OMG. I can't believe I did this.
Looking at last year's income from writing, I realized that I made TEN TIMES more income from doing in-person table sales at events than I did from sales of my books on Amazon or through my publisher combined.
Unfortunately, I'm limited to only as far as I can comfortably drive to and from events. That's because the moment I pay for a hotel room, I've spent at least as much as I can earn in a given day of events. Often much more than what I earn, in fact.
So... I went all in and purchased a camper van. This way I can simply camp at or near the event! Plus, a camper van would have lots of space to all the stuff I need, like boxes of books, table, chair, pop-up canopy, and decorative backdrops.
Here it is:
It's a really cute little Japanese camper van. Literally imported from Japan, with the driver's side on the right side of the vehicle and Japanese language printed inside! It's pretty old (from 1995), but is lightly used, clean, and has lots of new parts on it. It's a Toyota Hiace "Royal J." And it's super fun to drive. It has back seats that fold down into a full size bed, plus an upper loft that can be pulled out into a sleeping area (or storage), and a neat little kitchenette in back. There's even a canopy that comes out to cover the sliding door area.
I put it into action today, in fact, driving to the first of two days of the Spring Into Reading Author Fair in the little town of Canby, Oregon.
I've also begun signing up for events throughout the year, ranging as far north in Washington state as events in Seattle and Puget Sound, as far south as Sacramento, California, and as far east as Boise, Idaho.
And if there are any weekends left after all that? I plan to go camping in the woods with it. :D
Is it worth the $15,600 I paid for it? I'm certain of it. It should pay for itself in extra book sales after only a few years, if I do this right.
Cheers and happy reading!
