Insights from summer book tour 2019 July-August

By Emma Palova

Lowell, MI – Short like a summer romance, the book tour started in Muskegon with the Lakeshore Art Festival, where I officially launched my new book 2 “Secrets” from the Shifting Sands Short Stories series.

It was my first time at the festival in Muskegon, and I was impressed by its magnitude. Two busy days brought many surprises like the guy who asked me to sell my book to him in two minutes. I had the marketing pitch ready, and I did sell him the first book faster than he expected. Then came a lady with a cart who had to have a book from each Michigan author. There was only a little time left to network with other authors. Thank you Diane for buying our books.

MichiganAuthors are sweeping the shores of the Great Lakes from Lake Michigan to Lake Superior and Lake Huron in a new wave of renaissance in literature.

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But I did manage to connect with authors Jules Nelson of “Shadows”, authors Andrew Smith, Jean Darla Davis and Ludington author Joan H. Young. We filled two big tents, and people did support #MichiganAuthors. The cost was $100 for two days.

Somebody asked me if my book was the original book “Shifting Sands” about a dune in Muskegon. And then better yet, my daughter Emma discovered the Pigeon Hill brewery in Muskegon with their Shifting Sands IPA.

The next gig was in my hometown of Lowell during the annual Riverwalk Festival. We were in the Riverwalk parade at noon, and in the afternoon, I was at LowellArts signing my books during Livin’ is Easy exhibit. I had a big yellow and black painting of a horse behind my back that matched my yellow dress.

Somewhere in between was The WGVU Morning Show with Shelley Irwin and a podcast with America’s Community Voices Network with hosts Ronald & Donald Brookins. I will be reading passages from my new book “Secrets” on their podcast show.

Books Alive! In Ludington was a Downtown Development Authority (DDA) event, and it was incredibly hot. There could have been 14 authors bearing the heat. People were not buying a lot of books, more like ice cream and pop, while loading up on free stuff.

Traverse City, organized by Dan McDougall was very cool, since it was inside a mall. The traffic was good, and I made new friends with fellow Michigan authors; I also stopped at the Horizon Books in downtown Traverse City. My book is available at the bookstore now.

Then again, I joined the horse on the canvas inside LowellArts on Aug. 10.

But definitely the best event was in Paradise located in Upper Peninsula, Michigan. Paradise is a tiny village nestling on the shores of Lake Superior on Whitefish Bay. The Wild Blueberry Festival with Arts & Crafts show lasted three days. People flocked to it from all over Michigan and Canada. It’s about an hour drive from the Mackinac Bridge.

Our booth was located on a dune above the lake. Priceless. We could see Canada on the other shore. The traffic was busy all three days. I had bratwurst with wild blueberries, and a great little helper Ella, 8. She even got commission from book sales. Ella learned the marketing pitch and worked it all Saturday long.

“The main story is historical fiction from Belding, MI when it was known as the Silk City Capital of the world,” she said.

The book cover with the optical illusion of the “Face of Gossip” attracted a lot of attention. Other people were fascinated my own immigration story from former communist Czechoslovakia, when I showed than an article about my naturalization.

“You did the right way,” the lady said.

We were stationed next to Redfish Artworks booth of creative and original art, by Bill and Angela Kuhn. On second day, I knew their pitch for their arrowheads, just like they knew mine for the book.

“I am a flint knapper,” Bill would repeat 100 times a day.

We all had a blast and sold a lot of products.

“Are you coming back next year?” Bill asked.

“Yes, we loved it.”

We were only a short drive from Tahquamenon Falls surrounded by beautiful nature from all sides. There were four other authors at the festival, and people were buying books.

I would consider both Belding parades, where the main story “Silk Nora” is set as the last summer events on my tour. Both parades started by the former Ballou Basket Works Factory and proceeded through downtown with hundreds of spectators.

Labor Day weekend is known as Belding’s homecoming.

Thank you, Belding, for a great homecoming.

Watch for a post about my upcoming fall book tour.

I will be at the Fallasburg Village Bazaar on Sept. 14 and Sept. 15 from noon to 5 p.m. Come for a book and an authograph. There will be plenty of vendors to find your treasure.

Check out the Kindle Countdown deal starting on Sept. 10 through Sept. 15 on Amazon at:

https://www.amazon.com/author/emmapalova

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