Attending My First Market

Little me would be so incredibly proud of myself from the crazy thing I did a few days ago. I attended my first market as an author. Yes, you read that right. The little introvert author that I am, sold my book at a table at a market and made the biggest entrepreneur move that I have only dreamed of making for years.

For the longest time, I have always been hesitant on submitting my name into markets. I have talked to many close friends and family about attending any kind of market but my anxiety always made me procrastinate and I never ended up following through with it. But during Thanksgiving back in October (I'm Canadian, in case you didn't know), I got talking with my sister about my author journey and the topic of markets got brought up. She said she had a close friend of hers attend a certain market, that she thought I should attend. The market was called "Tales and Trinkets" and they were hosting a Winter Book Fair. Upon looking further into it, I noticed that her applications for the winter market closed not even a day or two prior. At that point, I was about ready to give up. Call it quits and wait for something in the new year. But my sister Jessica suggested that I message the host and say that despite the applications being closed, if there is any way I can get put on some sort of wait list. And with her by my side, I composed of a message to send, requesting for a waitlist since it is likely too late to apply fully. Once that life changing message was composed, I couldn't even press send. I had to get Jessica to send it for me. She had to press send cause my hands simply did not want to press send.

The following day, I got a reply. And I swear the universe was working in my favor because do you want to know what I was told? That someone had a last minute cancellation and there just so happened to be a spot open. That had to have been the universe handing me this on a silver platter. Saying, "you're supposed to do this. Here is your opportunity. Take it". And I had no choice but to grab the bull by the horns and simply enjoy the ride. I was now in.

The following two months consisted of me figuring out what the hell I wanted to do for my table. What vibes did I want to convey? How did I want to organize it so it can draw someone in? Did I have all the supplies I needed? What supplies did I even need in the first place? All kinds of first time questions ran through my head, and you know damn well that I overthought every single one of those questions and didn't find my answers until a couple weeks before the event was taking place. With the trusty help from my sister, of course.

Then the day I have waited for finally came around. I was up early. 7:00am to be exact. With a combination of excitement and nerves, I had to do a fair amount of last minute prepping. With calling my sister shortly after I woke up, her and I ironed out the morning plan before we went. We decided that we would meet up an hour before we had to go to the event so I could decompress and try to shake off the nerves that were building up deep in my stomach and high in my chest. By time I hauled everything into my car, picked up some well deserved Starbucks for the day, we had our morning visit to decompress and relax. Then when the clock struck 11:00am, it was showtime.

Doors opened to the public at 1:00pm and all vendors were required to be there beforehand to set up, of course. When we arrived to start setting up, I was welcomed with a landyard that said "Sarah Cowan. Author", and let me tell you, that one small thing is one of the many things that really made everything feel real. So when we got there, it was when all the nerves started crashing down on me. I was nervous. The perfectionist in me wanted everything to go perfectly. But I couldn't help but get worried about the main thought of 'did I bring enough books?', 'will I sell out of books?', or the worst haunting one 'what if I don't sell a single book to anyone?'. As what I liked to joke about, was that Jessica was the brains of the day and I was only the body. Especially at the start of our day, I was very flustered. Forgetting which box or bag I put what in, feeling lost yet trying to keep a cool composure. Those first day jitters were almost getting the absolute best of me.

But by time my table was all set up and looking pretty, I sat down at the table with my sister still at my side and was given a mini pep talk as the doors opened. Jessica brought up a very good point at the beginning of all this. She said that a simple goal to have is that if I sell one book to someone I don't know, I have achieved a simple yet super important goal. And from when those doors opened, that became my goal. Sell one book to someone I don't know. The foot traffic in the venue was pretty slow all day, which was okay because I felt like I was able to ease into the day rather than being thrown in and getting very overwhelmed with the surplus of people.

Roughly an hour into the event, someone approached my table and began browsing. Giving them my best self, I was able to show off my books in the best way. And within the first hour, my goal has been made. The person at the table purchased one of my books! My very first sale! I was able to sign it for them, and send them on their merry way. Want to know the best part? During this whole transaction, my mom came out to support me and her and my sister were talking only a couple feet away from my table. So they had the joy of watching my first sale. After that moment, I was just enjoying the high and living my afternoon.

During a bit of a slow period of the event, I took some time to go check out the other vendors and authors. Start making connections and support my new found friends. And I was absolutely amazed with how supportive and friendly all the other authors and vendors were! There was probably around 20 or so of us vendors and authors in total. During my walk around, and wearing my lanyard with pride, it was easy for everyone else to spot that I was another local vendor like them. I bought a couple books from some authors, did some book trades and some said they would come over to my table to check out my books.

Eventually, they did end up making their way back to my table (in addition to a few other customers) and I am happy to report there was even more connections and a few sales!

By time the day came to an end, I was feeling so fulfilled and felt like I was living some sort of high that wasn't going away anytime soon. Did I sell out all my books? No. But did I make connections and meet a ton of new authors and get the day to spend with a bunch of like minded, creative people? Absolutely. And that, to me, is worth much more than any book I could've ever sold. The only way I can describe it is that I felt that I was surrounded by my people. During the event there was an authors panel where some of the authors would go up on a stage and there would be questions that they would have to answer. I had the opportunity to be a part of it, but I decided that since this was my first ever book event I was attending I thought that it would probably be best that I sit that one out and not overwork and stress myself out too much.

As the other authors were being asked questions on their writing processes, hurdles they have had to overcome, and just writing questions as a whole, hearing each of their responses I couldn't help but find myself nodding in the crowd, laughing at what they say and agreeing with everything they're bringing up. During that panel is when I truly had the moment of "these are my people. They write and think exactly like I do". Which was a very interesting revelation to have because there is no one in my friend or family circle that does what I do. Nobody writes like I do, especially in a professional and published way. So hearing all these ladies talk about their stories and their personal experiences, truly warmed my heart. I felt seen, despite being the one sitting in the crowd.

After packing up my table and heading back home after a long but fulfilling day, Jessica and I couldn't stop yapping about the event and what I could do to further my writing career. Let me tell you, our conversation continued to spark my little entrepreneurial brain and I have already been thinking and planning of different things that I can do to amp up where I currently am. Keep levelling up and keep getting better. I've already submitted some applications for some markets for 2026. So let the new year bring me good luck, good writings, and good connections!

~

So if it's there is one thing that I learned during the entirety of this journey of attending my first market, it's that you should really take the risk. For so long I procrastinated about getting myself into a market. I worried I wasn't going to be good enough, that my books weren't good enough, or that my plan was going to completely blow up in my face. But fun fact about risks, if it goes wrong, everything will still stay the same. If I didn't apply, everything would have stayed the same. Our brains can always be flooded with negative thoughts, stopping us from taking the risk. Stopping me from applying to that market. Stopping me from getting myself out there. But taking that risk can honestly be the best thing for you. It can change your life for the better, and in my case, it absolutely did. The joy of that advice is that it isn't tailored just for authors and writers like myself. That can go for any average person, just like you. There's many different risks that people back down on and can't get themselves to follow through on: asking that person out, speaking whats on their mind, applying for that job, asking for a promotion, or moving away from that dreaded small town and into the big city. Big risks require big changes. But since life is always evolving and always changing, we've learned to get comfortable with change. In whatever way it presents itself. Taking that risk, whatever it may look like for you, could seriously change your life for the better. The only thing holding you back is yourself. Take that risk, even if you're scared it'll blow up in your face or just scared in general. There's this quote I've lived by that said that all it takes is twenty seconds of insane bravery. Twenty seconds of courage and I promise you something great will come from it. That ties in beautifully here. Because use that twenty seconds of bravery to take that risk. And something great will come from it.

If you are to take anything away from reading my journey, let it be this:

Take the risk. Let the uncertainty guide you to your next path of greatness.

Write soon,

S. Cowan