I love writing this September newsletter. Reason? I get to recap Printers Row Lit Fest.
This year was Long Overdue's 2nd time exhibiting. Our first trip looked like this:
2023 - Inaugural Year at Printers Row Lit Fest
Two tables. The Borchers siblings, Dennis Buss (Author/Illustrator Kate Buss's Dad), Anna Camaiti Hostert, and myself.
This year? Still had the 2 tables plus 5 new books. Even more exciting, not only was everyone listed above back for Year 2, we were also joined by T.C. Pendragon (Michigan), Adam Hersh + Sarah Penter (Tampa, Florida), and Kate Buss (Minnesota). Kate brought her two kids, too. Two under 2!
But before the festival was underway, we celebrated the launch of Adam Hersh's new book, Before You Sign: A Pocket Guide to Contract Law. We kicked things off with a Friday afternoon Cubs game at Wrigley Field.
It was also the grand return of Anthony Rizzo. Standing ovation to our 2016 World Series Champion even though he's now a New York Yankee (but don't hold that against him)
Then off to Lou Malnati's for two of my favorite things: Books and deep-dish pizza.
Printers Row Lit Fest - 2024
First to arrive were the Borchers siblings (aka the Safe Landing authors). I love having the Safe Landing table. There are always new connections made with people linked to Flight 191 in some way, whether that's through family, friends, or those who remember exactly where they were on that tragic day.
People who stopped by the table experienced firsthand what I've experienced these last three years working with Kim, Jim, and Melody: their joy, positivity, extreme emphasis on family, and caring for each other. Oh, and by the way, they wrote a phenomenal book!
Tradition continues in Year 2. Kim Jockl rocking the Long Overdue fountain pen logo on the nails.
But I'd say the most exciting part of the day was when Safe Landing hit a major milestone:..
1,000th all-time copy sold!
Time to celebrate with the lucky 1,000 customer.
1,000 copies sold. And that's in just over 2 years. I want to add some perspective here. It's very hard to get official data on book sale statistics. But from the best research I could do, it looks like just 10% of books sell over 1,000 copies in their lifetime. And that number is even lower once you factor in all of the self-published books out there.
Bottom line, it's hard to sell 100 books, let alone 1,000. And to do it without a Stephen King-sized marketing budget and with a publisher who has been around for 5 years, not 55 years. It's an amazing accomplishment by Melody, Jim, and Kim.
What are some tips from their book sale success? Three come to mind.
Throw a big book launch party at the start. "Invite" people to your book. If someone sees a post on Facebook or Instagram about your book, they might like it, but life is busy. They'll move on to something else in their day. But if you've personally invited them to your book launch party, chances are they will either A) Show up or B) Can't make the party, but will buy the book.
Repetition - This might be the biggest one to highlight. Every month, every week, the authors continue to reach out to libraries, churches, and other community centers to set up book talks. Kim is even continuing to try and get a hold of Oprah and/or Reese Witherspoon. Why not!
Book clubs. Through their friends, and friends of friends, they've participated in a few book clubs where the book club reads their book and the authors show up for a meet-the-authors/Q&A.
Now that I'm thinking about it, here's a 4th: Interacting with readers. The Safe Landing authors do a great job of responding and talking with readers who reach out. Whether your book has sold 1,000 copies, 100 copies, or 10, it's great to try and build that author/reader connection -- which I know can be a little intimidating, especially for shy, more introverted writers. But I do think it's worth doing. You spent a long time dreaming up and working on your book. How cool to talk about it with someone who has entered that world you built and read the finished story?
Okay. Back to the Festival. Where were we? That's right, setting up tables. Here's the 2nd one.
And then, like a family reunion, more Long Overdue authors started to arrive.
Sun went down and the Borchers girls' dialed the energy up. Dancing at their table. Keeping the party going. I thought I might see a Borchers headstand from Melody.
Another tradition: Heading over to Jim's bar, First Draft, on Saturday night. Got my Guinness with Kim and Melody. College football games on the TVs. My team (Kansas Jayhawks) ended up losing to Illinois. But hey, let's not talk about it. Moving on!
Sunday morning, run it back. Another beautiful, sunny day. End of the day, I had a chance to chat with some of the exhibitors around us. Everyone there, from the exhibitors to the Printers Row Lit Fest staff, to the readers, to the other writers, it's a really supportive environment. Everyone's rooting for each other.
I want to especially thank everyone who stopped by and purchased a Long Overdue book. We print our books in the USA through places like Diggypod (Michigan), Pint Size Publishing (New York), and BookBaby (New Jersey). Because of that, and because we're a small press that doesn't order thousands of copies at a time, our "cost per book" is higher, which results in a higher price tag on our books. Especially our children's books. Festival attendees choosing to support our authors, support our tables, and all the other tables and tents there -- especially when there are plenty of $5-10 books out there on Amazon, just a click away -- that support means the world to. us and it creates one of my favorite weekends of the year. Long Overdue will be back next year for the 40th anniversary of the festival and hey, sign me up for the next 40 years. I'm good doing this deep into my 70s.
But you better believe I'll still be getting that pint of Guinness over at First Draft 40 years from now!
Save the date: Friday, October 11th, 5:30 PM.
We'll be doing a book signing / meet-the-author event at Bottles Up! (3164 N Broadway, Lakeview, Chicago). Stop by, enjoy some Italian wine, pickup a copy of Coming From Tuscany: The Journey of Two Families in Florence During World War II, and meet Anna Camaiti Hostert who is in town for a few months from Rome, Italy.
Safe Landing Book Talk at
First Presbyterian Church in Arlington Heights
Did I mention these Safe Landing authors are always out there taking their book show on the road?
Here are some photos from their recent stop at First Presbyterian Church, invited by Jo Ann Thompson.
Black & Caspian Cookbook is Finally Here!!
Not a pre-order. Not an "oh the books are printing soon and these are the proof copies." Nope. It's here! The first edition copies of Black & Caspian have arrived.
I tell ya, this was long overdue. Lot of hard work went into this one. Our book designer, Heather Nelson, did an absolutely incredible job. The photos are amazing. The print quality is fantastic. Can't wait for everyone to see this book and cook these meals in their homes. You can order a copy right here.
And stay tuned for our October newsletter with information on the upcoming book launch party.
Correction: Parties. We're gonna have a great time with this one.
"I liked September, but I'm thinking maybe we slow things down for October?"
- Crash, Team Dog
Best place to keep up with all things Long Overdue is a tie between our monthly newsletter and our Instagram page. If you enjoy this newsletter and know someone who might enjoy it as well, let us know, we'll make sure to add them to our subscriber list. We also got back on Facebook recently, you can follow us here.
And check out our website - Long Overdue Books. Long Overdue Books is a community for creating books. It's a place for authors (and soon-to-be-authors), readers, editors, artists, and designers to come together and move their stories from ideas to finished books.
Also, if you have any questions, ideas, stories to tell, you can reach Cal the Librarian at - library@longoverduestories.com
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