Patrick Ball: Bard Extraordinaire

A few years ago, my husband and I sat captivated during a performance by a gentleman who, from all appearances, had been transported to our century from some ancient, distant land. Through the simplicity of story, song, and harp, I soon felt myself sitting not in a plush seat in Sandpoint's venerable Panida Theater, but on a mossy stump in a mythical incarnation of of Sherwood Forest, enchanted as a true bard wove his literary and musical spell around me.

What is a bard? Shakespeare is often called a bard, even "the" Bard. Wondering if bard it is just another word for poet, I grabbed my trusty Webster's and read that a bard is "a tribal poet-singer skilled in composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds" or "a composer, singer, or declaimer of epic or heroic verse."

In other words, a bard is a poet on steroids. The world needs more bards.

That definition fits performance artist Patrick Ball who, to my great delight, will be making a return engagement at the Panida tomorrow evening, November 16, at 8 p.m. The Bonner County Daily Bee describes it thusly: "In playing the ancient, legendary brass-strung harp of Ireland with its crystalline, bell-like voice, and in performing marvelous tales of wit and enchantment, [Ball] not only brings new life to two cherished traditions, but blends them in concert to create a richly theatrical and hauntingly beautiful performance."


Following in the tradition of the wandering harpists and balladeers of Ireland, Ball tours extensively and has recorded nine instrumental and three spoken word albums, many of which have won awards in both the music and spoken-word categories. 


Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for students, and are available at Eve's Leaves and Eichardt's as well as the theater. For more information, visit the Panida website.

Selling Your Books at a Booth

While doing one my favorite things, research, I came across two informative articles on selling your books at booths by Belea T. Keeney. I found them so informative that I asked permission to encapsulate them for you with notes on where to read the complete articles.

“Selling books directly tor readers via an event is a very personal, hands-on approach to marketing your titles,” begins Keeney's two part article on twenty great tips on how to effectively market your books.

1-2. Evaluate your genre and market, then decide which events will be right for you and your book. Keeney says to begin with local and regional events to get a feel for your market and if you are pitching your book to the right audience. She gives several good examples of potential local venues emphasizing the area places: street fairs, Saturday markets, and local groups that may have an interest in your theme. She suggests trying genre specific places such as garden clubs if you mystery is set in a garden or state fairs or horse shows if your novel is about horses.

3-4. Start small and local to test the market and get a sense of cost vs. return. Local events will have a lower booth cost rental fee and you will not incur large travel expenses. You may be able to obtain a write-up in the local or neighborhood newspaper, newsletters of groups to which you belong or special interest newsletters that relate to your subject. You may be able to rent a booth for one to three days. Large festivals often will not let you break down your booth early. There are always your local bookstores that will advertise your book signing free on their web sites. Think about pairing with another local author to draw more people and share expenses.

5. Register [to rent space] online or by mail. Keeney recommends you read the information forms carefully and do exactly as the form says. Keep hard copies of all correspondence and receipts and bring them with you the day(s) of the event.

6. If you are lucky enough to have multiple [book] titles, decide which one(s) you will take with you and how many copies. Place an order with your publisher. If your publisher offers other authors’ books on somewhat the same subject, take a few of those along to draw in more people.

7-8-9. The week before the event, confirm your vendor status by contacting the festival organizers, write up your packing list, and recruit a helper. Keeney has a number of suggestions of items to draw people into your booth like posters, bookmarks, banners, a pen for autographs, as well as items for your personal comfort. The day before pack up your items using your packing list. Most events provide an unloading area. Even if you hire help or ask a friend to help for an hour, your task will be easier and safer.

10. How many books can you sell? She says that zero-thirty has been her experience with an attendance of less than 10,000. She lists many other ideas to try if you have only one title.

Part ii: Working the Booth

1-2, 4. Make contact and break the ice. The first goal is to get people to stop. Stand up and put on a smile. Ask open-ended questions such as, “What do you like to read?” Shyness is a problem for some people. If this a trouble area for you, Kenney suggests starting out by greeting every tenth person, then every fifth, and then every person who walks by. Many will not stop so do not take it personally. Practice not being “in their faces.” Stand slightly away from the front and do not crowd them when they are browsing.

3, 5, 7. Steer them towards your books! Once you know their interests, put a book in their hands. After you give them a one sentence synopsis of the book, "watch their eyes.” Promote your co-booth vendor's books a little too. It good business to make friends with the vendors next to you. You never know where a kind word, compliment or helping hand will lead. If you do not make a sale, do not worry. You have made contact and given them your information on a bookmark, flyer or mini poster of your book cover, and your web site information. It is a beginning.

8. Eat away from the booth or at least out of sight. Hide your food and take small bites that you can swallow quickly if a passer-by shows interest. Eat at the back of the booth if you cannot leave the site unattended.

9. Make notes about who buys the book. Write down what you know about the person who bought your book: age, gender, children, and their interests. If you have autographed books, try to remember their names and thank them in your blog (make sure you tuck a book mark with blog address and all titles of your books printed on it into the signed book.) Keeney says this is good way to get a feel for your market and if you are marketing to the right audience in the right way.

10. Try to enjoy yourself! One excellent use of time Belea Keeny recommends is to make observations and time spent at the booth work for you. Use a notebook to quickly jot down ideas, conversation topics, snatches of dialogue, and descriptions of people who walk by or buy your book to use in future stories.

This has been synopsis of a wonderful two-part article by Belea T. Keeney, Author. Editor. Wordsmith. She has written seven books. Her URL is www.beleatkeeney.com. These articles can be seen in their complete form at http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/booth1.shtml and http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/booth2.shtml. Permission was given by the author to give this synopsis. Many thanks for Belea Keeney's generosity in sharing her wisdom with other writers!

At Least I Tried

Since the Ironman Competition first came to Coeur d' Alene, we have seen our town transformed into a training ground and then a race course for outstanding athletes. This year we saw 2,300 triathletes enter the cool waters of Lake Coeur d' Alene. It turned out to be a day for the record books. Craig Alexander of Australia did the course in 8 hours, 19 minutes and 48 seconds. Julie Dibens of Great Britain came in at 9 hours, 16 minutes and 40 seconds. People were still on the course when I went to sleep at ten p.m. My thoughts and prayers with them knowing they still had miles to go.

The morning after race day, we woke up to a power outage which put me on the hunt for a cup of coffee. Realizing that the Coeur d' Alene Resort has a back up generator, I set off to accomplish my mission. In the lobby, not only did I get my latte, I got to see and overhear conversations regarding the race.

“Don't be so hard on yourself,” one wife said. “You gave it your all.”

“Well at least I tried,” the man replied as he limped off in the direction of the dock.

During the past few years, as I beaver away at my memoir, much thought has been taken up with the theme of competition. Being that our family business had to do with professional sports, namely hockey, the topic of winning and losing was on our lips at all times. The city of my youth grew to be passionately attached to the Toronto Maple Leafs and they expected them to win the much coveted Stanley Cup. We did not fail. In the summer, we were in the “off” season, out of the city, up at the lake and life was much slower and a great deal more relaxing.

Against my will one summer, I was entered in a diving contest at a regatta hosted by our island dwelling neighbors. Swimming races and events for all ages were set up throughout the day. When I failed to win the swim, I was entered into the diving contest. My sister won her age group, hands down. While I insisted that I did not know one of the compulsory dives, all my protests were silenced. So, not knowing what else to do, I invented something. Jump up, land on board in a seated position and then sort of plop, head first into the lake. The crowd roared, not with the thrill of brilliant competition, but with laughter and my father was furious. Thoroughly dressed down and called a disgrace when we returned, I decided that I hated competition altogether. In my adult life, I have shied away from everything. Writing contests are no exception. While I consider this a personal failing which I plan to conquer someday, a game of 'go fish' with a young child is about all I can muster.

Today I looked up quotes pertaining to winning and losing and I found something that could well change my life.

“I can accept failure, but I can't accept not trying.” Michael Jordan.

I was at the finish line for the Ironman race when the winner came down the main street of our town with no one on his heels. I cheered, and threw my hands in the air. To the strangers on either side of me, I cried, “Can you imagine what it takes to win this race?”

When you walk in any book store and see the array of volumes, it is easy to think, how on earth can I hope to compete with all of this? Currently, I am rereading Les Miserables. Who am I compared to Victor Hugo? All these thoughts plague any writer and fear can be overpowering. Yet, I could never accept not trying to write novels, or not trying to be an author. I can accept not finding an agent, or getting turned down by publishers, but I could never accept the flow of words drying up altogether.

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased. “Ralph Waldo Emmerson”

Let's Do the Time Warp Again!

It's a great week to be a writer or reader of history. If you often find yourself writing, researching, or even just wondering about life in earlier eras, check out these literary blasts from the past:

Paul Lindholdt, author of In Earshot of Water, will visit the East Bonner County Library in Sandpoint on Saturday, June 18 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Local history buffs especially will be intrigued by In Earshot of Water, which interweaves passages from the journals of Lewis and Clark, the log of Captain James Cook, the novelized memoir of Theodore Winthrop, and Bureau of Reclamation records to tell ecological and personal histories of the region.

Also on Saturday, local author V. Edward Bates will present his book In Search of Spirit: A Sioux Family Memoir at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane at 12:30 p.m., following the unveiling of a painting by internationally acclaimed artist Marianne Gendron. The painting depicts a young Native American woman in traditional dress who is V. Edward Bates' mother.

On Tuesday, June 21 at 7 p.m. at Auntie's in Spokane, John C. Jackson, author of five books on the history of the Pacific Northwest, will present his latest, By Honor and Right, which describes the life of Captain John C. McClallen, who came to the Northwest after the Lewis and Clark Expedition and was instrumental in keeping the British from claiming territory below the 49th parallel.

Another event of interest to history buffs will take place at on June 22 at Aunties Bookstore in Spokane. A presentation on the late Barbara Cochran's book, Seven Frontier Women and the Founding of Spokane Falls, will highlight the stores of "founding mothers" Carrie Adell Strahorn, physician Mary Latham, Anna Browne, Susan Glover, Jennie Cannon, Alice Ide Houghton, and Clara Gray.

So if the travails of modern life have been getting to you lately, take a dip into these historical waters. You'll get a nice little vacation from the 21st century, and who knows? You might gain a new appreciation of current technology, modern medicine, and indoor plumbing.