Today I'm celebrating reaching the end of the Menopausal Superheroes series. 10 years in the making! https://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/2024/08/iwsg-end-of-era.html #CoSoWriters

When do you invite feedback on your creative work? That's our topic for #openbook today. For me, who I ask is just as important as when. https://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/2024/08/the-role-of-feedback-in-writing-life.html #CoSoWriters

Holding my kid’s hairbow today while they did PT. What do you think? Ally Sheedy Breakfast Club makeover vibes?

So there's my 2¢--Big Box events don't have community ties and only care about their own bottom line. They can be somewhat profitable, but in the end, not worth it to me. 11/11.

I'm not going back next year. Even though this large event puts my books in front of a larger and broader audience, it was ill-managed and too hard physically for the payoff. (Bad management = poor communication before and during the event, difficulty with hall access for vendors, sudden changes in hours without notice, generally being treated like I was a nuisance instead of a valued participant) 10/?

That compared pretty favorably with other authors at the convention at a similar level in their careers. Especially when you consider that I'm not particularly good at the "grab people and make them buy" carnival barker style of sales that performs well at these events. 9/?

I worked 44 hours, between set up, selling, and breakdown across 4 days and one evening. So somewhere between $5/hour and $10/hour depending on how you count my profits. 8/?

So, $1033-$475 table cost -100ish in on-site expenses = $458 profit. (I'm not up to doing the math on much I spent buying my own books to gather stock, but generally, I pay 1/2 of cover price, so if we're folding stock costs in, I made $229. 7/?

I had what I considered a very successful event. I took in $1033, selling 70 books. My books range in price from $5 to $25 depends on which one you're buying. 6/?

Because the event is local for me and I drive an electric car and I packed my lunch and snacks, my expenses were around $100 in parking fees and emergency coffee. 5/?

The table for GalaxyCon Raleigh (10X10 booth, I think) was $1900 this year. My quarter of that was $475. That price was up 20% from the year before and it went up again this year, though not by as much. 4/?

I'm also an introvert, so these noisy, busy events with long hours are damned difficult for me. But a writer friend talked me into it, and I've done it for four years running. 3/?

I'm a traditionally published writer who works with several small presses. I would describe my career up to now is just a little higher than fledgling. Mostly, I don't pay my mortgage with a month's earnings, but there have been months when I could have. 2/?

#CoSoWriters For anyone interested in the breakdown to participate in a "big box" event like Galaxycon, here's how it went for me: 1/?

It stopped raining. So I probably only have a couple more days to enjoy my mushrooms. But check out this beautiful boy that popped up in my yard today!

After four days inside a convention center for GalaxyCon, I was in desperate need of some nature therapy. I had too much catching up to do today to get out for much of a walk. Luckily, it has rained a lot. So I didn’t even have to leave my own front yard to find all of these beautiful mushrooms.

Doing the convention thing this weekend. This is one of the big box ones, galaxy con. I’m two days in with two days to go and I cannot feel my feet. #CoSoWriters

Gotta love that "new project" energy. I started playing around with a new story today (since I've now turned in my novel!) and wrote 4100 words in a tear. I could have kept going, but I do have other responsibilities. So much fun! #CoSoWriters

Yesterday was gotcha day for our pups and we tried to get a family selfie. The result is hardly Olan Mills, but it is accurate. #dogsofcoso

Trying to keep my plants alive in this heat, so I got a tiny self-driving tractor sprinkler. Her name is Maisie. Isn’t she cute?