In some ways, my presentation at the Lennox Center Barnes & Noble Teen Book Festival was a disappointment. Only five people attended and two of those – Rita Bova and Nora Holt – were friends. who came to support me. Moreover, as far as I can tell, no sales resulted from what I had to say. Just the same, I”m glad I took part in this event.

On the Saturday before my program, I went over to the Lennox B&N to see how the Teen Book Festival was doing. There, I met Rachel, the bookstore’s customer relations manager, and Kitty Stephens, who was the featured author that afternoon. Rachel had set up a table where Kitty’s books were displayed. In front of Kitty was another table where all kinds of YA book “swag” was available to anyone who wanted it. The swag (stuff we all get) included bookmarks, posters, buttons, stickers, and – something I hadn’t seen before – sneak peek pamphlets. As their name suggests, these pamphlets provide excerpts from books that are fresh on the market or about to be released.

I chatted with Kitty for awhile and learned that her debut novel, Set Me Free, is a GLBT tale that started off as a shorter piece for an anthology. However, when her publisher (Interlude) suggested it might work better as a longer story, she turned it into a novel. Several of Kitty’s friends visited her while her book was being featured and toward the end of her time block, she made a sale. But overall, not too many people seemed interested in the Teen Book Festival. Most of those at the bookstore were there to browse, study, or drink coffee at the adjoining Starbucks.

After leaving the Lennox B&N, I drove over to the bookstore’s Sawmill Road location. When I asked about their Teen Book Festival, a sales clerk directed me to a small room where a discussion about Manga was in progress. Only three people were there so I joined them and learned a few things about this unusual Japanese comic-book style of storytelling.

When my turn at the Lennox store rolled around the following day, I kept my expectations low, and as noted, only five people attended. I was ready to explain the process of moving my YA novel from my mind to the computer screen and ultimately into publication. I had hand-outs ready as well as a $25 gift card for a drawing. But if it hadn’t been for two brothers, nine and eleven years old, who were at the store with their mother, my audience would have consisted only of Rachel and my two friends. Knowing the two boys would not be that interested in my prepared remarks, I talked only briefly about how I wrote and published Fast-Pitch Love and then did some readings from the book.

When I asked Rachel whether Barnes & Noble had sponsored a Teen Book Festival before, she told me that this was its first year, so they didn’t know what to expect. I noted that the Columbus Arts Festival was being held the same weekend and may have lowered the number of people coming to the B&N event. Rachel agreed.

Despite the low turnout, I found a silver lining from my participation in this inaugural Teen Book Festival. For one thing, it gave me practice in presenting my book to a live audience, something I hope to do numerous times in the future. Second, it gave me the chance to meet someone – Rachel – who can help me get Fast-Pitch Love onto bookshelves once it is in print. And finally, it gave me the joy of putting a $25 B&N gift card into the hands of a nine-year-old boy who is sure to make good use of it.