Arts and Crafts Fairs

My friend Mary and I are entering several arts and crafts fairs this summer and fall.  It seems like the thing to do in order to 'get my name out there' and sell some books.  These events are billed as open for artists of all types, etc, but many won't take writers.  I find that very odd.  Isn't a mental creation of an entire book -- story, characters, setting -- as creative (if not more) than stringing beads onto a piece of fishing line, or throwing a pot?  I found a few shows listed that allow books but some of these shows stipulate in their full page of rules that the items for sale be handmade and not mass produced.  Usually an email to the event's coordinator will overrule that rule, but there are still fairs that won't bend on that point.  Amazing.  Didn't I create the book as much as a jeweler created a necklace?  Just because I have several copies of it printed shouldn't take away from my creation.  Well, I'm old enough to know you can't change some people's minds, but it still makes me shake my head at the exclusiveness of the art world.  Or should that be blindness....

Mary and I will be sharing a booth at two such events -- billed, I believe, as holiday boutiques.  One is in November at the Sunset Hills-Crestwood fair held at the Lindbergh high school, and the other in October at the JFK school in Manchester, MO.  Mary will be selling her pen-and-ink cards in addition to her computer art cards.  I'll have the full assortment of books and the companion pieces of 2011 calendar, mugs, tote bags, etc.  I've also got something new and, I think, exciting, but I won't broadcast it here.  (here's a hint, on a par with the code/cypher I've left for my older nephew to work out...)  You'll have to pop by the booth or one of my talks to find out!  First time I've done a booth at a boutique/fair, so I have no idea what to expect.  Still, it's a nice time to enjoy a brown bag lunch and chat with Mary.

I should know within two weeks where I stand with the Taylor & Graham books.  My lawyer heard back from the publisher and he's crafting a response.  No wonder trials take so long -- this little exchange of letters has already taken more than a month.  So I still don't know the status of the T&G novels.  If you've any qualms about future purchases, stock up as I have!