Event Recap: Impact Book Festival 2025
TRANSPARENCYEVENT RECAP
Alright! The first ever Impact Book Festival is behind me, so let's dish!
The brainchild of author Matt Weber, this was a roughly 50 author event held in Fultondale. The Impact Arts Council was the major force behind this, and all in all it was a great time!
This was an event that ended up being less sales focused for me, and more interaction focused. I got to hang out with authors Scott Blasingame and Rich Partain, who I have shared space/will be sharing space with, and I love those guys. I also got to spend a good long time talking with a few authors who are early in their journey, giving them some advice and the like.
I also got to make connections with a few folks that were new to me, which is always nice. I am betting I will be seeing more of them around the event circuit in the future. Networking bay-bay! It's what it's all about!
I have a few small thoughts.
I had an editor come up and tell me she saw me speak at the Alabama Writers Workshop. In it I gave the advice of 'just ask' like I am prone to doing to anyone who will listen. She took that to heart, reached out to that organization, and was a presenter there this year! How rad is that!?
I also met an author there (who had been edited by the above editor) who saw me speak at the Atlanta Self Publishing Conference and was clearly drunk at it, because of how complementary she was. But it was still nice to hear.
I thought my spot was going to be amazing. You can see it below. Because I was the first author there that morning, I got asked if I wanted that spot. A spot where I could spread out as much as I wanted? Yes please. But, due to the vagaries of foot traffic I actually got a bit less foot traffic than you would think, which hurt me a little.
I need to make a 'you like my games? want to hack them' sort of one sheet for game designers I meet.
I had one panel/quasi-workshop.
My Life As A Creative
I was asked to give a talk about my journey as a creative. I wasn't given any specifics really, so I decided to start with a history of how I came to be where I am currently, starting back with my earliest attempts at writing, but focusing on the past ten years.
I then opened it up to questions, got a few good ones, and then filled time with (hopefully) amusing anecdotes of how I have fucked up in the past, and included my standard advice of 'just ask.'
I had no idea what to expect for this event sales-wise, it being a first year. All in all, while sales weren't gangbusters, considering had no real expenses (my booth was comped since I was a guest speaker) I am happy with it. The crowd was more romance focused, which tends to bode poorly for me, but I ended up alright. Largely due to about half my sales coming from folks who recognized me from other events. It feels good to be getting more well known. Anywho, here are the numbers:
Daily Sales Numbers:
Saturday: $225.00
Total Sales Numbers By Item:
Bringing Home The Rain: 6
Omnibus 1: 2
Omnibus 2: 6
Southern Saudade: 4
Create Your Way To Freedom: 0
Zines: 3
Ultimate Bundle: 0
Total:
$225.00
Fixed Expenses:
Badge: 0.00
Booth Fee - 0.00
Parking - 0.00
Hotel - $0.00
Other - 0.00
Total - $0.00
Grand Total Profit: $225.00
