What a weekend! The Baltimore Book Festival was a bit overwhelming and a lot exhausting. As crazy as it was to get past the massive crowds and find a place to park, it was amazing to see so many talented authors of every genre imaginable all in one place. I loved the opportunity to meet and talk to other writers about their experiences, but by far, the best part of the weekend was the opportunity to meet and talk to readers. What a joy it is to watch a stranger purchase your work--people who don’t know me as a person let alone as a writer. People who don’t know the books and yet, they still take a chance and buy the work. It’s an amazing feeling.

I’ll write more about the experience soon. Until then, here’s a little gallery of photos from the event.

I’m sure it’s not just me. Lately, I have a hard time paying over twenty bucks for a book.  Even paying over ten dollars is a hard sell.

Ever since I bought my Kindle and I’ve had hours of reading enjoyment for less than five bucks a pop , forking over $12 for what someone is telling me is a best seller, is hard to justify.  I have to wonder how some of those authors, the ones tied to the old elite publishers with contracts that require a particular price point, are doing these days.

Lately, Amazon has been marketing NYT best sellers like Kellerman for $12.99, next to an unknown author with a thriller priced at a buck ninety nine. It makes me wonder, which one of them is selling more copies.

My guess would be the new author is selling more. The hard core Kellerman (or insert your favorite best selling author’s name) fans are still forking over the dough to get the latest. For example, I’d pay the usual fifteen bucks plus to get the latest in the Dresden Files series.

But I doubt any new readers are jumping in at those prices.