Alas, I only sold a single book, and my daughter swapped a copy of The Chronicles of Luna City for another author’s book – a veteran with an account of a more than comically interesting deployment to Afghanistan. But I had a fair number of talks with other authors looking to work with Watercress Press in facilitating their next book, or a re-issue of a previous book. An ongoing complaint from them was the high cost of getting print copies, the speed of their delivery upon being ordered, the difficulty of working with someone on the other end of an 800 telephone line, or maybe even an erratic email address for a contact who might be anywhere at all, and the recalcitrance of those contacts to address problems … so, I do not think that I will adding to the stable of Watercress Press authors – but I am thinking that there is definitely a future in providing editing or formatting services, cover design, and in walking them through setting up as a teeny independent publisher with an account at LSI, (Lightening Services, International), and assisting them in managing their own account and their own books.

Frankly, LSI offers a perfectly dazzling array of options, once one has threaded the maze, which is what most writers – who only want to write! get rather daunted by. Just as there are very few writers now wanting the expensive full-service and high-quality local printing and binding which Alice so favored, and that we are on the high-end of pricing as far as POD publishing, this will offer an even more affordable option for them – and will keep the post-publication administrative load off me. Most Watercress authors do direct sales; I’m about the only one with regular payments from on-line sales of my print books through LSI/Ingram – and that because I have twelve books out there. The largest portion of my sales are through the ebook versions anyway.

We reacquainted ourselves with a handful of other writers that we met at previous events – Miss T, JC Hulsey, CM Bratton, who is organizing the San Antonio Indy Bookfest next month – but the one big success was my Edwardian walking suit with the absolutely flamboyant hat. Yes, that was eye-catching and memorable; the author at the next table to us said admiringly that I looked like Kathy Bates, playing Unsinkable Molly Brown in the movie Titanic. It was not that uncomfortable to wear, either, although getting into and out of the Montero in a narrow long skirt was a bit of a challenge. The very lightweight polyester suiting was not that hot – and the hat was skewered through my hair done up in a bun on the top of my head with one of those foot-long, needle-sharp old-fashioned hairpins. A genteel lady’s weapon of choice, so I hear tell, although I understand that a tiny, two-shot pearl-handled derringer was not entirely out of the question. I regret that my daughter didn’t take any pictures of me, although others at the event did. I really want to have some professional snaps done, as I am not one of those who naturally looks amazing in front of any old camera lense.

I am definitely going to work up some more late 19^th or early 20^th century outfits to wear as part of my author wardrobe, though. Patterns are ordered already.