Hello, Everyone! This past weekend I attended the famous Miami Book Fair and it was an awesome time! It’s nice to have something positive to report instead of all the hurricane junk. And a big welcome to my new subscribers! Happy to have you aboard!

About a week or so before the fair I finally had to put down my tools and get ready to be a writer again. I’d gotten all of the books damaged by the storm dried out and sorted, and then signed and packaged all of the new books I’d ordered.

The weather was cool and often breezy, and I missed my usual space suit that had been lost in the storm, but at least we didn’t sweat in the tents. A lot of students came out on Friday on field trips and the foot traffic was brisk all day. They loved the free books I was offering and I gave out almost all of the damaged books I had in one day, including other non-science fiction titles. I also sold quite a few new ones. I was glad to give the damaged ones away for free. Much better than putting them in a dumpster! And it was a good way to introduce my work to a lot of potential new fans!

This was my first book fair and I learned some new tactics. Whereas most people at the science fiction conventions love science fiction, only a certain percentage are readers. At a book fair, everyone is a reader! I couldn’t expect that everyone would love science fiction, but a lot of them did, and many more than expected were willing to give it a try. Next time I go to a book fair, I plan to bring examples of all of my titles (11 in all). I’ll have something for everybody!

As usual, I made some new friends at the book fair. This is Paula and she wrote a true story of a child soldier in South America. (I traded a Mariner Valley for a copy.) I occasionally manned her table for her and even sold a copy for her. It was a fun weekend!

Another friend I made was a writer from Jamaica named Suraiya. She is only 17 years old and already has three novels written! I traded a M.V. for one of hers too!

Toward the end of the fair on Sunday night, as things began to slow down, I was able to do a little shopping for myself. My son got me the Patrick O’Brian novel as I’d lost my collection in the flood. I found the others later. Naval history, of course, but it feeds my brain for my stories!

In the end, I sold well over 100 new books, gave away about 260 damaged ones, and gave out uncounted numbers of stickers and bookmarks! And despite forgetting to tell people about the free Kindle download weekend (the placard was lost in the storm and I never thought about it), there were many who downloaded AlCent Sagas Book One on Kindle. It was a great weekend, and certainly a bright spot in an otherwise bleary past few months.

I guess that’s all for now. I plan to get back to my regular posts about my writing very soon. Until then, Happy Thanksgiving, and happy reading! – James

Novels by James Crawford (available in print, eBook, and audio book) –

Mariner Valley – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0141N9UXO

Seed of Aldebaran – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08SHXTRMP

AlCent Sagas Book One: Formation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CQ5C3TQT

AlCent Sagas Book Two: Revelation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2FRH6Q8

AlCent Sagas Book Three: Investigation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D5SBFYMW

AlCent Sagas Book Four: Desperation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8767LHL

AlCent Sagas Book Five: Confrontation – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D9PPTX6G

A Noble Paradise – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QG6LZ10

Cover artist Wojtek Kapusta – https://www.artstation.com/kapucha76

Audible narrator Lyle Blaker – https://www.acx.com/narrator?p=AXZPXFQRN07M3