Ocean Shores Public Library presents readers, authors with rare opportunity

Have you ever met one of your favorite authors? Or interacted with one of them on social media? I’ve had the privilege of conversing with or trading posts and DMs with a few best-selling authors I read and admire. It’s a heady experience.

I have been a published author since 2017, and although I was initially traditionally published, marketing fell primarily to me. I have now written and published a four-book series called The Dark Passage Series. With my background in digital and content marketing, journalism, and public relations, book marketing should have been a cinch. Boy, was I mistaken. Those skills came in handy when I was forced to publish my back list and release a new novel as an independent self-published author, but marketing my books has always eluded me. With one exception.

I’ve tried everything — Facebook and Twitter (now known as X) ads and boosted posts, organic posts, including Instagram, and press releases, among other things. I have found that the most successful method, at least for me anyway, has been in-person book signings. I have held events at Barnes & Noble locations throughout Northern California, participated in a comic book convention, and rented a table at a book fair. Those events, although not all, have served me well, and I have sold more copies that way than any other.

The brainchild of library director and librarian Keitha Owen, the Ocean Shores Public Library’s Local Author Fair, now in its third iteration, provides authors the rare opportunity to mix and mingle and discuss books and the craft and art of storytelling. It also gives authors a glimpse into marketing techniques their peers employ.

Thirty-two authors participated in this year’s fair, with 16 authors in each of two sessions. Some have attended all three, some two, and for some it was their first time. According to the newly published writer I shared a table with, it was his first author fair ever. While setting up our table displays, some more involved than others, we authors had a chance to catch up with friends, many of whom we had made at the first two fairs, and make new ones. I like to survey the library and check out the collateral materials that authors use to decorate their tables.

Tabletop signs, bookmarks, business cards, postcards, book racks, and even a jar full of colorful bouncy balls — you name it, they use them. Some authors have written or published only one book, while others, like me, have published only one series of novels. Others have published a plethora of books, sometimes spanning multiple genres. We also use a variety of payment methods, and many authors have signs or cards that promote each of them.

One thing we all have in common? It doesn’t take much to get us talking about our stories. From moon bases and artificial intelligence to a preference for writing shorter pieces, such as novellas and short stories, we discuss our subject matter and the writing and publishing processes. Every genre imaginable is represented, from science fiction and horror to comedy, children’s books, history, and memoirs. There is something for everyone to read.

As much as we authors like to get together and chat about our craft, the event really is about readers. Held at a rare, independent library in the region, reading and promoting reading are at the forefront of what they do. The authors fair gives readers the rare opportunity to meet writers face-to-face and discuss the stories they’ve crafted. It also gives us authors a chance to sell the reader on our stories and even ourselves. Many of us have had a modicum of success at best, so this event gives us a chance to meet new readers and talk to them about the types of stories they enjoy reading.

The event is set up in a way that gives all fairgoers a chance to walk through the library and mingle with staff, Friends of the Library (FOL), social media creators (a new addition this year), and, of course, the authors. One of the things I saw this year that I hadn’t seen before was authors flat-out exchanging books with each other. We may all be writers, but we’re readers too.

The Ocean Shores Public Library’s staff and the Friends of the Library do a wonderful job at the outset every year. The marketing alone for the event — including flyers, programs, social media posts, and graphics — is top-notch. Every author is featured. They also provide graphics and suggested social media posts for authors to use in promoting the event. FOL staffs the fair and provides a wide variety of refreshments, including chocolatey goodies and some wicked strong coffee (do they know writers or what?). Library technician Michelle Traer always makes sure to take the group pictures and get photos of everyone and their table set-ups, and then posts images to Facebook.

Granted, yours truly has not moved a tremendous volume of books at these fairs the past three years, however, my books have found their way into the hands of some new readers and a few fellow authors as well. Selling books isn’t really the point. It’s about the bond with other writers and the friendships you can forge, and the networking, the connection with the readers you do meet, and supporting your local library — especially in these turbulent times.

If you’ve read any of my work during the better part of the last 10 months, you know that I am an ardent supporter of libraries. They are an integral part of the community in which they reside, and provide invaluable resources to our friends and neighbors. You keep reading, and I’ll keep writing.