Bookcrossing and the UK Unconvention 2017

I'd not heard of Bookcrossing.

Well, not until a few months ago, when someone tagged me in a facebook post asking for local authors who'd be willing to speak at a Bookcrossing convention being held in Loughborough later in the year.

I got in touch, we had some discussions, and as a result I was booked to do a creative writing workshop on the Saturday morning for folks who'd like to have a go at it.

Now, put simply, Bookcrossing is a bit like an adventure for books. They are released into the wild, or left in designated bookcrossing places, and each book released has a unique number that means you can track its journey throughout the world. I suppose it's like the biggest book swap ever, or a large scale free library.

The Unconvention ran from Friday through to Sunday. I had various other commitments over the weekend, but decided to spend the better part of Saturday with the bookcrossers. Mainly because I don't feel it's right to turn up, do your talk/workshop, and beetle off again after a few book sales. Being an author is also about creating relationships with readers, and showing yourself to be human, approachable, and professional.

Anyway, after a slight detour to find the RNIB College (Mr Squidge and I have lived in Loughborough most of our lives, and he STILL took me to the accommodation block instead of the vocational part!) I unloaded my books and props for the workshop and had a wander to see what was going on.

The shop was selling bookplates, stickers, bookmarks and other bookcrossing related items. The raffle - full of chocolate, books, tea, alcohol, books, souvenirs from local cities, more books, and a range of other goodies - was done in the US style, where you bought your raffle tickets, then put them in the pot corresponding to the goodies you wanted to try winning. (A good way of not ending up with something you didn't want!)

Raffle goodies! No, I didn't win any...

I was given a goodie bag, with lots of lovely things in it. (Note this year's Loogabaroga Festival leaflet - have I told you I'm doing a school visit again?)

All the essentials - map, tea bags, notebook, Uncon logo stickers,
bookcrossing goodies, Loogabarooga info and even a pair of ear-rings!

Then there was the book buffet... It was amazing. Basically, there were loads of books - all labelled uniquely, and ready to be taken by the bookcrossers for themselves or to be set free. I picked up quite a few, as you can see from the pics! Loved how the books were categorised. None of this A to Z author name rubbish! It was things like 'Covers with people wearing hats'. 'Plants and gardens'. 'Rockets and space ships and cars and aliens.' It certainly made you root through the titles, because there was no telling what you might uncover.

'Number books'

'Orange and red covers/titles'

My bookcrossing stash... All very different genres.

There was also a not-so-secret-santa, a way of giving a gift to a fellow bookcrosser. Throughout the day, folks kept unwrapping their boxes and finding all sorts of bookish and sweet treats.

Anyway, the first author was due to kick things off at ten. They didn't show up; unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond their control, they couldn't attend, but the organisers weren't informed until too late to find a replacement. Except...

As I was there, I was asked if I could do a short talk instead! So I did. An off-the-cuff, totally impromptu brief history of how I got to be an author and a peek at how I work when I'm planning a novel. They seemed to enjoy it, even though I wasn't who they were expecting!

A brief stop for coffee and book signings, then it was my creative writing session. A small but select band decided to give it a go, and I offered a few of my favourite writing prompts for them to try. I think my colour charts were the favourite! And we even had some time to feedback the ideas and some very short pieces before lunch.

Hard at work...

Spoilt for choice on the colour front!

Lovely mix of colours - and the writing wasn't bad, either!

After lunch, a few more folk turned up (adding to the book buffet! I was very strict with myself and didn't pick up too many more) and there were some interesting conversations.

I had taken books to sell, because I'd have been daft to pass up an opportunity to sell a couple of books (as it happened, I sold lots more than I expected to - hooray!). And the subject of author sales came up; I think some of the bookcrossers were defending the 'passing on free books even though authors lose sales' comment that it sounded as though they've had thrown at them in the past. But d'you know what? I don't mind at all. Bookcrossers are obviously very keen readers, and they buy a lot of books. So authors DO benefit. You wouldn't expect every member of one family to buy their own copy of a book they all love, would you? Well, using that example, bookcrossers are simply part of a big family who share what they've loved reading...but one of them still has to buy the book!

I don't sell thousands of books - I don't even know whether I sell hundreds - but if someone decides to bookcross something I've written, and as a result someone enjoys a book they might not have otherwise been exposed to, I reckon that's a win, both for me and the reader. Especially if they look up what else I've written and decide to try something else...

For the first part of the afternoon, we settled into either a bookfolding workshop or a talk by Nicola Tallis, author of Crown of Blood; the Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey.

Now, I've lived in Leicestershire pretty much all of my life. I love Bradgate Park, where Lady Jane Grey used to live. I knew of her as the nine day queen who eventually lost her head - even did a school project on her once - but I hadn't realised just how clever she was or how determined a young woman she seemed to be. Definitely not the weak and feeble victim she's often portrayed as being in the history books. The talk was fascinating, and I bought the book so I can learn even more about Lady Jane Grey.

The whole day was great. To be in the company of so many people who love reading and do everything they can to share their love of books with a wider community was a real privilege. I was made, as a bookcrossing virgin, so welcome, and was inspired to join the bookcrossing community. When I tried, I discovered that, at some point in 2015, apparently I did! I can't remember doing that at all...

Anyway, if you are a bookcrosser and fancy finding me, I'm StarMark (!) of Loughborough. I have logged my book buffet books, and although it's going to take me some time to read them, I WILL send them out into the world at a later point. Probably via The Purple Pumpkin's bookshelf...

On the Sunday, lots of books were released into the wild in Loughborough; here's the Sock Man, draped in reading material! I understand Queen's Park and the bandstand were targeted too, so if you found one of the books and are enjoying it, let me know! Better still, log onto bookcrossing - you can do this anonymously and don't have to join - to say where you found it, what you thought, and where you're leaving it for someone else to enjoy...

Oh, and to finish, this made me smile. It was on the wall in the ladies loos at the college...