Writers with Wrinkles — S5E11

The One Where Nobody Ordered the Books  |  Beth McMullen & Lisa Schmid

Lisa Schmid shares a cautionary tale from the Sacramento Book Festival, where a series of logistical failures turned what should have been an exciting milestone — her first book festival — into a comedy of errors. A week before the event she discovered the bookseller had never ordered any books, resulting in last-minute scrambling, one copy secured, and Lisa packing 20 of her own into her son’s little blue racing-sticker suitcase. She then had to park seven blocks away and roll it through the crowds just to get in the door.

Things unraveled further once inside. The bookseller had decided to leave at 2:30 PM and cancelled the signing — despite the venue being packed well past 4:00. When Lisa went to address it, the bookseller turned it around on her. After wandering the convention center looking for somewhere to store her books, a co-director pointed her to Avid Reader Books (the local Davis indie), who shelved her titles and held her bag on the spot. After the panel, a young girl showed up in tears to buy a book and found the bookseller already packed and gone. Lisa eventually rolled her unsold copies back across the parking lot alone. “If it was a movie,” she said, “it would’ve faded to black.”

The takeaway from both hosts: never assume logistics are handled — confirm book orders, ask who’s responsible for what, and follow up all the way through. Beth admitted she’s largely stopped accepting event invitations after too many similar experiences. On a positive note, Lisa previews an upcoming signing at Old Haunts Bookshop in Granite Bay — a model of how it should be done. Next week: guest Kolby Sharp, booked as a “palate cleanse” and described as a breath of fresh air for book lovers.

Key Takeaways

•       Confirm your books have been ordered — don’t assume

•       Ask who’s handling logistics and follow up close to the event

•       Bring your own copies as backup if you can

•       Check the organizer’s track record before you commit

•       One person’s decision can have a major ripple effect on authors, organizers, and readers

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