The end result ended up being
- In leather bag on left : Ipad + charger, 2 different fabrics for the table cloth (because I am indecisive and couldn't decide until I saw the table itself), book display stand, rack card display, business card display, several sharpies and pens.
- In middle bag with the circles : bookmarks, rack cards, more pens, small notebook, business cards, candy, basket for candy, book stand, sign with Heart of Kylassame's blurb and release date, Square card reader, scratch paper, water bottle, iced coffee (for me), wallet, cell phone.
- In box : books
It was just...awesome. I didn't have a panic attack which really surprised me, and I felt confident the entire time. There was an incredible array of authors there, although I was fairly alone in the fantasy fiction genre, at least during the morning session. There were also quite a lot of self-published authors there, which really surprised me.
I do have to admit, my dad now has free reign to say "I told you so" regarding Lady of Steinbrekka's cover. I have been wanting to change the cover since it is rather generic, and he told me not to even think about it. All I heard all day were variations of the statement that amounted to, "your cover is gorgeous" "what a beautiful cover", etc. Fine, the cover stays :)
Here is my set-up :) I was pretty happy with it, especially for my first event where I really didn't know what to expect or what would be provided. I went with a white, sparkly table cloth, then fanned out my bookmarks, set up two books, had my bookmarks and rack cards, and then a bowl of candy. My blurb for Heart of Kylassame was just beside the candy.
For future events, I plan on making a big poster-board sized sign that has "Author Signing Today" as well as reviews from my books. I'm also going to make a few card-stock copies of the titles with an "Available for Nook" or "Available for Kindle" so that readers know that there are e-book versions available.
I also could not have been happier with Cascades Library, who was hosting the event. They went above and beyond to give us a wonderful time. There was a really considerate green room set up with water, coffee and snacks, and then they provided a really thoughtful lunch spread. They also had many volunteers who would watch our tables if we needed a restroom break, lunch break, or went into the other room to do a reading. I am already looking forward to signing up for the event next year.
