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Georgia Strawberry Festival

Double the Fun

Sales on Two Sides

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When we arrived at the Strawberry Festival at 6:00 am, we had to have an extra splash of coffee when we realized our assigned site was in the middle of the road, and Strawberry Festival visitors would be walking past our booth on the “front” side and the “back”.

Challenge accepted, Strawberry Festival! Not all the vendors had the luxury of being able to take advantage of foot traffic from the front and back of their tents, but we revised our “usual” set up to be approachable from both sides.

We had our tables and books organized and were on our way to grab a bite of breakfast when the cafe on the corner opened at 7:00 am. Note how relaxed I appear in our early morning photo. “We got this.”

It Takes Two

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Our usual, smooth routine is that I chat with readers and sign books while FarmerMan processes payments and puts the book(s) into one of our spiffy Barrett Book Shop sacks that are prefilled with a Barrett Book Shop postcard. It’s quite nicely orchestrated, and we’ve done it many times.

Our chaotic routine at the Strawberry Festival resulted in the two of us switching sides regularly, sometimes midstream.  FarmerMan had the double duty of talking to readers and managing payments while I talked to readers and signed books. Both of us grabbed Barrett Book Shop sacks and popped in books, sometimes at the same time for the same book.

Our one saving grace was that for the first time ever, I had the brilliant idea to sign every single book, a total of over 175 books, while we waited for the Strawberry Festival to begin. After each sale, I only had to add the person’s name and a short note, which was usually my tagline: You keep reading; I’ll keep writing.

Two Events

In addition to the Strawberry Festival, I was also participating  with 41 other authors in a group online Thriller Sale. (The answer is 42. For more explanation, read my blog about the sale, For Thriller Readers.)

I had emailed Draft to Digital (D2D), my favorite distributor of my books to retailers, telling them about the thriller group. Somehow, my thriller, I Always Wanted to be a Spy, was inadvertently left off the list of books. By me: I was the guilty party.

A kind-hearted D2D promotion coordinator, Megan, sent me an email to say she didn’t see my book on the list. After a brief, private moment of embarrassment, I sent her the information. Crisis averted, thanks to Megan.

When a lovely young woman who was the same height as me, approached my table and smiled, I said, “You must be a reader.”

She said, “I better be; I’m promoting your book this weekend.”

<INSERT LOUD SCREAM> again me.

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What are the odds? Megan and Me.

Side note: any respectable Promotions Coordinator from Georgia would wear a hat crocheted like a strawberry and a Strawberry Shortcake shirt when she took her daughter to the Strawberry Festival, ammi right?

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Inside or Outside?

Which is your preference?

When it comes to Arts and Crafts festivals, outside wins for me, hands down, EXCEPT when it’s raining. When we’ve been caught in a passing shower, the Hubs and I have said for years, “We’ve been wet before; we’ll be wet again.”

However, books don’t do well in overnight dew or a little shower, much less a downpour. We watched the weather closely for the Calico Arts and Crafts Festival, and as the chance of precipitation and thunderstorms rose, the more we worried about the books.

I had originally requested an outdoor spot, but ten days before the Calico Arts and Crafts, I sent a frantic email to the organizer asking to be moved indoors.  If you’ve read the Grid Down Survival series, you know that Rosalie is the “Weather Girl.” I channeled my inner Rosalie.

The organizer relieved my worries when she graciously switched us to indoors. Almost all the vendors, indoors and outdoors, set up Friday afternoon to be ready for the Saturday morning event. A terrible thunderstorm with destructive wind blew through late Friday night, and quite a few tents were destroyed. It was tragic.

I was relieved we were inside at the Calico Arts and Crafts Festival, but we had to modify our usual setup. what do you think?

Calico Arts and Crafts in Moultrie GA, March 16-17  (Indoors)

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We had a glorious time talking to so many great readers from Georgia and Florida who went home with dry books! The event coordinator had everything well-organized, including an organization of young men on Friday afternoon who unloaded our bins of books for us at our assigned vendor spot!

As usual, we picked up brilliant tips from the vendors around us. Calico is on our Definitely Return list for their next event in November.

Peanut Proud in Blakely GA, March 23  (Outdoors)

Blakley GA Mar 23 2024 Peanut Proud

Our set up at the Peanut Proud Festival was our usual with our canopy tent and my banner on the front of the tent. It got a little windy in Blakely that day, but the organizers were remarkable hosts, and we had a wonderful time.

We were surprised how many readers from Georgia and Alabama braved the wind gusts and went home with a new book or two. Amazingly, our tent didn’t blow away.  Peanut Proud is another event on our Definitely Return list for next year.

The Stars of the Shows: Books!

ALL the BOOKS Jan 2024 Barrett Book Shop Paperbacks

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A Tale of Two Videos

TAGGED BY DEATH February 2021

This is the link to the ancient video that was a trailer for Tagged by Death. I can’t get it to load, but while I work on a way to convert it, check out the new one!

TAGGED BY DEATH January 2024

QuickJAB, The Latest Twist

Dressed for Success

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Dressed for Success? I didn’t realize how well my new Christmasy long-sleeved shirt matched my $5.00  Walmart tablecloth. At least no one had trouble finding my booth!

My last event for 2023 was the Mistletoe Market in Cairo, Georgia. It’s one of my favorites; I love seeing my previous readers who return for more books and meeting new readers!

A shout out to the Mom who marched up to my booth with a slip of paper in her hand and announced, “My daughter said I’m supposed to get the Stalking book for her.”

Nearby shoppers gave her the side-eye, but she was a Mom on a Mission and impervious to any judgy attitudes.

In 2022, I ordered five of my newest paperback, which was book 3 in a series, as soon as I published it. When my books arrived, I was thoroughly embarrassed when I realized I had the wrong title on the spine! The five books were perfectly fine except for the spine. I hid them in the back of our office closet.

I decided to embrace my mistake and offered the first three books of the series, with the third book being the mistake book, at the same price as the two books plus $5.00. I have three mistake books (rare first editions?) left.  I’ll keep taking my mistake books to events until they’re gone.

My plan for 2024: Even more in-person events and increased focus on BARRETT BOOK SHOP where readers can buy paperbacks, ebooks, and audiobooks directly from me.

You keep reading; I’ll keep writing! 

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QuickJAB, The Latest Twist

Then and Now

Elevate Artisans Market 2019 to 2023

Elevate Artisans Market is my favorite event. It’s held every year on the Saturday closest to Halloween. The event is hosted at an Alpaca Farm by an amazingly energetic farmer and talented artisan, Della Lovett.

2019

Elevate All Set Up 2019 First year

I had five books in 2019. It was my first in-person event at an arts and crafts show, and I  tried to make my two tables as neat and eye-pleasing as possible. I’m not sure why I didn’t take advantage of all the space under my tent, though. Doesn’t it look like it might be a little cramped for space where our chairs are behind the tables? Maybe I thought it would be more welcoming for visitors if there was room for them under the tent, but they’d have to be short. Hopefully, we raised the tent before the tall FarmerMan, who takes care of the $ transactions and everything else except the author-stuff  made his way to his chair.

It must have been warm because I’m in a short-sleeved shirt. Note that I am not wearing a ball cap…definitely back in the day!

What did I learn? I discovered how much I loved to ask people what they liked to read. I made friends and to my amazement, I sold books.

2020

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The weather was cooler in 2020. I’m wearing a long-sleeved T-shirt under my Halloween shirt, and it must have been windy because we have our gallon jugs filled with water to keep the tent from blowing away.

I have three books neatly arranged on the table that is a little closer to the front of the tent and books on a table behind me. Those must be the rare collector’s items because they’re in a rack not within reach of anyone, not even me, because my chair is blocking me. I’m not certain what the purpose of the table with lone Halloween sack on it was. Maybe it was for all the candy.

What did I learn? I dearly love to listen to their excitement when people talk about what they read. I watched  people’s faces as they looked at my book covers and was fascinated by what attracted them.

2021 and 2022

Elevate 2021 smaller Barrett ELEVATE Arts and Crafts Oct 2022

2021 was cold, and 2022 was rainy, but visitors braved the elements and showed up. I had three then four series and more books. I’ll never be a decorator, but I tried to carefully arrange my table with only a few books, so it didn’t look too crowded.

What did I learn? Other than what a patient, kind-hearted man FarmerMan is for going to all these events with me, I’m surprised at how many readers really love a paperback. Ebooks might be cheaper and audiobooks might be better for a commuter, but there are a lot of people who prefer to hold a paperback while they read.

2023

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It was cool in the morning but heated up in the afternoon. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. I had books all over the place. I tried to be relatively neat, but with five series of 30 different books, I had books stacked and stashed everywhere.

What did I learn? I’ve been surprised every year at how many people tell me they read Historical Fiction. I realized after the event was over what a huge opportunity I’ve missed. I’ve never once asked anyone what time period or era of Historical Fiction they read. I’ll fix that.

What do you read?

You keep reading; I’ll keep writing! 

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Author at Work

authorwriting      Chickens with grass Jan 2023 clipped

My New Author Bio?

Judith A. Barrett: The Georgia-based, award-snatching author who’s convinced her chickens might be plotting the next big mystery, or are they burying the evidence? 

With her loyal husband as her alibi, two dogs who are terrible at keeping secrets, and a penchant for spinning yarns ranging from mysterious thrillers to cuddle-worthy cozies, Judith has a story for every kind of reader. She’s taken on the challenge of combining mystery and crime with just a sprinkle of sweet romance to all her stories to keep them mildly spicy like sugar and cinnamon – not like jalapeno and ghost peppers!

Her motto? “You keep reading, or the chickens get it! Just kidding… I’ll keep writing!

Bitter-barn-smaller-1 Chickens who go broody and won’t leave the nest go into the Bitter Barn to cool off. She’s crying fowl on the charges. If she begs you to open the barn door with a promise of eggs, she’s scamming you. Broody hens don’t lay eggs. There’s a story…

Buy Judith a cup of coffee!

Did you enjoy the new bio? Consider buying me a cup of coffee! Coffee is magical writer’s fuel and keeps me writing, researching, and sharing stories with you. Thank you for your continued support!

$2.00

QuickJAB, The Latest Twist

Legendary Author/Legendary Readers

Pepper Festival Sept 2023

My latest festival was the two-day Pepper Musical Festival: I wore my taco socks and used my chili pepper apron to spice up my table.  I expected to see a pepper eating contest or some  reason for the event to be the Pepper Festival, but as far as I know, it was the Pepper Festival just because.

You might have noticed that we finally realized that putting up the side panels on our tent helped block the sun. We also remembered to charge the fan the night before. For some unexplainable reason, I forgot all my tablecloths except for one small, white one. Walmart to the rescue! We found the cheap (yay!), green vinyl tablecloth that is now my favorite.  I love a bargain!

The vendor sites were spacious because of the large field where the event was hosted; we didn’t feel crowded at all and had a perfect location for our booth. The stage for the bands and the bleachers were in front of our site with an open, spacious, grassy area between us.

The two-day event was a challenge because the festival lasted until ten o’clock both nights, but Friday night was a blast. The headliner band played Hispanic music, and the area in front of us was filled with families. In addition to our  all time favorite music from the southwest, we had live entertainment as the children chased each other and rolled in the grass, and the toddlers bounced to the music.  We enjoyed an impromptu wrestling match between preteen boys that could have rivaled any high school wrestling team for style and technique.

Saturday was exhausting. We had to take our books back to the campground Friday night then haul them back to the event on Saturday morning because books and morning dew don’t mix; however, our campground was less than ten minutes away, which was a wonderful bonus.

A young, local police officer entertained himself most of Saturday by stopping by my booth and teasing me about some imaginary flaw in one of my books. He brought  a group of other police officers and firefighters to my booth to show them my fan then expounded on the imaginary flaw. I told him he was fired as my public relations manager, and his buddies roared with laughter.

The Saturday night crowd was mostly teenagers who were there to see and be seen. They were entertaining enough to watch, but they couldn’t come close to  the bouncing toddlers. The headliner music was not their type of music or ours either. Adults sat on the bleachers and politely applauded; it must have been their type of music.

The most amazing sight of all on Saturday night was the number of food trucks that magically appeared; everyone we saw was eating something!

We quietly packed our things and left at nine o’clock.  In theory, we won’t be invited back as vendors because we left before ten, but we’re okay with that. Our campground was great, and we had a terrific time; we’ll go back next year to camp at the great campground,  shout out to you, Tifton KOA Journey,  and enjoy the Friday night music and entertainment.

Will we consider another two-day event? It depends…

Remember the pesky police officer? The police chief stopped by my booth later and told me I was a legend.  Legendary Author: should I add that to my biography?

You know who reads the works of a Legendary Author, don’t you?

Legendary Readers: readers who  form theories based on clues and stray, almost random, hints the author leaves along the way in the story. That’s you, isn’t it?

How’s this for a new tagline?

The Legendary Author Who Writes for Legendary Readers.

Buy Judith a cup of coffee!

Did you enjoy the story? Consider buying me a cup of coffee – it’s writer’s fuel and keeps me writing, photographing, and sharing stories with you. Thank you for your continued support and being a Legendary Reader!

$2.00

QuickJAB, The Latest Twist

Small Town, Big Heart for Reading

In May, we packed up books and dogs and took our camper trailer to Ellaville, Georgia, population 1,500 (not a typo), for an Arts and Crafts event sponsored by the town’s Chamber of Commerce who named their event Luau in the ‘Ville. Kind of snappy, don’t you think?

I wore my  flowered shirt, which is my version of appropriate luau attire (my grass skirt is at the dry cleaners), for the occasion, and if you carefully examine my tent, you’ll see my new “ceiling fan” is in place to keep us cool.

My new friends from the Wine Festival who told me about the Ellaville event were two booths away from me with their son who was selling his debut novel. We were too busy to chat very much, but I told them about the arts and crafts event that is close to me: Elevate Artisans; I hope to see them in October.

The most amazing sales wizard I’ve ever had the pleasure to witness was next to me in the purple tent. She sold  jewelry, T-shirts, drink cups, and stickers, and she knew how to work a crowd.  She maintained a constant, almost musical patter, and people were drawn to her booth.

  • Mother’s Day is coming up; do you think she’d like earrings or a T-shirt?
  • That’s our best-selling T-shirt, feel how soft it is. We have your size.
  • What’s your mom’s favorite color?
  • You need to get yourself a Mother’s Day present. You deserve it.
  • You’re ears aren’t pierced? These earrings make great charms.
  • You need a Georgia Bulldogs drink cup to go with that shirt.
  • You’re from Alabama? We still love you. Here’s an Auburn drink cup: you won’t see another one here.

Her charming delivery made her aggressive-sounding style a magnet as she magically became everyone’s favorite friend, including me.

It was another scorcher of a day in the afternoon in Georgia. Remember my fan? It was great until it wasn’t. We forgot to pack the charger, so we weren’t able to charge it fully the night before the Luau. It fizzled out around two, and I baked in the heat until five when the party was over.  I have a new addition to my packing list: the charger for the fan.

Because all of the ebooks for each one of my series are included on my online Barrett Book Shop, I was fully prepared for anyone who said they didn’t read paperbacks. I asked everyone who stopped (or kind of slowed down) by my booth, if they read paperbacks or ebooks. The readers of Ellaville and the surrounding towns surprised me when they almost 100% said, “Paperbacks.”

I was even more surprised when many of them bought one or two of my books or an entire series. While all of my First in Series books sold, the number one favorite was TAGGED BY DEATH. I sold out before the end of the day. In terms of sales, Ellaville  far surpassed any other event that I’ve ever attended. You’ll find me in Ellaville next spring trying to figure out how to get next to the sales wizard’s booth.

Pro tip: Readers are Everywhere.

You keep reading; I’ll keep writing!

QuickJAB, The Latest Twist

Starting Over

The fragrant, beautiful gardenias in the front of our house have bloomed every May since we bought the house in 2018, and we know they were there when the previous owners bought the house  in 2013, so they had survived the high and low temperatures that fluctuated from year to year for more than ten years.

When the hard freeze that lasted four days hit in February 2023, we were saddened by the loss of so many of our pine trees that we had planted over the past three years but were completely shocked that our three sturdy gardenia bushes didn’t survive.  So, we started over.

In November 2022, in a series of unfortunate events, our faithful camping trailer that we bought new in 2015 bit the dust in a most unlikely incident. Out of respect for her faithful service, we won’t go into the details, but no humans, dogs, or chickens (even though they weren’t there) were injured. We had a choice: give up camping or get a new camping trailer. I’m certain you aren’t surprised that we bought a new camping trailer. We’re starting over by taking short trips to get used to our new trailer.

As an author with a publishing business, I’ve been closely tracking the dwindling benefits of exclusivity with a single online book distributor. I started over in January 2023, and now all 30+ of my books are being sold by over a dozen book distributors.

In February, I investigated several options of selling my books directly to readers online. By the beginning of March, my online Barrett Book Shop was live and in business!

 

I’ve been excited to learn that other authors are doing the same!  Take a peek at a very delightful author, Maria E. Schneider, at Bear Mountain Books. 

I’ve found my toe-tapping, head-bobbing theme song for 2023 on You Tube:  Chris Stapleton

You keep reading; I’ll keep writing!

QuickJAB

Series Readers Are Awesome

RILEY MALLOY MYSTERY/THRILLER BOOK 2

For all the readers who are advanced series readers and already read TAGGED BY DEATH, BOOK 1, here is BOOK 2.

For all the series readers who wanted to be sure there’s a BOOK 2, here you go! Also, please read BOOK 1 first, because RILEY MALLOY MYSTERY SERIES is an actual series that follows the challenges of Riley Malloy, fulltime vet tech and part time crime buster.

DEFY DEATH 

Riley, vet tech and dog whisperer, stands in the way of a desperate criminal. Easy fix. Kill Riley.

DEFY Cover Book 2 Jan 31 2021 ebook 

TAP for DEFY BY DEATH

For all the thriller and mystery readers that missed TAGGED BY DEATH, BOOK 1, you are not forgotten either.

TAP for TAGGED BY DEATH, Book 1

 

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