Wow, that was fun!

The 2014 Tucson Festival of Books is over, but thankfully, there will be a TFoB 2015. They expected 240,000 and my guess is that they made their number easily. Workshops and author sessions were pretty much full to capacity and booths had crowds all day long. The culinary and children's tracks were exceptionally popular. If you have never been to one of these events, you really need to try one in your area. You'll meet a lot of great people. Book lovers are a friendly bunch.

I hope you enjoy these photos while I catch my breath and a couple waves in Pacific Beach.

Tucson Festival of Books

This is a short posting to say the Tucson festival of Books has drawn record crowds of readers and authors. All the sessions appear to be SRO, with many turned away at the door. I had an active session on Saturday and look forward to two panels todays. I also attended several other presentations and they were outstanding with lots of questions and answers.

When my wife left me thirty minutes early to see Sandra Day O'Connor’s workshop, the line was already well beyond the capacity of the auditorium. Too bad. O’Connor wrote one of my favorite Western books. Granted, it was a children’s’ book, but I believe it still qualifies as a Western. Chico tells the story of her childhood pony and how it saved her life. Great illustrations and my grandchildren love the story.

If you’re in the vicinity, come on down. You can catch me at one of my panels or at a book signing directly after the sessions.

Also, don’t miss the Western Writers of America booth. There are always some great Western writers waiting to meet you.

Springtime in the Sonoran Desert

I arrived in Arizona last night with my wife. For the next two days, we’ll be staying with friends in their home surrounded by a stunning desert landscape. There are very few landscapes prettier than the Sonoran desert in the spring. I’ve been all over the world, and except for the dunes of Namibia, I believe the Arizona desert is the most beautiful in the world.

From here, we will drive down to Tucson for the Tucson Festival of Books. I’m a panelist in three sessions: Amazon for Authors, What to Expect With Self-Publishing, and Genre Writing. There will be a lot of great authors at the event and the festival ought to be fun. If you love books, there is no better place to be this weekend.

After the festival, we go to San Diego for two weeks of thawing out. There was little snow in Nebraska this year, but I could answer my wife’s question about the temperature with the fingers of a single hand. We have quests and family visiting us, but I should have plenty of time to catch a few waves.

Before returning home to Omaha, we’ll fly to New York City for 10 ten days to see our other grandchildren. My wife said something about shopping, but I’m sure I can bribe the grandkids to distract her.

When we get home after a month, our new house will be waiting. We’ll have more boxes to unpack, pictures to hang, paraphernalia to buy, and lots of handyman tasks. Maybe we’ll stay away longer, in hope that things will just sort themselves out. Fat chance.

How do you sell lots of books?

The most frequent question I get at book events is how to sell more books. This is disconcerting because I want to talk about how to write better books. Here's the short answer to the question: you sell more books by artfully writing a good story and then selling one book at a time. Many striving authors give up when they participate in an event and sell only a few books.  Throw away all of the social media and traditional marketing advice you've ever heard, the most powerful selling tool for books is word-of-mouth. Get your book into a reader's hands and if they like it, they'll become your salesperson. Get a dozen salespeople and they'll multiply into a hundred. But there is a prerequisite—you must first write a good book. No one recommends a book that bored or annoyed them. So tell a good story ... and tell it well.

See you at the Tucson Festival of Books.

Panel Speaker at the Tucson Festival of Books

I've been invited to be a panelist at the 2014 Tucson Festival of Books, which will be held March 15 and 16. The Festival will be held on the campus of the University of Arizona.

I'm honored because this is the largest book festival in the Southwest. At the moment, I'll be on four panels, but the agenda won't be finalized until the first of the year. If you are in the vicinity—or not—you should plan on attending. 120,000 people attended last year. It's a fun event and a great opportunity to meet and hear your favorite authors. You can see who has already committed by visiting the Tucson Festival of Books website.

I hope to see you there.