WOTS Debrief

Hello Dreamers.

I had a grande time at WOTS! Over the weekend I was able to sell 8 books and an embroidered patch. While not quite enough to pay for the table, its still a better outcome than at Ignite by Books. I also got to talk to readers and hand out business cards. All and all, a great time.

As with WOTS there were lessons to be learned and some interesting trends that popped up.

The Book that Sold the Most Is...

Whispers of the Abyss. Yeah, I know, people heard 'Tentacle sex' and were all like "Yes please!" 4 of the books sold were Whispers of the Abyss - not counting the copy I bartered to one of my tentmates for one of their books. Perhaps Lovecraftian Erotica has its place?

I also had this poster on display. Its Toronto, I'll be fine!

It would be worth noting that 1 of the purchases and the barter were from men.

Though I did observe that those interested in Quantum Songstress (the 3 copies sold) tend to be older. Perhaps fear of technology had then thinking of Cyberpunk and technology wrecking havoc on society. Course, describing to elderly folk what Augmented Reality was proved challenging.

There were Some Really Cool People

Even if not going past my tent there were some neat people.

I had my own table this time, however I shared a tent with 3 other vendors. To my left a laid-off animator/illustrator with his only sci-fi novel and a truckton of concept art. My right a horror author - the guy that wrote Sacrifice of the Sister's Lot and one other horror anthology of short stories he tried to get published. Behind me a 16 year old girl selling a book that she wrote and illustrated herself with her family supporting her.

Across from my table in another tent was a publishing house that specialised in Filipino authors and artists - that was where I found the 2 graphic novels from the haul video (yes, even the monster porn). Some of their people were really interested in Whispers of the Abyss.

In walking around I also found a lot of other indie authors with their own books, ideas - many of which wouldn't get past an agent for a traditional publisher. I also saw smaller publishers with different specialities. Some in specific, typically underrepresented minorities, other in certain genres.

Of course, Toronto SFF Writers also had a table at the event. A bunch of them pooled their funds and split a table. Why didn't I do that? Simple: by the time the offer was made for table splitting I already bought my table.

It wasn't without drama.

The police got called on Saturday. Apparently a vendor pushed his table into the middle of the walkway, out of his tent, and picked a fight with a guy dressed as a demon-furry.

Toronto, amirite?

I had some drama myself. On the Sunday some dude came up to the table, took a copy of Champion of Seasons, and started walking away. Am I being shoplifted? Was an immediate thought as I, and one of my tentmates, followed him with our eyes. Caught, the dude throws the book onto my tentmate's table and mutters "Fucking lesbians."

Bigoted shitbag.

"I would have chased him down, don't worry." The tentmate said once we were over the shock of it.

Overall

Other notes, like no one was interested in the merch (having only sold one merch item) and no one was interested in the merch giveaway for the mailing list. I did have one person sign up.

Hi new person!

I would totally do this again next year, alongside Ignite, and likely the Author Market in Barrie.

Now, wish me luck at CanCon Ottawa!