Lawyers and Pigs

After a five hour deposition (with no lunch break), I jumped into my Jeep and headed off to Ballston Spa to see about selling my wares at the country fair. Yes, along side the prized blue-ribbon pigs and juicy homemade raspberry pies, you’ll find a trade paperback titled The Last Voyage of the Cosmic Muffin. After being told I would have to exhibit all eleven days of the fair, man the booth from 11 AM to 11PM, show proof of registration to collect sales tax (my permit ends on July 15) and acquire liability insurance—in case someone gets a paper cut on one of my book’s pages, I guess—I decided it is financially and logistically impossible to peddle paperbacks in the middle of carni-ville. Besides, if it rains, I don’t have a ten by ten tent. It looked like a $650 investment. That is a lot of gas, even at $3.00 a gallon.

Still feeling like I wanted to bug someone about a venue for my book, I once again approached The Saratoga Arts Council, hosts of an upcoming art fair. I asked the director last week, but unfairly hit her with my request when she was up to her eyebrows in musicians and patrons. I managed an audience with both the director and assistant, but received no commitments. The concern is that they have never been approached with this type of request. (Come on, I am not a marketing genius. No one else ever thought of this brilliant idea?) If they honor my request, the flood gates for requests might be opened from other authors and limit the space for the visual artists (Congress Park is huge). I await an answer, and hope I get a break.

Maybe door to door? Shivers.