Breaking news! At the end of September I am going to the Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival in Berryville, Virginia. https://www.shenandoahvalleyfiberfestival.com/home2024/

I’ve been invited to bring copies of my book, Jessamyn’s Yarn, and do a book signing. I’ll be there Saturday, September 28. This is not quite as random as it sounds. My cover artist is very involved in this festival and she thought my book, which is about sheep, would be a great tie-in. She’s going to bring the picture she painted, and then used for the cover, to put up on a table for me. Such fun!

However… along with the fun comes extra work. Neither the artist nor I has any idea how many books I might sell. Writing friends say it’s impossible to guess. So I’m going to take a bunch of books, but I also would like to take book marks to hand out. The bookmarks would have a picture of the book cover, and a QR code that would take someone directly to the ebook on Amazon.

Hopefully.

The QR code seems to be relatively easy to acquire. So I’ve been working on how to actually make those book marks. If I had a design, I might be able to have them done professionally but again, I have no idea of the number that I might be able to hand out, so I don’t want to spend myself into a hole. If I can make these book marks myself, and have them look professional, that’s better. I do have software that in theory can be used to create bookmarks that I can print. If I can learn it in time.

I suspect that festivals are a bit of a gamble. I went to this same Shenandoah festival last year to get some fiber processed, and it rained the day I went. In fact, it Poured. I had quite a time wandering in the damp. I had fallen a week or two previously, so I was terrified of falling again in the absolutely slick mud in the parking lot. I was at the festival to meet the owner of a fiber mill whom I had reached out to, before the festival. He looked at my fleece and said he couldn’t manage it. That was a very discouraging moment, especially since his booth was not near the entrance.

But you know? I have mostly forgotten about that rainy wet disappointment. On the way back to my car I stopped in another booth when a sudden cloud burst struck. I ended up buying some gorgeous yarn to make baby hats, and had time to study my festival booklet and notice another possible mill. I would guess that a lot of vendors took in less than usual in the rain, but the lady who gave me shelter was gracious and fun.

And the new fiber mill agreed to process my fleece. Winner! and then it turned out that besides running a mill, Bridget was an artist who loved painting sheep, and knew things about publishing and design and was happy to do my book cover. Going back to the festival, even if it rains, is a lovely reminder of what went right this past year. It’s easy to forget that just eleven months ago Jessamyn’s Yarn wasn’t finished and I had no book cover.

Kind of like this year, now that I think about it. The Science Fair Murder isn’t finished and I don’t have a cover. That’s actually encouraging!