This week, we have the pleasure of hosting D.R. Ransdell. 
She loves to travel, has taught in Mexico and the U.S., and also writes great mysteries, often with a little mariachi flavor to them. She will give away a copy of Island Casualty to someone who comments. I’m going to leave a comment – I know how good her books are. Welcome, D.R. Ransdell.
Although serious writing requires hours of isolation, it ironically also provides great opportunities for people to come together. A fine example of this was the recent Tucson Festival of Books held in March on the University of Arizona Campus. Specifically, my own moments of coming together mostly happened at the Oak Tree Press booth.
Publisher Billie Johnson was kind enough to drive down from California for the weekend to be on hand to display our books. Those of us from Tucson or nearby spent time in the booth interacting with potential book buyers as well as one another. Names I only knew through email turned into real people.
W
hile Carolyn Niethammer and I live in Tucson, Janet Greger, Virgil Alexander, Bob Richter, and Amy Bennett all drove to town and helped us with the booth. While we didn’t sell books left and right, we sold some books and distributed LOTS of information. We had the opportunity to be out in a huge crowd and have our titles displayed with other books from Oak Tree Press. Many times browsers stopped at the book carousel and viewed our titles. While we would have been more thrilled if they had all bought lots of books, we recognized the importance of name recognition. Don’t marketing experts say that it takes seven instances of viewing a product before a customer decides to buy it?
Carolyn even had a dinner for her fellow authors; naturally the one night I really wanted off, I had to go play a gig! But I thoroughly enjoyed having a chance to find out more about Bob’s travels and Amy’s experiences in New Mexico. Several of us swapped books for the all-too-elusive review.
We also had the chance to talk “book,” We shared our frustrations about marketing and our love of putting words to paper and seeing our characters come alive. We were tickled by the fact that we’re all very different, and yet we have a shared common purpose to entertain and sometimes enlighten the world at large. It’s humbling to be part of such a rich cultural project even if we’re only tiny specks on the spectrum.
Best of all, we had the chance to talk at length with Billie. 
Good heavens—she’s even busier than we are! She told stories of getting started with her company. She shared marketing strategies and knowledge accumulated through her vast experiences in the business. She was also grace under fire; many, many potential authors wanted to talk to her. Some had looney ideas about how they’d written the best book ever (or in one case, I think it was her seven-year-old daughter; I stayed as far away as possible). In each case Billie listened patiently. Usually she invited the authors to send something via the website—I wonder how many managed it!
By now the book festival is behind us for another year, but I’m already looking forward to the next one. I hope Oak Tree will have a booth again. At the very least, I hope to meet up with the other authors who live nearby. I may write alone, but it’s wonderful to have the chance to share all our experiences. Then we can all go home and write about them!
To read about my murder mystery series featuring mariachi violinist Andy Veracruz, please check out http://www.drransdellnovels.com
To find out about Oak Tree Press: http://www.oaktreebooks.com/
To find out about the Tucson Festival of Books: http://tucsonfestivalofbooks.org/
Leave a comment for a chance to win one of her mysteries.
Great post, D.R.!! I too really enjoyed my time in Tucson, as well as the road trip to and from. There is something about a long drive that IMO is good for the soul. Of course, the best thing always is being around OTP authors…we have some wonderful people and I never fail to enjoy the times we can meet up. I plan to sign up for TFOB 2016…and it would be great to get the same location!
And D.R.. you are right, most of the people who pitched didn’t follow through and send any material…although in a couple of cases, I am relieved that they didn’t!
Billie
I had a great time in Tucson and it was great to meet my “coworkers” and see my “boss” again! Billie is truly amazing; she spent the whole festival at the booth despite the heat and the wind! True, we might not have sold a ton of books, but I know I gave out a lot of promo bookmarks and now more people know about me and the other OTP authors than did before and that could translate into later sales (unfortunately, not everyone can buy every book that catches their eye!) I look forward to next year’s festival!
D.R. Is new to me and I am excited to meet her. I love mysteries!
Thanks, Melanie! I’ve always loved mysteries too–I went through all the normal steps: Nancy Drew, Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett! But it’s fun to be writing my own too…..
I met D.R. Randsdell at the Sisters in Crime booth at the Tucson Festival of Books where we were both signing. The festival is fun (an outdoor festival in March, wow), and meeting other writers is the best part. Thank you for sharing your experience, D.R.
I really had a good time too. It’s amazing how many things come together in a single weekend! Even though it seems that young people don’t read as much as they used to….. at least lots of people do love to read!
By the way, Joyce, great website!
It’s always fun to hear about life outside of New England (and yes, it’s April 28th and we still have some snow on the ground, but it IS going!). The book sounds great, and as a musician, I think I’d have enjoyed the gig as well! Keep up the good work!
I love to play. Lately it’s been harder to get gigs, but that’s been good too, because it’s given me more time to write. Now, if I could get someone else to take care of all the laundry…..
Sure wish I could’ve been there at the festival and dinner with Ransdell and all. Thanks for sharing the experience!
Next time! But of course, it’s hard to do lots of author events, etc. I’m trying to decide whether or not to go to Silver City in the fall…. but then, there goes a whole weekend.
Marta, I met Terry at an earlier book fair. It’s a fun gig, but it’s true that the weather plays a part. The year it rained I didn’t sell many books! But this year I really appreciated having the chance to talk to Billie at length and meet some of the others. We “know” each other virtually, but it’s a thrill to meet in person!
Maybe you’ll join us next year!!
PS Billie and I got lucky on the cover–we both thought it was great first time out–and it does catch people’s eyes!
Terry Ambrose asked me if I went to the Tucson Festival of Books. Now I’m so sorry I missed it. It would have been so nice to meet you, talk with the others, and set eyes on Billie again.
What I really want to remark upon is the cover of your book. I absolutely love it! Talk about a hook. You got me at first glance, and I didn’t need to read a word. Not that I doubt your ability to hook readers with your words. Not one bit!
Pleasure meeting you and your book on Jim’sblog. Marta