Tucson Festival of Books - Review

March 15-16 has come and gone. I learned quickly that many people have their favorites and unfortunately, I was not one of them. However, let's start from the beginning.

You have to get there a day prior to set up and ensure you have a tarp to cover your wares. I was fortunate enough to acquire a tarp from a lovely lady and was able to safeguard my books.

Let's get the negative over with:

It's never fun to search for parking. If you are on schedule, for example, from 1pm-4:30, you would have to find parking NLT 8:30 or you would not get it. Lots would be full, designated car parks full, and you would have to park past 6th street. Speaking of which, Indie Authors are segregated from Authors. Yes, you read that correctly. Not only do authors get their own parking garage, they got their own tent. I know good and darn well I put in as much effort as any other author to only be treated less than second best. Authors/Indie Authors both equal to Authors. Period. I'm adamant about that because we could definitely learn from each other in the publishing process or editing or anything thing else that would improve our experience with writing.

Taxes. Another segregation. Indie authors had to pay back to TFOB 8.7% tax. I asked the sweet volunteer hovering in our tent the reason. She explained it's so that the TFOB will know the success of Indie Authors and to open more to Indie Authors in the future. Not necessarily verbatim but I call B.S. Let me raise that flag high because just the submissions alone would have told TFOB if they needed to open to more Indie Authors in the future.

Communication. The first email I received was to be a presenter. The reason? Because I had great reviews on my books. As time went on, that notion faded and I finally received my information stating that I'm in an area with 3 other people. I guess someone else had higher reviews then I did.

Tent space. If you have an association tent, only the Authors during their time should be there. I sat in front of the tent because everyone thought they could come visit inside the tent. There is no room for all that shenanigans.

Ok, bringing in the good stuff:

I did end up meeting a lot of lovely people, fellow authors. Some more chatty then others. Some first timers to the TFOB, some seasoned. What I did enjoy the most when people actually wanted to talk with me about my venture into writing. And, what was the editing process like?

I was able to walk along the stretch of white tents on both sides of University Drive and found publishers, the Arizona Authors Association, and few others of me wanting to gain any information. I wanted to figure out why TFOB deemed me an Indie Author rather than a regular Author. They can't put that on me. I worked hard. Just because a publisher didn't pick me or I don't have an agent, doesn't make me less than any other author.

So, to finish off my post - if you want to write, don't let anything or anyone discourage you. You wrote it, got it edited, graphics the way you want it, and ready for selling - guess what? You're an author!