Harbor Day

Report on Harbor Day:
I looked forward to selling my book, Wet and Hungry, at Harbor Day, a day that celebrates the local fishing industry. The organizers had a tent for arts and craft vendors and organizations. Booth rent in the tent was $150, so I didn’t rent one. People who did complained about the cost and went in together. A lot of booths were rented by spendthrift gov , quasi gov and environmental organizations such as the Coast Guard, Maryland Coastal Bays, Reef Foundation, Assateague Coastal Trust, etc.
One writer shared a booth with boat models. You could hardly find the guy behind a seven-foot model of the Pride of Baltimore.
Merrill offered to let me sell my book in his booth outside the tent, but the organizer told him he couldn’t sell anything from his booth because it wasn’t in the tent. Bright, who docks in the harbor near the Harbor Day site, said I could sell my book in front of his boat, where he was going to sell lobsters. The organizer said he couldn’t do this and that only items relative to fishing could be sold, as if my book had nothing to do with fishing! Bright looked into it and learned that since he rents the slip, he could sell what he wanted there.
Despite the rules against selling in the outside booths, other people did it.
I sat outside in front of the fishing boats, Skiligillee and Pelican, tied side by side. Bright’s crewman showed a giant lobster to children. Bright sold lobsters and did demonstrations. The new owners of the Pelican had beer on their boat, which attracted quite a few people who traipsed across Skiligillee to get to the beer. That and the giant lobster drew a crowd and I sold a number of books. When it rained, I put away most of my promo stuff and left out two books in grip-lock plastic bags. I covered my other stuff with a black garbage bag and held an umbrella. And sold more books. By the end of the day, we were all wet and hungry.


If any of your readers, all two of you, think I should write another book, please send some feedback. I'm considering a book of stories, mostly funny and Eastern Shore oriented.