The Keeper of All Things: Barrett Book Shop Cargo Trailer

~ Every new project deserves a new tool. ~

Barrett Book Shop Cargo Trailer

When we bought our cargo trailer at the end of 2024, I didn’t realize how much it would change the way we do book events.

It felt like a practical decision; one of those “this makes sense on paper” purchases. We were juggling books, tables, signage, tents, weights, totes, chairs, and all the little things you don’t think about until you’re loading and unloading for the fourth time in a weekend for an event. When the number of series and books blossomed to where we needed two more tables and had to buy a second tent, something had to give.

What we didn’t expect was how much easier and calmer preparing for events would become once everything had a place.

In 2025, we used the trailer for about half of our arts and crafts fairs, and by the end of the year, it was clear: this wasn’t just a trailer. It was a game-changer.

From Chaos to Control

Before the trailer, packing for a show meant mental gymnastics. What could fit? What had to stay behind? What would we need to repack in a different order just to unload efficiently? And of course, our most-often asked question: WHERE IS IT? That was frequently followed by a mad dash to Walmart or Lowe’s for something we forgot to pack, like concrete blocks on the windy day at an event when we forgot the tent weights.

With the trailer, everything we need for a show lives in the trailer; the only exception is books because humidity and paper don’t mix. Table racks don’t wander off, and fans don’t get left behind. Supplies live where they belong. The day before the event, we loaded our bins of books, and then when it was time to head out, we grabbed our lunch cooler, thermos of coffee, and cash box and left.

That kind of simplicity is hard to overstate when you’re setting up before dawn with the aid of a flashlight, which was in the trailer, or tearing down after a long glorious day of talking and signing books.

A Rolling Bookshop

One of my favorite things about the trailer is how it quietly represents what we’ve built.

With the Barrett Bookshop logo on the side, it’s a rolling extension of our brand, professional, recognizable, and a little bit fun. Pulling into an event no longer feels like we’re “just another booth.” We arrive like a small business that takes its work seriously… because we do.

Readers may not see the trailer once our booth is set up, but we feel the difference. And that confidence carries over into every conversation, every book recommendation, every signed paperback handed across the table.

Lessons We Didn’t Expect

Owning the trailer also taught us a few unexpected lessons:

Preparation reduces stress. With logistics handled, creativity and connection have room to breathe.
Investing in the business matters. Writing books is creative work, but selling them is a business, and treating it that way pays off.
Growth doesn’t always look flashy. Sometimes it looks like better organization, fewer headaches, and more energy saved for the things that matter.

As we kick off 2026, our trailer feels like a symbol of where we’ve been, and where we’re headed next. More festivals. More face-to-face time with readers. Better systems behind the scenes so the focus stays where it belongs: the readers and the stories.

And fewer moments of standing in a field wondering where we packed the tent weights.

Want to Come Along for the Ride?

If you enjoy hearing about life behind the book table, upcoming festival stops, new releases, and the occasional behind-the-scenes moments that don’t make it to social media, my monthly newsletter is where I share all of that.

I’m being more intentional about it in 2026, and I’d love for you to be part of it.

Sign up for the newsletter

https://judithabarrett.com/newsletter to get updates on new books, in-person events, and what’s coming next.

Here’s to a new year, new stories, and more adventures ahead.

You keep reading; I’ll keep writing!

Judith signature

Can’t make it to an arts and crafts festival that’s near me, but not you? Visit me at the online Barrett Book Shop and find your next favorite book! https://barrettbookshop.com

Barrett Book Shop: our doors are always open!

Strawberry Festival Reynolds GA

Georgia Strawberry Festival

Last Festival of Spring 2025

This was our second year to be at the Strawberry Festival in Reynolds, Georgia. We were excited when we saw we had been assigned a vendor spot that was very close to where we were placed last year: in the middle of the road!

You can see how close the 10’x10′ vendor spaces are. The 10’x10′ canopy tents are snuggled so close together that there is no wiggle room for a bit of expansion at all. My series of books have grown to where I can barely place all the series on the front tables that fill the 10 feet across.

You might notice there are no table signs, and there doesn’t appear to be any way out after we’re inside our canopy fort. Crawling out from under the tables is not an option. Having nice vendor neighbors is a tremendous bonus when the space is tight because they don’t mind if we slip out the sides for an occasional, quick portapotty visit. It sure beats trying to scoot a table a few inches and then putting all the books that we knocked down back into place when we return.

Does that mean I plan to slow down writing and publishing books or take fewer series and books to the festivals? Spoiler alert: No.

Middle of the Road

Middle of the road typically means dull or even conventional (gasp!), but here’s our twist: middle of the road at the Strawberry Festival is a prime spot because we can set up with a “front” on both sides!

We actually planned for middle of the road with our fingers crossed. We took two banners for our canopy, and enough tables and books to have both sides of our booth set up with all the books and series to catch the eye of a reader who is strolling along either side of the road.

Speaking of neighbors, I always visit surrounding vendors to chat. Vendors are amazing people who love to share what they know. When I visited the vendor behind us (in front of us?), he told me he had googled me earlier in the day because he kept staring at my banner, and I was all over the internet! He bought the book from me that he’d selected online.

Have you heard of king of the hill? We’re Middle of the Road!

p.s.

Did you notice my pink hat? I forgot my writer ball cap but found my pink hat in the camper trailer, so I pretended it was my middle of the road strawberry hat.