The day after the book release party, we had a booth at the Sahuarita Pecan Festival, which celebrates the same pecan groves frequented by the characters in Fractured Fate. At least two authors at a time manned the booth, which really helped when there were lots of potential customers. This festival was a great experience and the feedback we got was very interesting.
I arrived right around sunrise to help set up. We taped up banners, arranged and organized books, set out business cards, set out signs with prices, and generally arranged the booth for the day ahead. As all five of us arrived, we filmed interviews of each author individually. We were all asked the same questions and had very different answers. The results were used to make this video for the virtual book release party.
Caja Coyote, ready to start a day of selling books! On a side note, the ground was covered in pecan shells.
We put up Fractured Fate banners which could be seen from far away.
We took turns sitting at the booth and wandering the festival. Despite being a pecan festival, there were a huge variety of booths, including one selling tie-dyed clothes next to us, a bunch of arts and crafts of different sorts, and a large tent for the actual pecan store. There was even a stage with live music!
I had a blast pitching the book at the top of my lungs as fast as possible. It was a fun challenge. My pitch made specifically for this festival, which went in a loop until somebody interrupted: Fractured Fate, a young adult novel about five teens who use their superpowers to save the world from a mysterious artifact. Set right here in Sahuarita, Arizona, and it’s written by the five of us. (I’d gesture at my co-authors.) We’ve got a special deal going on right now for the pecan festival, twelve dollars for one, twenty for two. It’s also available on Amazon.
At one point, we made an assembly line of book signing. The day before, at the book release party, we’d begun signing every single book with everyone’s signatures. On this day, we finished every single one of our two hundred copies. Some copies even got a few special additions.
When at the booth, we were asked a lot of questions. Often they were simple ones like, “How much?” and “Who wrote the book?” (Answer: twelve dollars for the pecan festival only, or twenty dollars for two books, and all five of us wrote it by writing as different characters in the same story.) These questions now are answered in our FAQ.
Then there were the odder questions, for example, “What are you raising money for?” and “Is this a real book?” (Answer: We split the proceeds and use them however we choose, and yes, it’s very real.)
My favorite question was by far: “Is this a true story?” This was asked after hearing the full pitch, including the part about superheroes in Sahuarita. Rocket almost said yes, which we all thought would have been hilarious. (Real answer: No. There are moments inspired by real life, and most of the settings are real, but as far as I know, the world was never overrun by myths and natural disasters and saved by Sahuarita superhero teenagers.)
We were visited by a squirrel! The squirrel didn't ask many questions.
As the day went on, it got windier. The tarp over our booth started blowing away. It partially lifted off the ground just because of the wind! We’d been told by the people running the festival that we had to keep it up, so for a while we held down the booth by having someone stand and hold onto each corner of the tarp frame. Eventually we got to take the tarp off its frame, which really helped with the wind issue.
After we took down the tarp so the whole booth wouldn't blow into anyone.
Whenever we got the chance, the five of us discussed Fractured Fate and possible sequels. Some of us are considering writing more, but some of us have other plans. You’ll have to keep checking this website and like our Facebook page to see what happens. It was still fun brainstorming. There’s nothing like a day filled with stories, both real and fictional.
The Pecan Festival at sunset. Just about time to pack up and go home.
