladies, and have some info from them to look through. Mslexia is a magazine for women who write, and is published in Newcastle. I can honestly say that I hadn’t heard of the magazine until today, but it looks pretty good. Then I located the INP stand. The lady I spoke to admitted she had forgotten about me, and seemed to expect me to have copies of the book (she had none). It seems to have been a case of plain old misunderstanding, but I felt like a bit of an idiot and that it had been a wasted trip. Did sign up on their mailing list, so I’d be aware of future events, so it wasn’t a total loss (plus I managed to buy a book on Workhouses that I wanted, from Cogito Books, so that was good).
When I returned, Sarah told me that there’s a book event as part of Blaydon Festival, and I might be able to be a ‘Featured Author’. I have emailed the lady who’s organising it, and will let you know the outcome.
Feedback: pleased to report that I’ve had some good verbal feedback, which is great. Gordon thinks that Waterstones in Hexham have sold three copies of Karma (doesn’t sound many, but I’m calling it a success!). Natalie tells me that Waterstones in Newcastle are going to order some, and she’ll be in touch about me going in to sign their stock (not a book-signing, as such, but a ‘signed by the author’).
And the quiz on Thursday? We started off well, but fell at the final hurdle again. Consoled ourselves with a kebab, so all in all, it was a good night.