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Health & Fitness

You Are Cordially Invited

We invite you to attend some of our author events this Fall. Lots of great appearances coming up.

Years ago I made my first fateful trip into a bead store. If I had it to do over again.....My mom hoarded Avon. Apparently I was destined to hoard beads. I know I'm not alone in stockpiling craft supplies. Rubber stamps, fabric, yarn.....admit it, I'm not the only one.

If you go to any craft show you will see people like me who got so engrossed in their craft they desperately resort to a supposed financial way to justify getting their fix. I never worked up the nerve to approach gift stores like Dilly Dally or Lavender Thymes (Seasons on St Croix? No way!)

I am NOT saying they would have been rude to me. I am not even saying my beaded jewelry is shoddy. I am saying it takes a level of assertiveness and marketing that I wasn't up to. That is why I have huge respect for authors. Especially self published authors.

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So... I am now cordially inviting you to attend our author events this fall. We have wonderful local authors, some self published, some with national press tours, some debut works, some series. Some approach us. We approach others. One of the reasons I'm never at the store is because I'm hanging out with our dogs at home planning events on the computer. No complaints. We really appreciate these authors being willing to come in for a few hours, sign books, read , talk with customers, sharing their process and ideas.

From our point of view,trust me when I tell you we don't do this for profits. (If anyone wants to encourage the HSO to post our events, that would be nice.) Brian and I feel good about supporting the authors and for providing the chance for the community to meet them. They approached us in the way I never had the nerve with my jewelry. They are offering up their art, their passion, their hard work.

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Now Brian and I want to offer in return, an audience. PLEASE ATTEND OUR BOOK SIGNINGS!

Please share news of these events with everyone you know. If you know a teacher, encourage them to have their students come meet a writer.

David Housewright, a nationally known mystery writer from St Paul was in a few months ago. Traci and Chris Leffner made it a point to come in that night and meet him. I appreciate that so much. Brian and I worry before every event if anyone will show up.Well, I worry, Brian has never worried about anything his entire life. This is not a Hudson thing, all bookstores experience it. (We do need to improve our outreach.That is why I'm writing this.) Thank you Traci and Chris, and the lady from Friends Of The Library (Nancy?)

Signed copies of books make great gifts and keepsakes. I said we don't do this for profit. Obviously we profit but it really is more about making connections.

Please mark these dates down.

They'll be posted on Patch events too, as well as on our Facebook page: Chapter2Books. We are more than happy to hold signed copies for anyone if they can't make it too. Everyone who attended Senator Russ Feingold's event were really cool about waiting for their copies after we ran out.

If you'd like signed hardcovers of any author's previous works, let us know and we'll order them in prior to the event.

Saturday, 9/8 from 10-12: Alicia Long and Jayne Jones will be in signing copies of their new book Capitol Hell, based on their years working for Senator Norm Coleman in D.C. (I should say the point of this fun read is not that working for him was hell, being an assistant in D.C. Was.) www.capitolhellbook.com

Saturday 9/15, 11-1.  Mary Casanova will be in with her new book, Frozen. Mary has written many children's books including some in the American Doll series. U of MN Press has published this young adult crossover novel based on a true story.   Www.marycasanova.com

We hope that teachers will encourage middle and high schoolers to come meet Mary.

From 3-5 that same day Karen Lohn, a fibre artist and peace activist will be  signing her book, Peacefibres: Stitching A Soulful World and also helping with a fiber project. www.peacefibres.com

Thursday 9/20 from 6-8 Mark Berriman will be reading from his latest book of poetry, Brutally Frank. Mark Berriman has called the Twin Cities his home for the last 15 years. He is a published author, a poet and artist, columnist, and active community leader. http://markberriman.wix.com/brutally-frank

Friday, 9/21 6:30   Julie Kramer, Shunning Sarah. Julie Kramer was one of the first authors to reach out to us. As I said, some approach us, we approach others. Some, like Julie are best selling, award winning established authors who put us on their busy schedule to support small independent bookstores. They know they won't draw crowds like a Barnes and Noble in NYC but we hope to draw a mini crowd. (I have no idea what a mini crowd is.....but come in on 9/21 and we'll find out!) www.juliekramerbooks.com

Saturday 9/22, 10 am. Dan Woll will be at New Richmond Public Library at 10 am. His mystery, Death On Cache Lake has been selling really well.Set in the tumultuous days of 1970 as the University of Wisconsin anti-war movement imploded after a deadly campus bombing, Death on Cache Lake takes the reader on a dark odyssey through the lake wilds of Ontario, and the woods and small towns of Wisconsin.

In store , from 11-1 will be our earliest supporter Gary Porter. I contacted him before we opened after seeing an article about his new book, Duffy The Tale Of A Terrier. I wasn't sure how you find out who the local authors are and was glad to find Gary. Note to self: schedule a workshop with Gary and Melissa to share their marketing prowess with other authors. www.duffythedog.com

From 1-4 on the same day (9/22) J.R. Martin will be discussing his new book, Selling U.S. Out. This will be a great discussion about trade issues, our 2 party system and timely topics for the political season. www.selling-us-out.com

Thursday September 27, from 6-8, William Kent Krueger will be in our store signing copies of his latest: Trickster's Point. www.williamkentkrueger.com

Last Fall he appeared at the library. Many authors we've dealt with (Senator Feingold, WKK etc) earn appearance fees. We don't have a budget for that, it is understood that they schedule with us simply to support independent bookstores. 40-50 people attended Senator Feingold's event so yes, we make money off those sales, but from their end it really is a favor to us.

We know our space is small and we don't expect large crowds every time, but we're hoping for good turnout this Fall.

Thank you for reading this. Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Part 2, October events coming soon.......

Please like us on Facebook, I tweet inconsistently at @chapter2books. Send us your email at Brian@chapter2books.com. We won't abuse it, just send news once in a while.

Our website  www.chapter2books.com 

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The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?