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To the Bar Harbor Comic Con

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Clif and I are two homebodies who don’t travel much. We work from home, and if we rove too much, the work doesn’t get done. Also, we are acutely concerned about our carbon emissions, which means that nowadays, the car is primarily used for necessities, with an occasional trip for pleasure thrown in.

Going to events to sell books falls under the category of a necessity, as we have found that personal appearances work best. Fortunately, our little red Honda Fit—a.k.a Sparky—gets great gas mileage, and the hatchback allows us to bring books, tables, chairs, banners, and lunch. With careful packing, there is even room for our canopy for outdoor events. (Tootlepedal, this green bean is green with envy over your new electric car. Someday, we hope to follow your example.)

On Saturday, we took our traveling road show to the Bar Harbor Comic Con, about 120 miles from Winthrop. Tucked by the ocean and surrounded by mountains, Bar Harbor is surely one of the loveliest towns in Maine.

Here is a shot from the pier in downtown Bar Harbor. The day was overcast, but the picture gives some idea of the beauty of the town.

The Comic Con was a few miles from Bar Harbor Village. Like all Comic Cons, there was a lot of fun and folderol.

Here is a nearby vendor, Cheryl Rathbun of Myth’s N’ Monsters, with one of her marvelous creations. What would you call it? A merhorse? A seahorse? Whatever the name, she was kind enough to pose with her delightful creature. (How my daughters would have loved this blue beauty when they were young. I can picture them prancing around the house with them. Yes, there would have been two.)

And where else do you see a race between two BB-8s? And with  Batman at one of the controls?

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a crowd at this event. I suspect the day was good enough for yard work. I spoke with another vendor who had been to this Comic Con two years ago. Then, the event  was held in April  when the ground was still slushy and being outside was really not a good option. That year, the Comic Con was packed.

Still, we had a good time. Several people mentioned that they had heard of me and my books. When you are an indie author and publisher with a budget as big as a minute, this is always a great thing to hear.

Finally, because we live inland and stay close to home, we don’t often see the ocean. And that is always a treat.

33 thoughts on “To the Bar Harbor Comic Con”

    1. It is horrible during tourist season. Really, the best time to visit Bar Harbor is in May, when the weather isn’t too chilly, a few places are open, and there aren’t many people.

  4. That looks like a very subdued Comic Con. I dropped my girls off at one in London a couple of years ago and it was huge and the costumes were incredible. Also, nobody I saw there looked the type that had ever undertaken yard work – whatever the weather 😄

    1. Too funny! But remember, this is Maine, with a population of a little over a million. And Bar Harbor’s population? 5,000. (This doesn’t include the surrounding towns.) We are a rural sate, where, for the most part, people do their own yard work. 😉

      1. Seahorse (also written sea-horse and sea horse) is the name given to 45 species of small marine fish in the genus Hippocampus. “Hippocampus” comes from the Ancient Greek hippokampos (ἱππόκαμπος hippókampos), itself from hippos (ἵππος híppos) meaning “horse” and kampos (κάμπος kámpos) meaning “sea monster”. (Wikipedia and dictionaries)

      2. Thanks for the illumination! I knew none of this, and as I pondered your comment, I kept thinking back to the hippocampus part of the brain. Wasn’t sure how that applied. Again, thanks for the illumination.

  8. Bar Harbor looks lovely… & when you are selling books .. isn’t it the best thing of all when people have heard of your name and/or your books!

    1. Bar Harbor is very lovely. Because I am an indie author, It always takes me by surprise when people have heard of my name and my books. Getting out and about to various events has been a great way to promote my books.

  9. I think it’s hard to find craft shows, etc., that are consistently a good match for what you’re selling. It’s all about bringing in the right audience . . . and the only way to find out is to do the show a couple times and see if things click. It’s good you had an enjoyable day, though!

    1. Yup! We’ve become philosophical about the process as we discover which fairs are best for us. And for the most part, even if the fair is slow, we always find something to enjoy.

  11. Sounds like a great day, even if a little under-attended. I just finished the book a couple weeks ago and greatly enjoyed it. I see Maya has greater powers than we thought!

  12. Hopefully Comic Con will return next year to being an April event for larger crowds, but it looks like a great road trip in Sparky to see the ocean, the wonderful BB-8s and to enjoy those great moments of name recognition and talking about your books.

  15. I’m sorry the Comic-Con wasn’t better attended but these things happen and we do the best we can with what we’re given. I LOVE the photo of the BB-8s and Batman! Surreal!

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