Jolibro Publishing

It's Book Fair Season! Whether a festival or a fair, hundreds are held each year, big and small, in communities all over the country. At one of these events you may meet authors in person, find new books in genres you love, or try something new. You can gather giveaways and pose all the questions: about authors, plots, characters, book publishing, writing life, or book collecting. Many book festivals include classes for aspiring writers. And the settings can be inspiring in themselves! 

Last year, Jolibro Publishing decided to experiment by signing up for several as vendors. We learned a lot! (Don't miss our companion post for readers & fans: 10 Insider Tips for Book Fair Adventurers)

♦ We started by displaying one of our titles as part of an Independent Book Publishers’ Association (IBPA) booth at the annual American Library Association (ALA) Convention in June, 2024. We even volunteered for a shift at the booth. Wow! So many books, so many authors and publishers—and so many librarians! Crazy and inspiring!

What we learned: We got to chat with a real, live librarian about Linda Jo Hunter’s Lonesome for Wilderness, which had just won a starred review in Library Journal. She loved the cover and said paperback wasn’t a problem; she would order one. But our time there was brief, so…

♦ In July we traveled from San Diego to Mammoth Lakes, an 8,000-foot climb from sea level to the base of Mammoth Mountain, for the Eastern Sierra Book Festival. It was hot and dry at the high altitude, whew! We gave a couple of talks on the main stage, sold some books, met cool people, and then as a bonus, got to explore the spectacular surroundings the next day.
 

What we learned: Asking questions about almost anything opens the best conversations, whichever side of the table you’re on. We met many interesting people in this extraordinary location. We also learned not to travel from sea level to high elevation in just one day. Yikes, altitude sickness! Thankfully, we'd been advised at the last minute by savvy relatives to stock up on Nuun electrolyte tablets, which we found at a CVS. They saved us from total wipeout!

♦ In August, happily back at sea level, we participated in the first annual KPBS San Diego Festival of Books on the campus of the University of San Diego. Booksellers and authors galore! Famous author/speakers, booths representing every bookstore in the area, and a whole avenue of indie publishers and authors selling the kinds of books you won’t find on every store shelf.

We were pleased to chat with so many book lovers (attendance numbered in the thousands, we heard). Despite the competition, several still found our books to be unique and added them to their collections. Best of all, we made new friends.

What we learned: Our fellow indie authors and publishers produce amazing books, and are always so friendly and supportive of one another. We couldn't resist adding titles to our overstocked home library. But once again it was temps in the 90s, and this time very humid (a rare day for San Diego). The electrolyte tablets helped us again, as well as fellow vendors collapsing from dehydration. We'll never do another event without them.

♦ Once Upon a Book Fair at Mershops North County Fair mall in Escondido, California, took place in November during a record rainstorm for the San Diego area. You can watch Lianne’s interview with the organizers on her website, www.liannedowney.com, in which she talks about all the books Jolibro publishes. (Or here.)

What we learned: Not to cram too many titles on our table all at once, along with other merchandise we sold that day. It confuses buyers! 
 

♦ For the San Diego Writer’s Festival on Coronado Island in March, 2026, we narrowed down our approach to feature the titles of the living author present: Me. Lianne Downey. Which was a huge first for me and frankly terrifying! But my booth-mate, Deborah Rudell (author of Grit and Grace, a page-turning memoir) was so encouraging, she made it easier. (And by the way, I met Deb at the KPBS festival, another perk.)

What I learned: By putting my books, my passions "out on the table" so to speak, I got to talk about the topics I love to explore with people who share my interests and added their own. Which led to more book sales than ever before, not only my own, but other authors we publish as well. Joseph kindly filled in when Deborah dragged me away from our booth (!!) to hear inspiring presentations by the keynote speaker, Jodi Picoult, and poet Gill Sotu.

They reminded me that the main reason to attend these events is to absorb joy, wisdom, insight, and inspiration from others. We wish you happy book hunting!

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(Don't miss our companion post for readers & fans: 10 Insider Tips for Book Fair Adventurers).