It’s halfway through October, and creeping ever closer to the day on which I will close the doors on The Scribbling Lion for good. I still have several excellent books in stock, and I’ve set the prices as low as I can afford to drop them; there’s even a coupon on a couple of them, for folks who watch my new YouTube channel or subscribe to my newsletter.
(Haven’t done that yet? Here you go!)
Since I won’t be going out of state to any conventions at this point, I’ve closed out my sales tax accounts in Maryland, South Carolina, and North Carolina. All that’s left is Virginia. I’ll shut that door at the end of December, after Christmas. (Edit August 2023: I did not, in the end, shut everything down. I mothbolled the Lion during the pandemic and am rebooting as we speak.)
Speaking of Christmas, this is an excellent time to clear out my inventory with orders. How about SISTERS OF THE WILD SAGE, a magical collection of stories by Nicole Givens Kurtz? Or CITY OF WEIRD, a fantastical anthology of weird Portland tales? I still have cookbooks, one copy each of THE HEARTHSTONE INNKEEPER’S COOKBOOK and STAR WARS: GALAXY’S EDGE. If you’re more interested in epic fantasy, I have all seven books of the CHILDREN OF THE DESERT series — five main, two side novellas — in stock and ready to ship. I have the second and third books of Angela P Wade’s EDWARD RED MAGE series in stock — if you want the first book, just contact me. It’ll be a bit of a wait, given holiday printing demands, along with shipping mayhem, so order that sooner than later!
Wander through the shop, as there are many more titles to be had than what I can reasonably list here. I’d planned on a busy convention season in 2020!
By the way, if you’re missing convention companionship, take a look at ConTinual, an ongoing virtual convention that’s running over on Facebook. There are panels, and seminars, and meet & greets, and a vendor room, and live performances, just like an in person convention. I’ll be presenting on at least one panel in November, so keep an eye out for that!
In person conventions coming back in 2021 is dubious, in my opinion; the economic reality of many conventions is that they run on such a thin margin that this year has completely destroyed their savings buffer. If they’re lucky, their host hotel released them from the contract and they have a chance at starting up again next year; if not, the funds to run a convention just aren’t there. Also, a high proportion of the vendors, writers, and artists that draw attendance in the first place are just as desperately dry, and are, like The Scribbling Lion, effectively out of business.
So virtual meetings, or much smaller meetings in person, are going to be the way forward at least through 2021, I think. It’s going to be an interesting year….
