I am getting geared up for Romanticon...

And even though I am not at all thinking about seeing the Ellora's Cavemen again this year...

(Truly!)

I am eager to see all of my wonderful friends again.  I don't go to other conventions because I can't afford to, so I must pick and choose the things I spend money on. And when you go to a convention, you have to do the SWAG (stuff we all get) thingy.  You want convention-goers to remember you...so you get stuff that advertises your web pages and your latest books.  Book marks are great, but they don't seem to excite the readers like cute, neat, expensive stuff does. Trading cards are great as collectibles, but no way can I afford to spend $700 on 250 professionally-made trading cards for each of my 20 books. And when I checked out all the cute, neat advertising stuff online this year, I sighed and shuddered to find out that I had to pay for 500 to 1,000 of each item in order to get such neat, cute stuff.  (Even at $.65 a piece, 1,000 items can get pretty costly...and that doesn't even include the S&H or setup fees.)

Most of the authors do some pretty fabulous promo giveaways there...they bring hundreds of things, and readers grab those neat things up as fast as they put them on the tables.  In fact, some folks grab more than one of everything (to take home to sis and mom, etc)...so you have to bring literally tons!  One of the most popular items last year were the wonderfully cute rubber duckies that someone brought...and the nifty shot glasses and bandaid covers and then there were the lip glosses and the letter openers and the great little plastic cases to hold everyone else's trading cards!  Some authors brought literally thousands of dollars worth of SWAG stuff, and I felt like sorta hiding my little stash of stuff under a basket so no one would see what I brought.  Um...not that I felt like a cheapskate or anything...much.

Things haven't changed much this year, so I decided to be very creative.  They said to bring enough stuff for about 300 convention-goers, so I am doubling that.  But I have scrambled to find the cutest things I could find that were UACC:

1.)  USEFUL

2.)  ATTRACTIVE

3.)  CREATIVE

4.)  CHEAP

Um...I admit it...I can only stretch my promo dollars so far before the tightwad in me snaps. So if you find my tiny little display on one of those long, heavily-laden tables, please don't laugh too loud.  I worked very hard on my offering.  (Besides, I am bringing a raffle basket as well, with some bigger stuff in it.) 

To be brutally honest, I probably would never have managed to even get to Romanticon this year if not for some wonderful friends, so I am just thrilled to be going.  

If you see me there this year, it might well be the last time we get together in person, unless one of my books takes off like a shot and hits all the best seller lists.  If that happens, you can bet your booty that I'll be there next year, if I am still alive and kicking.  

Now, with four new releases in four months, that just might happen...(not the best seller thingy)...but I might be able to stash enough cash away to pay my higher income taxes, my house taxes, and still have money left for Romanticon. And even though my inner tightwad will protest heartily, I may do something really fabulous next year.  

So if you are going, please look me up.  I'll be the fat old lady gimping through the halls and NOT dancing her fanny off every night.  :)

Hugs to all, and to all a good night!

Fran

http://www.franleeromance.com