Don’t they say that if life gives you corn and sugar, make moonshine? Oh, well, I reckon most people say if life gives you lemons make lemonade. In any case I love the concept of making a good thing out of a not so good thing.
You might remember that last year I participated in the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at USC. Anybody who bought a book received either a shot glass or a chocolate cigar. I didn’t sell as many books as I hoped. I’ll chalk that up to going outside my target market. Guess folks strolling through a Southern California university don’t want to read about hillbillies.
My Mistake
Los Angeles in late April usually provides nice weather and that day, April, 24, 2022, didn’t disappoint. As I recall the temperature ranged from 75 to 85 degrees. I used a black bag to transport my books and swag, which added to the demise of the cigar that escaped its box. Yes, one of my chocolate stogies got out and smooshed a bit, causing some minor smudges on a couple of books. Not major damage but still I don’t want to sell somebody a book with a tiny bit of shmutz.
The Solution
The good news is I already planned to drop some books in Little Free Libraries around Santa Barbara and Ojai. Have you seen these boxes around? They provide a great service. People leave gently used books for other people to peruse and borrow, then hopefully return that book or others to the same Little Library. Take a look at the map on their website to find one near you.