Austin Author Affair 2015 wrap up and a note on events big and small

We got back Monday Sunday, but Monday I really got back into the swing of life and was able to work.

After RT, we turned right around and did the Austin Author Affair in poor, flood-ridden Austin. Thankfully, we got to show Andrew Grey Austin before the flood, and we got out in the nick of time. All good thoughts and prayers to everyone suffering from the rain in Texas and elsewhere.

AAA2015 was a small event, a mixer Friday night, a signing Saturday from 12-5 and a karaoke party hosted by Torquere Press on Saturday night.

While the event was small in size, it really packed a punch. The mixer was a bit of a miss for me and BA as we were so pooped, and we snuck out after hugging on all of the fans who wanted to see us and all of our author and reader friends.

The signing rocked, though. What we lacked in huge crowds we made up in readers who wanted books. I met a lot of amazing folks, and got tons of hugs and sold all but two of my books.

The highlight of the karaoke party was signing backup for Bronwyn Green on Rumor Has It with Paige Prince and Jess Jarman. We had a blast!

We skipped out of Austin in between storms and got delayed in Denver due to a late plane from Ohio of all things. We're home now, though, and happy to be back to work.

Now, I have something to say about the recent nastiness between a certain big event and some smaller ones. I won't name names because I take everything with a grain of salt, and since I can see no way in which a feud benefits anyone, I won't give any of them free advertising.

What I do want to do is ask everyone a question. Why would anyone fight about this issue? A big event with tons of parties and panels is great for me as a writer because I get to meet lots and lots of people and talk about my books. The booksignings at those events, though, are marginal for me. Readers are so laden with free books and swag that paying a formal bookseller full price for a book by an author they might not know seems silly.

At a small event, where there are no panels and only a few parties, the booksigning is all about the books. The readers there want to buy books, want to get signed copies from their favorite authors, and want to meet new authors and try out things they've never heard of. I always sell well at these kinds of events, and I'm tickled anytime I'm invited. I also love start up events, because who knows who you might connect with there, rather than seeing the same people at every event.

Basically, each kind of event is valid, everyone has room to grow, and everyone needs to just (In the words of Liz from Shaun of the Dead) calm the fuck down. If everyone minded their own business instead of someone else's, we could all read and write and not deal with so much drama.

Hugs to everyone who made our two weeks in Texas amazing.

XXOO

Julia