Romantastic 2026

Albany, OR

This was my BEST EVENT YET!

Oregon, y’all SHOWED UP for this event. I was so impressed with the number of people passing through. Not only did I nearly lose my voice from hurling my pitch at the people coming up to my booth, but also watching others walk by that weren’t a fit for my genre. We had NUMBERS. Whew.

This was the second event where I had my husband by my side. I highly recommend picking an event buddy… the way we streamlined things from one event to the next was a game changer. He understood how things were packed. It made unloading the car, setting up the display, and packing things away so much easier than last time. I can only imagine how the next will go!

Romantastic was also the first event where we brought extra swag that fit the theme but wasn’t necessarily related to the books. Shadow Mommy swag! We had water bottles, crossbody bags, and cute little espresso cups. Those things were a hit!

A woman taking a selfie with a man behind her. The woman has dark hair, a nose piercing, and is wearing a floral-patterned top. The man has red hair, a beard, and is wearing a black shirt. The background features a black banner with white text and some green plants.
Black water bottle with a white logo of hands holding a tree and the text "Shadow Mommy" next to a black backpack, with pink and blue water bottles in the background. There are also decorative stickers with the words "Shadow Mommy" and colorful designs placed on the surface.
A woman standing at a booth inside an exhibition hall. The booth has banners with fantasy-themed artwork and promotional text for authors and books. The woman is wearing a floral dress and smiling.

Okay, let’s crunch some numbers…

The booth cost me somewhere between $100 and $200 (I honestly can’t remember). The drive was only 1.5 hours away so that was nice. No hotel costs to factor in. Not much for meals. Just adventure!

We sold (roughly) 40 books! FORTY! AH! I know that may not sound like much to some of you, but for only having books 1 and 2 published in a 4 book series, that’s not bad! It is so hard to sell an incomplete story.

Between that and the handful of espresso cups and water bottles we made almost $700. Not net, of course. We have to factor in the cost of the books and making the swag,

None of that takes into account the number of people who scanned my QR code and saved my book to their TBR. I’m equally grateful to those readers!

I would say in the end my profit was about $300, excluding future Kindle reads. That is HUGE! Definitely my best event so far.

Two books resting on green moss, surrounded by fairy lights and small decorative butterfly lights. One book has a cover showing a shirtless man with long blonde hair and the title 'Keep by Kati Katan.' The other book has a cover with an illustration of a humanoid deer with antlers and a woman lying down, with the title 'Mothballs & Mistletoe'.
Booth at an event featuring fantasy book sales with banners displaying artwork and book titles, surrounded by black curtains and decorative greenery.
Open book resting on decorative fabric tablecloth, surrounded by green moss, artificial flowers with LED lights, and a white ceramic bowl filled with miscellaneous items.
Close-up of a display stand holding copies of the book titled 'Bound to Shadow' by Kirst N. Carpenter. The book cover features illustrated characters with fantasy elements, including elves and dark mythical figures. The display is decorated with artificial green moss, fairy lights, and colorful butterfly ornaments.
A tabletop game setup with tarot or oracle cards, some featuring fantasy illustrations of women with wings, and a card with a text paragraph describing 'Painted Gold' and the Eclipse Realms. The table has a black surface with a patterned cloth partially covering it.
A smiling woman with black hair wearing a floral dress holding a badge that says 'Author Romantic Book Fair'.

Did I learn anything this time around?

Honestly? Very few things. It went well. I did forget my square card reader which meant I could only accept tap to pay or manually enter numbers. So, next time we’ll make sure to snag that. I also wish we had inventory built into square. I resisted paying for the upgraded features, but next time, I’m going to take the leap. Live inventory sounds like a dream.

The only other thing I would change is having better signs for pricing. The sign itself was nice. The “Menu”. But I want the individual table signs to be more clear.

I also got to meet Kit Devos (Peep the book on my table) who also writes pregnancy alien romance and WOOF I highly recommend Kept by Katan!

Overall, I am the happiest camper, and I cannot WAIT to participate next fall!

Romantastic 2027, here I come!