Hello, everyone! It’s been a little while since I made a normal post, for which I apologize. But things are finally settling down after the last couple months of upheaval, so I hope to get back to regular posting again here soon. Beginning with a run-down on last weekend’s experience at Texas Furry Siesta!
I visited TFS 2023, but was not vending then. Needless to say, they were two very different experiences. For one thing, the vendor hall has moved since my last visit. No longer is it upstairs with most of the other rooms, but down near the base of Reunion Tower alongside a gaming room and some panel rooms. It is a bigger area, thankfully, but a little out of the way.
Unlike my last few events, I was accepted at TFS in advance for the entire weekend–a great value at merely $80! Aside from having to carry my belongings down the escalator due to unfamiliarity with the venue, setup was a breeze, and completed before 8:00 P.M. Thursday evening, so I felt no pressure throughout that part of the process. Very smooth, all told.
As for the vending itself, things were surprisingly slow to start. I made all of 3 sales on Friday, though things picked up Saturday, and even Sunday was fairly decent. I made enough to cover table, registration, and part of my hotel room–which I tend to count as a success.
Could sales have been higher? Possibly. As mentioned before, I don’t know if the location of the den was the best, though there never seemed to be a shortage of crowd coming through. Additionally, there was another sizeable book dealer in the same room. While I have dealt with such conditions before, having a literary monopoly is always a major bonus. I won’t blame crowd size this time, as I have more than once seen bigger crowds and far fewer sales. It’s often a toss-up at these kinds of events.
So, there you have it. Fairly successful, and I was able to accomplish a great deal of work on other things in between visitors besides! And of course, I got to oversee the release of my newest Knights of Aralia book while I was there, even if I didn’t get to discuss it with as many customers as I would have liked.
Would I ever return to Siesta? Absolutely! It’s still a fun, medium-sized furry convention at a lovely venue with plenty to offer from a visitor’s standpoint. As a vendor, I think there are probably bigger fish to fry. But if no other opportunities present themselves on that same weekend, I might just try TFS 2026.
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