The Gahanna Flea Market

Don't stress the holidays!
Give the gift of some sweet and spicy reading!

"Equal and Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay
Buy it at Amazon
http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
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https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/equal-and-opposite-reactions-patti-liszkay/1126530153?ean=9781612968865

The Gahanna Flea Market

          Last Sunday, September 30, as I stood at my table beneath my tent in my designated spot on Mill Street in Olde Gahanna, Ohio for the purpose of pedaling my books at the Gahanna Historical Society Flea Market, I thought to myself, Well, here's something I never saw myself doing.

    In fact I was thinking the same thing at the several previous First Friday Gahanna Arts in the Alley events - which I guess were technically flea markets, too, if smaller and artier ones - at which I set up a table in July

...(where I snagged a prime spot near the rubber duck sculpture [see post from 7/14/2018]),

​...in August,

...and in September.

     But as I've learned - as I guess all authors learn very soon after their books are published if they didn't know beforehand -  books are like art pieces, and just as artists need to be involved in marketing and selling their art, authors also need to be involved in marketing and selling their books.
      Strangely enough - or at least it seems strange to me - I haven't had to search around to find venues at which to sell my book. The opportunities seem to seek me out, as was the case with the Gahanna Flea Market.
      It was during one of the Arts in the Alleys that an event organizer from the Gahanna Historical Society came up to my table and asked me if I would be a vendor at the Historical Society's up-coming flea market and offered me a discount on a table.
     And so I signed up to be a flea market vendor, declining the discount offered, considering it a civic duty to support the Historical Society.
    In truth I was a weence nervous about the event, especially about where I would park my car on narrow Mill Street, how I would find my spot, and how I would schlepp all my stuff from my car to my spot.
     However the process went quite smoothly, in no small part thanks to my hubby Tom, who came along to help with the schlepp and the set-up. 
      Apparently each vendor was given an arrival time, and we arrived at Mill Street at my  appointed time of 7:15 to find that the vendors were just parking  their vehicles any old where on Mill Street, even in the middle of the road,  and leaving  them there until they were finished setting up.

     And so we did the same.
​    Thankfully, Tom had come up with the smart idea of bringing along a wheelbarrow in which to cart my table, chairs, tent, and wares.

     Also thankfully, event organizers rode around directing everyone to their spots.

     And so we found my spot and began the set-up,

...starting with the tent I found on clearance at Menard's for $21.99,

​...not counting the four 89-cent concrete blocks I bought to stabilize the legs,

     After we were all set up Tom left and my daughter Theresa arrived to help me woman the table.

   After most of the vehicles, including mine, had been moved, I did a once-around Mill Street to see what everyone else was selling.

     Our next-door tent-neighbor was a vintage crafts business,

...called the Painted Gypsy,

...owned by two lovely ladies, Lisa and Rachel.

    Shoppers began arriving early, and though the flea market was scheduled to begin at 9:00 am, I'd sold my first book by 8:50.  
     Soon after and for the rest of the day  Mill Street was crowded,

...with shoppers,

...browsers,

...and strollers.

    As for Theresa and me, we spent most of the day at the table,

...selling a few books, giving away a lot of bookmarks and sample pages from my novel,

...and explaining to folks whose eyes were caught by one of my table posters that I was advertising my book  and not a plumbing service.  (The main male character in my novel is a plumber).

    Theresa and I each took turns taking occasional breaks, for lunch,

...where we snagged some incredible French fries, fresh cut and fried up to order by the Kiwanis Club,

...or for zipping over to nearby Creekside Plaza,

...where can be found some of the cleanest, nicest public restrooms on the planet.
     The Flea Market closed at 4 pm, at precisely which time we vendors were urged to quickly close up and pack up our respective shops so that Mill Street could re-open for business and traffic.

   It turned out to be not a bad day sales-wise,

...and now I can add "flea market vendor" to my resume.