Welcome to WeeklyWilson.com, where author/film critic Connie (Corcoran) Wilson avoids totally losing her marbles in semi-retirement by writing about film (see the Chicago Film Festival reviews and SXSW), politics and books----her own books and those of other people. You'll also find her diverging frequently to share humorous (or not-so-humorous) anecdotes and concerns. Try it! You'll like it!

Tag: Printers Row

Printers’ Row, 2023, on Sunday, September 10th

 

Printers’ Row, 2023.

After much vacillating, I committed to spending my entire Sunday, September 10th, in the streets of Chicago selling books at Printers’ Row.

I have done Printers’ Row with the Illinois Presswomen group for years, but last year, when I selected Sunday, it rained buckets. I took one look out the window and realized that we would not be journeying  to Printers’ Row that day.

So, scratch Printers’ Row, 2022.

I had selected Sunday because it was $10 cheaper than Saturday, which was also true this year; it cost $130 to be present at the booth from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. My Presswomen group does not allow you to purchase half of the 8 hour time, which is unfortunate. I am good for 4 hours. In other years, have split up the time from 10 to 2 and 2 to 6, with me taking the late time. The plan was to pay me for ½ of the $130 fee when I showed up to relieve the first author in the morning slot.

This worked out well until the year before the downpour, when people who had said they would show up and man the booth from 10 to 2 bailed at the last minute. It was too late for me to secure another partner. This left me holding the bag

Ellie the Elephant and Elena Ashley.

for the entire day, which is exactly what happened this year. If I am “out” $65, I have a good chance of breaking even. Not so at $130.

I got up at 9 a.m. and was at the booth by 10 a.m.

By 2 p.m. I was ready to quit,  but I continued until 5:05 p.m.

Considering that I am only able to stay awake for about four hours, this 9-hour shift pretty much wiped me out. I am not up to full strength after 33 radiation sessions for cancer. The Tamoxifen I have most recently been taking has a known side effect of extreme exhaustion.  I just had blood work done on August 30th to determine why I am only really “alert” for 4 hours.

My spot at the table was between a fun African American group selling books for $10 (like me) with a “one book for $5” offer and the words “gasp” frequently repeated, and a woman with a large stuffed elephant, who gave me a handout that said her name was Dr. Elena Ashley. I asked the author to my left if she had ever taught school about three times. I never really received a response that pinned that down, although Ms. Ashley has written “A Teaching Guide for Educators and Parents.” The characters in her books are apparently named Splunkkunio  Splunkey, Detective and Peacemaker and Big Bully  Holly Howler, in addition to Ellie the Elephant.

The stuffed elephant was quite large and Dr. Ashley kept speaking in a high voice to simulate “Ellie the Elephant.” As someone who used to travel with a costumed Cat in the Hat, I understand the desire to attract children with such ploys (although, in my own case, it caused very small children to run screaming from the library!), but listening to someone talk in a high falsetto voice for 6 straight hours can really be a trial. I may have been heard to mutter “Just shoot me now” after five hours of Ellie the Elephant.

I didn’t have as much table space as the elephant lady, because she had gotten there first. At various times she had her husband and a young African American child pulled up to the table on chairs. I felt like you do on a crowded airplane flight when you have nowhere to put your feet, because you have stuffed your purse under the seat in front of you and other stuff under the middle seat. In my own case, I had a large yellow bag with prop-up things for my books and table cloths and change boxes and my charged Square device. All had to be stuffed under the table, because of the 3 occupied chairs to my left and behind me.

Most of the people in my vicinity complained that the price of parking their car had escalated dramatically from $20 to $80. My spouse dropped me off and picked me back up; that went well, saving us $80. I also took my own lunch, which probably saved me a large amount, also. As usual, Art Brauer, our President, had done a great job setting up the booth and providing water and chips. (Thanks, Art.)

I never anticipate making any money at Printers’ Row. My goal is always to break even and to participate. I can’t make many of the Presswomen meetings, so this is something I can and should do.

I met a lovely woman from LeClaire, who had actually read all 3 of my “The Color of Evil” novels and talked about her plans to open a bookstore/tequila bar in LeClaire once she retires from her duties teaching at Pleasant Valley High School. I also met a political science professor, who said he was considering using my “Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House” (Vols. I & II) as a text in his classes. Both of these were nice developments, but, if you want to measure my day in dollars earned, I made $65, having spent $130. However, as mentioned, if this had been a “normal” year, my investment would have been ½ of the time, or $65, and that means I broke even, like most years.

A lot of work to just “break even” but I’m told I need to “get out there” more.

I also picked up about 10 new names for the mailing list, which is now topping 6,000 names.

Printers’ Row Rained Out For Me on September 11, 2022

Well, if any of you were Chicago residents, you know that it rained A LOT today, Sunday, September 11th.

I have to confess that I did not make it to the IWPA booth at Printers’ Row for precisely that reason.

I got up about 9 a.m. (early, for me) and it was raining.

I had a cup of coffee and sat around for over an hour, thinking it would let up.

It did not.

I went back to bed and got up closer to 11 a.m., and I consulted the hour by hour weather forecast, which said that there was a 100% chance of rain for the next several hours.

About 1:20 p.m. the rain actually ceased…briefly. It was right back at it within half an hour.

BEE GONE: A POLITICAL PARABLE

Not to be too big a wuss, but dragging a box on wheels through the wet streets of Chicago is not great for paperbacks, and paperbacks were what I had with me. I was going to go with the political books of the hour, because, as we used to say about Nixon, “We won’t have DJT to kick around any more.” (Or so I fervently hope).

If you had your TV sets tuned to the Bears game at Soldier Field, right across the street from me, you will know that it was really pouring down during the game. Enough said.

My apologies to any of you who did make it out, but I could not imagine that there would be more than one or two folks brave enough to saunter down to Polk Street during the downpour.

The books I had with me are all available on Amazon, and I hope you check them out.

Printers’ Row in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 11th

BEE GONE: A POLITICAL PARABLE

I will be manning the IWPA (Illinois Women’s Press Association) booth from approximately noon until 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11th.

My computer assistant and I attempted to send out a MadMimi newsletter, only to learn that the person who compromised my last credit card screwed me out of that account. I have been trying to fix this for a week. No luck.

I decided to take only my political books to this year’s fair.

Why?

For one thing, “BEE GONE” came out just before the pandemic shut things down and is my most recent book.

Preceding that was “Obama’s Odyssey: The 2008 Race for the White House”, Vols. I & II. These two books have a wealth of photographs taken as I followed the political candidates of 2008 across the land and into the halls of the DNC and the RNC.

"The Christmas Cats Flee the Bee," sixth book in the Christmas Cats series (www.TheXmasCats.com).The Powers-That–Be conspired to keep me from ever being able to advertise “BEE GONE,” which is a shame, as the illustrator is brilliant and the book is a hoot and a half (unless you are a MAGA fan.)

Since my hope is that there will be a future soon without DJT, bringing “BEE GONE” in multiple copies seems right. The book is about $10 and the children’s version—in full color with puzzles and mazes—has the same great illustrations of Donald Trump as a gigantic bumble bee determined to take over the hive from the Queen Bee.

Enjoy! See you on Sunday at the IWPA booth if you’re in Chicago.

Bulletins from Chicago: Printers’ Row, Blues Fest, Field Museum

These messages from Chicago, where the Blues Fest just concluded in Grant Park.
Things at the Blues Fest would have been a whole lot better if there had not been a full-out thunderstorm around 1:30 P.M. This turned the grass to mud and it was definitely shades of Woodstock.
Still, the headliner at 8:15 p.m. on the main stage was B.B. King, who, I was told, had not played the Blues Fest for some years. We heard him and then mucked out way back to my place, with completely dirty shoes and feet.

 

The other fun thing I did recently in Chicago was to attend Avenue Q for the second time. The first time, I saw the New York cast at the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas.

 

This time, the lead male part in Chicago was actually better than the New York lead, and all the other performers were just as good. This is a great show: fun, insightful, and delightful.

 

I’ll be letting you all in on the Field Museum’s new exhibit about natural weather forces, which features experiencing what it is like to stand in the path of a tornado, from a camera experienced same. Other natural disasters are also explored. The George Washington Carver exhibit remains on view through some time in July, and it is well worth the price of admission.

 

I was struck at what a big debt Carver owes to the state and colleges of Iowa (he was admitted to Ames, Iowa State University, and he later taught there). I was disappointed at the dragons exhibit, but the kids seemed to like it.

 

Attended Printers Row on Saturday. It is the largest book publishing event in the Midwest. Likewise, the Blues Fest is the largest free blues fest in the United States.

 

Stay tuned for further bulletins on what the newest Field Museum exhibit about natural disasters is like.

 

 

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