Cozy Times at Leavenworth’s Indoor Holiday Market

On Saturday, November 2nd, I made what may well be my final live appearance of the year at the annual Indoor Christmas Market in Leavenworth, KS. It ran for a mere 6 hours from 10:00A.M. to 4:00P.M., but it was truly a breath of fresh air after my last three appearances in October. At this point, you’ve heard plenty about my experiences at live venues, so I’ll try to sum this one up as briefly as I can.

The Indoor Holiday Market takes place on the first Saturday in November every year at the Riverfront Community Center. This is a very neat venue, as it appears to be the basement of an old train station, which has been converted into a gym and track. It is in these areas that vendors set up their wares, which is very neat, as it makes it impossible to get lost. Anyone walking the circuit of the track will end up back in the same spot eventually, and will see pretty much all the vendors along the way.

Venue aside, there were many things I liked about this event. Firstly, it’s indoors, which is a much more appropriate environment for selling books. Secondly, the table and chairs are provided, so there’s no need to take up valuable space in your car with those big, clunky items (though a cart is still recommended, of course). And finally, there’s the entry fee. At a mere $20 (plus the minor $2.13 fee that the booking website takes out), this is the most reasonable venue I have ever sold at!

Crowds were never huge, but they were decent, and they were steady, dying off only around lunch time and near the very end. How much of this had to do with the weather, I’m not sure, as it was overcast most of the day and began outright pouring down by 4:00. However, it was nevertheless a decent turnout, the primary audience being women, particularly older or middle-aged ones, though there were a few families and couples about as well. Once again, I was the only book vendor present, though as I’ve seen before, that is no guarantor of success. In this case, however, it paid off, and though profits were very modest, I would nevertheless consider this event a winner with potential to grow.

Without a doubt, I would return to do this next year if at all possible, and I would definitely recommend it to any authors looking for a fun little day out that is about as stress and hassle free as any vending session can get. No complaints: this one was just fun!