Pentwater Library Program

Hanne Kelley (holding book, left of center) is turning out to be a fantastic moderator for author events. Having someone to ask questions and say nice things without the author always being the one to harp on the good qualities of one's books is priceless as far as I'm concerned.

There were about ten people at this gathering, which was a good sized group for the discussion. Not a disappointing evening at all, given the venue.

And afterwards, I was invited to Hanne's house to visit, and we got better acquainted. I think we have quite a lot in common. Fun times. (and her dog likes me too).

See previous Pentwater program

Spirit of the Woods Program and Book Sales

Last night I gave my program "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink" for our local chapter of the North Country Trail Association. There were quite a few guests there, so that was fun- to educate a lot more people about the trail.

I thought that the group was pretty well saturated with book sales, but I sold two copies of North Country Cache, so that's always a good thing.

Also, there was one ordered through Amazon this week.

I have no bookings coming up until spring, and that date is not firm yet. If you are in the Midwest and would like a great program at a reasonable cost, let me know! You can see the flyer of my offerings and prices at Books Leaving Footprints. (Click on Meet the Author, see lower left corner)

Traverse City Program and Book Sales

Tuesday evening, I spoke at the Boardman Nature Center, presenting "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." There were about 50 people there, so it was a great audience. Jokes are always better received when there is what I call a "critical mass" of audience.

I sold 6 copies of North Country Cache, one puzzle book, one devotional book, and one copy of Would You Dare?. I think I have to print more of those! But, I can do that, now that I have a good printer again.

After that high, I came home to having the college cancel my program for Wednesday evening. They want to reschedule for the spring. I think that's a good idea, actually. I just hope people didn't show up and find that there was no show.

Successful Program for Dunes Audubon

Last night I gave a brand new program, "The North Country Trail in Michigan" to the Sable Dunes Audubon. This program is the first in a series that will focus on a particular state of the NCT. They wanted a program of 30 minutes. I wasn't sure, until I gave it in front of an audience, if I had produced the right length, but it was just fine. Then they asked me questions for another 30 minutes after that!

I added video to this program. Some of the slides are the same as from my longer program about the whole trail, but I want each program to be fairly unique, so that people won't think that if they've seen one they've seen them all. I had a video of my friends and I singing "The Happy Wanderer" from my final hike in August of last year. I took the sound track from that and added video clips of nature scenes that I've shot along the trail over the last couple of years, since I went digital. I want to tweak it a little more, but it isn't too bad for a first effort.

Using such a familiar song had just the opposite effect from what I expected. I thought it would be trite and people might be bored. I guess most people don't go around singing that all the time, because they were delighted, and some even sang along. Now that is audience participation!

They want me back next year to talk about local trails. That's not quite as good as a solid booking, but pretty close. I'm trying hard to work on the idea that you shouldn't leave a program without having a booking for another one, somewhere.

I had a pile of my brochures, about the programs I offer, and several of those were picked up.

There were about 35 people there, which they said was a really good turnout. I also sold one book. That's not too bad for a non-trail group, where I know that several of the members already have a copy.

Successful Program in Marquette

Marquette is a beautiful city. And they have a lot of beautiful miles of North Country Trail.

On Tuesday I hiked 8 miles with a trail group that was visiting the area. It was fun seeing some miles that I hadn't hiked for several years.

That evening about 30 people came to the Peter White Library to see "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." Most of them were already trail folks, and I hope that I was able to give them more of a vision for the whole trail. They do a great job of keeping their section in good condition.

I sold six copies of North Country Cache! I was actually surprised, because the Marquette area is where I have sold more books than any other place. I'm not complaining!

Working on New Media

This coming week is just crazy-nuts. I drive to Marquette tomorrow (7-8 hours). I'll be hiking with a group on Tuesday and giving my primary program, "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink" at the Peter White Library in the evening. On Wednesday I'll drive home.

On Thursday evening, I have to have a new media program done that focuses just on Michigan. I worked on it all afternoon. Of course, I have this new computer. So Windows Movie Maker is still free, but it's an all-new version, and I have to figure out how to do all the things that I previously understood pretty well. Oh yes, before I could do that I had to redownload my software to convert MOV files to WMV, and that turned out to be a test. I had to work really hard to recover my license number because I had archived those emails. Well, I've now noted that information somewhere else!

I'm in pretty good shape with it, but the BIG QUESTION is whether I will have work assignments from my part-time job this week. If I do, I'll almost have to do them on Thursday, leaving me no time to work more on the program. I am supposed to be given assignments on Fridays, but in practice, that doesn't always happen.

Hope I can get everything done on time!

If you want to see my program schedule, just click on the "Program Schedule" tab.

Booked another Program

I just booked another showing of "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink," for Sept 20th in Traverse City. September is turning out to be a very busy month.

Ideally for me, the programs would be spread out a bit more, but one has to take them when people want them! No real complaints of course. Income is good.

This program will be for the Grand Traverse Hikers Club, at the DNR Nature Center on Cass Road- click on the Program Schedule tab to see all my upcoming programs.

Program Scheduled in October

I'll be giving the program "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink" in Irons, Michigan on October 15. This is for the Spirit of the Woods Chapter of the NCTA Annual Meeting.

Sharing my adventures with friends is always fun, and this should be a little bit different crowd than the other local showings. If you are in north-central Michigan on that date, feel free to come. There will be a short hike, picnic dinner, short meeting, and the program-- all for free.

Book sales and signing.

Program Booking

The program on June 21 has spawned another booking on September 21 for the Academy of Lifelong Learning, an arm of the local West Shore Community College.

The goal of the The Lifetime Learning Academy is "to become the leading provider of continual learning and enrichment to adults with programs that promote growth, culture, and spiritual life through academic courses and social interaction."

I know they do a good job of publicity, so it should be a great venue.

Two Program Bookings

Just this week I confirmed two more program bookings, both in September. On the 13th, I'll be in Marquette, Michigan giving one of my two keynote talks. They haven't decided which one for sure, just yet. I'll stay overnight with a friend. In fact, I may go a day early so that I can do some hiking around Marquette. It's a beautiful place! This program will be sponsored by the North Country Trail Hikers Chapter of the North Country Trail Association.

Then I have to boogie home on the 14th, because I have a program in Pentwater, Michigan on the evening of the 15th of September. This will be a shorter presentation, "The North Country Trail in Michigan." This one came as a direct result of putting out some flyers last Tuesday night. Several people from the Sable Dunes Audubon Society were there, and they want me at one of their meetings. They chose this title because it's a shorter program, and they don't usually have hour-long presentations.

I am really pleased at the steady requests for speaking!

Program and Book Sales

The program went really well! Despite torrential rains and lots of lightning and thunder there were 50 people who showed up. The library that sponsored the program was really happy- that was a high turnout for their program series. I concur that it was a good turnout. I usually get large groups when the program is for an outdoor or hiking club, but not always so many when it's aimed at a general audience. This was also in my local area, part of the Pentwater Library summer series. I hadn't yet given this program locally, so that might have helped, although there were only about five people there that I knew.

I sold four copies of North Country Cache, and one copy of Devotions for Hikers, so that was also a great success. That's a good sales percentage for that size group.

And, one good "rule" of public speaking is that you should never leave a program without having the next one lined up. I may have pulled that off. If the man I spoke with follows through, I'll have a program in September.

I personally have difficulty pushing my books as hard as I need too. I tend to be more retiring when it comes to sales, and would like books to sell themselves. But that is totally unrealistic unless you happen to be on the NY Times Bestseller list (ha!). I think I did a pretty good job last night, for me.

Here's a piece of phenomenal news! Last week I paid off the last of what I borrowed from a couple of friends to publish North Country Cache. I still haven't paid off what I borrowed from myself, but all the money made tonight can begin to go toward that goal. Since I'll need cash for North Country Quest in the next year or two, that is a great milestone.

Getting Ready for a Program

I am giving one of my programs this evening, "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." It informs people about the trail through my own adventures on my end-to-end hike. It's also my best marketing tool for selling North Country Cache.

There are a few little tweaks I want to do for the program (nice that Power Point is so easy to work with!). I also have to redo my brochure which lists all the various programs that I can give. I now have my own digital projector, and so I need to remove the part that says I need one. I'm going to raise the price for my two keynote programs a bit too. Now that I AM the only woman to hike the entire trail, I think my credibility demands it.

Wish me lots of book sales! This is actually a local program, at one of the area libraries. I haven't given a local showing for a long time, and never of this particular program, so I'm hopeful of a good turnout.

Program and Book Sales

The week just flew by! Last Saturday I was the primary speaker at the Finger Lakes Trail Conference Spring Weekend in Cazenovia, NY. They loved the program, and learned a lot about the larger view of the North Country Trail. Over 300 miles of their trail is concurrent with the NCT.

My newest program is "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink." It's still a tiny bit too long- I need to somehow rip a few more slides out of it. Sigh.

I put out a short stack of "bump and dent" North Country Cache (those ones returned from Partners) at a reduced price, which all sold, and then also sold two more at full price. I kept some dented ones for another time.

Also sold one paper copy of Devotions for Hikers!

Program for West Michigan Ikes

This evening I gave my program, "The North Country Trail and the Kitchen Sink," at the Annual Fish and Game Dinner of the Dwight Lydell chapter of the Izaak Walton League. It was well-received, but the group was smaller than they expected.

I'm posing with Fred Eyer (treasurer) and Georgia Donovan (president). It's one of those pictures that doesn't really say much, but at least we are all smiling.

I sold one book. I was hoping for two, but for the size of the group, even one is good, particularly since this group's primary focus is fishing, not hiking.

I've been trying to apply the theory to my life that you shouldn't ever leave a program without making a contact to book another one. Didn't succeed in pulling that off tonight, but Georgia is a live wire- she might recommend me to someone else. One big problem is that my good printer died over a month ago. I hooked up my old printer, to limp along, but I'm out of business cards, and program flyers. Other things that require quality printing are low too, but I still don't have the cash to replace the good printer. It's a problem!

Hey! If you'd like to book a great program, check out my offerings at Joan Young's Program Info