Y’all, I have been on one. I traveled to Atlanta, GA over the weekend to attend the 13th annual National Book Club Conference and my little nerd heart must have expanded at least a dozen times! It was so much fun connecting with other authors and new readers. Here’s a quick re-cap of the weekend.
We arrived in Atlanta safe and sound. I had to take a pic next to this welcome sign, even though I had been on the road for hours. Leave it to a car full of women to turn a 5.5 hour road trip into 10 hours. What can I say? We like to stop. 🙂My author/vendor badge!Me at my beautiful author table. Can you tell I was nervous? I got several compliments on how welcoming my table was. I think the candy helped. A lot.But when I busted out the cookies, things went to a whole ‘nother level. Just FYI, if you’re ever trying to market a children’s book, put cookies on your table. The kids just kept coming back for more. I was like, “Bring your mama next time!” Just kidding, I love the kiddies.These ladies made my day! They were my first customers of the day and they bought a total of 5 books! Color me happy. They even brought me a piece of homemade strawberry pound cake that was all of that and then some.I was able to attend one of the workshops with Victoria Christopher Murray and Eric Jerome Dickey. They have over 50 books between them and it was very interesting to learn about their process. I’ll post (and Periscope) more about that later.After the first day of the conference, me and my sisters headed downtown to the Sun Dial Restaurant & Bar. No pics of me, although I did Periscope. I was a sweaty hot mess! 72 floors up is HIGH! I think I may have had a minor panic attack. Smh…But why weren’t either one of my sisters afraid tho? Just me with my crazy self.Day 2. I’m tired as all get out from my late night shenanigans, but still ready for the day ahead! Can you tell how red my eyes were?Me and fellow author Melinda Michelle trying to get our selfie together. We’ve been cyber friends for months, and it was great to finally meet in person. Can’t wait ’til I meet the rest of y’all too. 🙂My A 1 since day 1. Sista C.J. was a great assistant and totally redeemed herself for her past slip ups!
Well, that’s all folks! If you have a love affair with books and love connecting with like minded people, I highly suggest you attend the National Book Club Conference.
Update: I had a cameo appearance in the conference video. I look like I’m having the time of my life at approximately 1:45 ish. Check it out!
Wow! Way to go, Faith! Loved your author table. Cookies is the key… must remember that. 😉 You looked so beautiful in the pics and I’m so happy you went! 😀
Fantastic! I’m so glad that you’re out there, building your brand. How inspiring! It sounds like you truly had a blast. I hope that you got lots of new readers who will be eagerly anticipating your new book. Werk!
Thanks Quanie! I’m slowly working to make connections with readers and authors in my genre. I was inspired by seeing veteran authors at the conference who have been in the game for over 20 years. It let me see that it IS possible to make a living writing and it IS possible to keep readers coming back for more. Just focus on quality and consistency and it will fall into place!
I’m so glad you enjoyed your neophyte conference experience! The pics and video seem like a super good time. So glad you were well received. And yes, food is always an attractor. Just like the opening scene of a book, you have to hook ’em and nothing does this better at a conference than food. Can’t wait to read more updates.
It was awesome Ann and I learned quite a bit! I had plenty of people stop by for a bite without buying my book, but that was ok. I know they’ll remember me and plus, I just like feeding people lol!
Ahhhhhh! I am SO excited your trip to the Book Club Conference was such a huge success. I met up with a writer friend last week, and she told me if you sell five books at an event…consider it a success. But you sold five books to two people right out the gate! And that is just all kinds of awesomeness, Faith. I’ve never been an exhibitor at a book club conference before…so I’m tucking your tips away for future reference. Again thanks so much for sharing your experience with us.
Thanks Simone! It was so much fun and I learned at lot, which I’ll share in later posts. I was pleased with the fact that I made about $300 which helped recoup some of my investment (hotel, conference registration, gas, food, etc). I know that the first few years of authordome (?) is putting in time and building a platform for an eventual return. So that’s what I’m doing and trusting God for the increase!
[…] Book Club was in the house! I fell in love with these ladies at NBCC and was thrilled to see them again. I promised to head to Jackson to be a featured author at their […]
Faith Simone 
Glad you had such a great time! The conference looks like a lot of fun! 🙂
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Thanks! I did have a lot of fun and learned quite a few things that I plan to post about over the next few weeks.
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Wow! Way to go, Faith! Loved your author table. Cookies is the key… must remember that. 😉 You looked so beautiful in the pics and I’m so happy you went! 😀
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Thanks Mrs. N! I had a great time and will definitely attend this conference again. 🙂
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Fantastic! I’m so glad that you’re out there, building your brand. How inspiring! It sounds like you truly had a blast. I hope that you got lots of new readers who will be eagerly anticipating your new book. Werk!
LikeLike
Thanks Quanie! I’m slowly working to make connections with readers and authors in my genre. I was inspired by seeing veteran authors at the conference who have been in the game for over 20 years. It let me see that it IS possible to make a living writing and it IS possible to keep readers coming back for more. Just focus on quality and consistency and it will fall into place!
LikeLike
I’m so glad you enjoyed your neophyte conference experience! The pics and video seem like a super good time. So glad you were well received. And yes, food is always an attractor. Just like the opening scene of a book, you have to hook ’em and nothing does this better at a conference than food. Can’t wait to read more updates.
LikeLike
It was awesome Ann and I learned quite a bit! I had plenty of people stop by for a bite without buying my book, but that was ok. I know they’ll remember me and plus, I just like feeding people lol!
LikeLike
Ahhhhhh! I am SO excited your trip to the Book Club Conference was such a huge success. I met up with a writer friend last week, and she told me if you sell five books at an event…consider it a success. But you sold five books to two people right out the gate! And that is just all kinds of awesomeness, Faith. I’ve never been an exhibitor at a book club conference before…so I’m tucking your tips away for future reference. Again thanks so much for sharing your experience with us.
LikeLike
Thanks Simone! It was so much fun and I learned at lot, which I’ll share in later posts. I was pleased with the fact that I made about $300 which helped recoup some of my investment (hotel, conference registration, gas, food, etc). I know that the first few years of authordome (?) is putting in time and building a platform for an eventual return. So that’s what I’m doing and trusting God for the increase!
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[…] Book Club was in the house! I fell in love with these ladies at NBCC and was thrilled to see them again. I promised to head to Jackson to be a featured author at their […]
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[…] I attended the National Book Club Conference in Atlanta I had the opportunity to sit in on an interview with two literary heavy weights in the […]
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