My first Book Expo Lisa Marbly-Warir 2/26/2017 Where to start? Technically my first expo was a few months ago (July 2016) to be exact. I never bothered sharing that experience, because-- a) It wasn’t a book expo/fair so my book sales were dismal b) It was a horrendous day for reasons I won’t post and c) It was a glorious sunny day the whole day until I had to pack everything into my car to head to the expo and then it decided to rain down in buckets—that added to the already horrible day. Awful, just awful…I no longer have a relaxer, so my pretty curls were ruined; it was also hot and humid. The only plus—it was a first-time experience getting in front of people with my books and figuring out what works and what doesn’t work at a vendor fair. Detroit Book City Expo 2017 What an amazing experience and it totally made up for the fiasco which was last year. Unlike the previous one, I only had about 2 weeks to plan. The reason I got in so late was because someone cancelled. I ordered my books, bookmarks, stickers and prayed that they would come in time (they did) See pictures below I purchased candy (chocolates) and everything else needed for such an event. Side note-I think for my next expo/fair I won’t do chocolate. I find most adults pass on the candy, but of course children eye the tasty goodness with the eyes of a hawk. One of the authors I met at the expo said she’d done hand sanitizers one year and they went over very well. That’s the good thing about these events, you get to meet great people, slyly get pointers and possibly connect for later projects. The event—I got there early with my friend, Dora who helped. She was very helpful and gave me moral support. I laid out my books, etc. and watched the parade of people pass through. I got more sales than I anticipated and got some sign-ups for my email list. Pluses all around. One bonus I didn’t expect was #Jesse Jackson showed up. He of course was immediately swarmed by people and left almost as soon as he stepped foot into the venue. I managed to get a picture, blurry, but a picture none-the-less. And it was neat to see him in person. What I did right—bookmarks, postcards, 11x17 size posters of my books. Greeted the readers with a smile and engaged them in conversation-not in a pushy, sale-sy kind of way—just a little schmoozing. What I did wrong—though wrong is subjective. I’m pretty content with how everything turned out. However, I saw another author taking pictures with everyone who purchased a book from her. That’s smart, something to post on your website or Facebook page with their permission of course. Not having enough change. Customers only wanted to give $20 bills. Next time I will have all singles. I could have lost a couple of customers who only had larger bills. Thankfully, Dora was there and bailed me out twice. She had the presence of mind to have singles. I didn’t have a large banner. That will be my first priority for my next showing. I had bags, but next time—some bags with my logo with a handle. Some people were struggling to find places to put their purchases. www.shimmergirlbooks.weebly.com Twitter @lwarir Blurry picture of Jesse Jackson
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In honor of #Black History month February, 2017 excerpt from A Johnson Family Saga—Love that transcends all (complete Destinee series) also found in Two Become One which is part 2 of the series. By Lisa Marbly-Warir Even the Johnson Family left their mark in their own enclave of the world. as told by Destinee Jones-Johnson …When the party was over, nice as it was, I knew some of the women would still hold their old elitist attitudes towards me, and my mother-in-law was blissfully ignorant of it. She, like most of the women there, lived in her own bubble. They related only to each other for the most part and never took into consideration the feelings and life experiences of women from other cities; especially if those cities were poor or didn’t have the same wealth. I never understood that, but I wasn’t from Langston either. It was just innately in them. Being married to Edward was wonderful; he was my buffer and a lot of the ugliness never reached me because of him and even his parents. Langstonites weren’t keen on becoming ostracized for messing with The Johnsons—they were one of the first families of Langston. Edward’s great-grandfather, founded Langston with the help of other well-to-do Blacks of his time; a time when Blacks were relegated to certain areas of the country and terrorized simply for being. They wanted a place to differentiate between themselves and less fortunate Blacks. Edward sat down with me one evening and went over old photos of his grandparents and great-grand’s. One thing for certain was that the Johnson men had strong genes, the same eyes and that beautifully-shaped mouth. He told me the story that was passed down to him about how his great-grandfather founded the city with about six other families and it grew from there. They were blessed to survive during a time when certain societal conditions that was beyond their control could have destroyed anything positive and good concerning Black people. Four generations later, the community was still thriving and I was blessed to be a part of it… And because of the trials and tribulations the Johnson’s ancestors went through made Edward Sr. come down especially hard on his son, Edward Jr. Often reminding him of the great strides his family and Black people in general went through to be where they are today. To read more please download a copy today. http://amzn.to/2lwRAmF By Lisa Marbly-Warir ***UPDATE*** it was recently announced that Rachel Lindsay will be the next, but, first Black Bachelorette. 2/7/2017 I’m going to be honest I really don’t have a dog in this fight, but the subject came up on another social media site and I wanted to chime in. I only watched one season of The Bachelor and that was because there was a prince (I believe it was season 9) so of course I’m thinking a prince, castles and dragons, etc. Most little girls dream of that whole scenario. And of course they would, since girlhood we have been indoctrinated with fairy tales of the strong handsome prince and the fair princess. I’ve discussed this before. Click link below. #http://lisamarbly-warirauthorpage.weebly.com/get-it-girl-blog/black-women-love-romancetoo I know some women get up in arms about telling little girls about fairy tales. We know the reality of relationships and they’re not all what we see in the movies. But, I’m a firm believer of letting little girls have their dreams. That all said, in regards to a Black bachelorette—I’m in agreement with Wells Adams. Perhaps that is one reason why The Bachelor/Bachelorette never really appealed to me. Wells Adams Bachelor Show Racism Black Bachelorette I might have mentioned once; why don’t they, or why won’t they do a #Black bachelor or #Black bachelorette? And I quickly came to my senses. With the racial climate in America there isn’t an easy cut-and-dry solution for this. Many things have to be taken into consideration—because it goes much deeper than just black and white, although race is but one reason.
#Blackbachelorette #Blacklove #Blackwomen www.shimmergirlbooks.weebly.com Website with blog www.lisamarbly-warirauthorpage.weebly.com Twitter @Lwarir Destinee: A Romance Novella Facebook |