A look at the TPA Convention.
This was not my first time to attend the TPA homeschool convention as a vender. I’ve been many times before with my brother (owner of Light of Faith) and have helped man his booth (which carried my books) with the rest of my family, and his family. I’ve walked the aisles with my nieces and nephews collecting pens, and sunglasses, little trinkets and chocolates. But, this was my first time to attend as an author selling my own books.
Bringing my best friend, Angela, along, both for company and because she and I did a book together, was a good idea. We also shared a booth with Jesseca Wheaton, and Kate (or Kaitlyn to distinguish her from Kate at Once Upon an Ordinary). Angela, Jesseca, and I set up our part of the booth early Thursday afternoon. It took us about an hour. It was strange for me to be done so quickly since setting of Light of Faith usually takes all afternoon and into the evening!
Later Kate arrived and set her part up. Then the four of us headed out for ice cream and then a walk in the warm sunshine and stiff wind.
Friday dawned sunny and warm. The convention hall opened at 8, and Jesseca and Kate were there early. It was a slow morning. Not many people seemed to be around and it was almost noon before Kate made the first sale of the day. After that things got a little better but not a whole lot. We did each end up with a sale that day which was nice.
Saturday was much better. Things picked up sooner than on Friday. Once again, Kate made the first sale with one of her book covers. I made several more sales that day and ended up with a total of around 21 books sold for the convention. That’s not bad. It didn’t cover all my expenses by any means, but it did cover my part of the booth plus a little more. We had times both on Friday and Saturday which were pretty dead so we wandered the convention hall collecting things like pens, chocolates and yes, sunglasses. 😉 
Overall, it was a delightful, learning experience, and I’m glad I did it. I got to meet some fans, talk to some readers who had never read my books, and discovered a young writer who entered a writing contest I was a judge of (and I even judged her age group!). She was pretty excited to meet me.
So glad you all did this!! Sounds like you met some very special people and had a great time. <3
It was fun! 😀 And I’m glad I went too. 🙂
Thank You for sharing this experience. Glad you all had a good time.
Marilyn
You’re welcome.
Looks like a lot of fun! I used to be a vendor at a Christian conference a few years in a row, it was super fun, but slow at times, and yes we collected pens and chocolates! Haha! 🙂
Oh, fun! Yes, chocolates and pens seem to be the staples of conferences. 😉
Ohhh sounds like so much fun!! 😀 I totally had to enlarge that first photo to check out all the books you were trying to sell ……. and also dreaming of having them all on my bookshelf!! 😉 Haha!
You’d have a pretty full bookshelf if you have one of everything. 🙂 But it would be fun. And it would have been extra fun if you had been there!
Yeah, I suppose I would, but then, it would be worth it!! 😉 Oh I know!! That would have been great!
🙂 Yep, who cares about full bookshelves. Just get more books. 😉
So true! 😀
*is still getting caught up on things* 😉 Oh goodness, I can’t believe it’s over! I had so much fun and I’m so glad y’all were able to come! It made it so much more fun and entertaining–especially on Friday. 😉
I can’t believe it’s over either! It was such fun! 🙂 Thanks for pulling it all together!
Wow! I wish I could have gone. . . Seeing Jesseca AND you would be amazing!! Sometimes it would be nice to live in the States. xP
I recently got “Unbroken” and I’m very eager to read it and the rest in the series!!! I also purchased “Pirates of Rocky Crag Bay”. I only read the first story so far, but it’s great!! Way more exciting than I expected. 😀
I hope you enjoy the rest of the stories in “Pirates” and that you enjoy TCR.
Oh, it would have been fun had you been able to be at the conference! But, yeah, you live a tad far to come. 😉 Maybe someday.