Book Signing

It was a good evening. 3rd Friday in November brought mild weather and crowds to High Street.  I understand that the new businesses had great sales, some of them selling out of popular items.

I tossed an idea to Amy of Bogart’s Books and Cafe, where I was set up with a book signing promoting my new book, “Bar Exam – musings from the bar stool.” But more on that in a moment.

I had read an interesting article recently, I don’t remember the source, about a town that had implemented a marketing plan called 3×50. The concept is to make people aware of local business, and to make them think when they make small (or large) purchases.

The program encourages citizens to make a commitment to local business by spending $50 at three of their favorite local merchants every month. I started thinking about how we could implement this in Millville.

First of all, this community must have been much more affluent than Millville to consider a $150 a month commitment not unreasonable. However, with a little tweaking, we could raise awareness of the importance of shopping locally. Amy understands this by having her printing done locally even though she could save a hundred dollars per order by going tot he Internet.

What can we afford in Millville? What amount can local merchants ask without risking failure. $10? How difficult would it be to select three local businesses and promise to spend $10 a month to support them? If we had 100 people commit, then we would be putting another $3000 a month into the local economy, which in turn spurs more investment locally. That would equal $36,000 a year pumped into the local economy – still not quite making up for the loss in taxes from Paul Porreca’s annual tax abatement that continues into perpetuity. Furthermore, consider this; you don’t have to sign a pledge to do this, just go out and shop High Street.

Anyway – back to 3rd Friday. Any set me up near the front of the store. I brought a few bottles of wine for friends. Music was by Bob Michel and friends, playing old time folksy gospel and country blues. I arrived a few minutes before 6PM to learn that two books had already sold. Amy had five at the store on consignment, and I brought another 28 copies. I was sure that I would have enough books. This is not the first time I have been wrong!

I suppose this is a good problem to have. I brought a cache of old Otto’s Bar chips, and gave one as a memento with every copy of the book. By 8:15 I had sent a friend off to Isabelle’s Studio @135 to collect the books that she had on consignment. I had left five copies with her earlier in the week, and she sold two by 3rd Friday.

In all I saw many old friends. The Old Man brought his brother Jules Pagano up from Washington DC and I wouldn’t be surprised to see a copy find its way to Vermont Senator  Patrick Leahy’s office. My daughter was on the ball, taking lots of photos, some of which you see here.

If you missed the book signing, or arrived too late to get your copy, you can buy the book directly from the publisher at www.createspace.com/3405229 or you can buy it from Amazon.com using the link at the top right of this website.