"I sell quite a few books at craft sales," quoth an author I met. So, Maggie Petru and Marilyn Kleiber, fellow authors from sundragonpress.com, and I set off to sell our books at a craft sale. How could we possibly fail? With three books of outstanding quality, and three efficient women as authors/sales clerks, it was a case of, to use the vernacular, "made in the shade." That tree must have died!

We loaded up the books we had ordered, our easels and visual aids, the trolley to schlep the stuff from car to assigned booth, clutched our cash boxes to our bosoms and off we went. The attendance was purported to be 5,000 people. The day was sunny and bright - and for southern Ontario in March, amazingly mild. Booth 52 and fame surely awaited the intrepid travellers.

Two of us had been at trade shows; the other was a neophyte. Not true: all three of us qualified as neophytes. Craft and Gift Sales differ markedly from trade shows. The booths directly across from us featured lawn furniture (safe from me), and handbags! Oh, dear. A surgical strike before the official opening resulted in a Christmas present being reserved. In a spirit of restraint, I had left ALL credit cards and MOST of my money at home. The money in the cash box, of course, was sacrosanct. My two companions made their own visits, and another handsome handbag wended its way to our table. But fear not. The sole holdout succumbed on day two.

There is a wonderful benefit to being a vendor at a craft sale. In the interests of research, one is required to inspect every other booth in the venue. Three other booksellers were there, too. Each stated that they had at least made expenses and more besides. We want some of their magic dust.

We sold 8 books in total. I bought 3 reference books, 2 Christmas presents, and a treat for myself. We developed excellent information on craft sales. The best part was the opportunity to enjoy our companions and develop ideas for future selling ventures!