Yesterday, we participated in the Bookish Bazaar at Old Stove Gardens. I say "we" and well - that manifested as Josh staying home with the kiddos and me running the event solo. Happily a couple friends stopped by and provided some support and assistance throughout the day!
Applying to be a Vendor
I received an invitation on May 18th to participate from Ash at Lost the Plot Books. It was also a $0 tabling fee, which was very appreciated.
Vendor Equipment
After the last event I purchased a 3 drawer Sterilite unit and a set of ankle weights (for the small 1 lb sandbags) to help streamline our event equipment. Both purchases were very useful this go round! Because Old Stove Gardens' event space is covered I didn't have to bring the canopy, canopy walls, or canopy weights, which made it much more feasible to load in alone. This time I took our two 5' seminar tables and all the table decor and 20 of each item that we have to sell. It was far more efficient and I don't feel like we over-prepared this time!
Getting to Ballard
It's only about a 30 minute drive for us (when traffic is actually moving) down I-5. And although traffic definitely has it's snarls in Seattle lately, it was an easy drive yesterday. I arrived around 12:15 to start setup.
Setting up the Booth
I hand carried all of the equipment in through the loading dock in about 10 trips, which isn't bad, but I definitely am looking into getting a collapsible dolly to make that process faster. We just have to find one that works on pavement and on grass/gravel, etc.
The Main Event!
I didn't count how many people stopped by the booth to just browse or chat, but over the course of the event we ended up having 20 customers. We sold 26 books, 3 totes, 1 sharpie, and 3 bookmarks for a total of $604 in sales. (A funny thing that we noticed is that I had pretty steady sales throughout the afternoon and I ended up selling the same number of books as we did last time. )
Loadout
The event ended pretty promptly at 7 PM and we hustled to get packed up. I had help on this end from a couple friends who had stopped by (BIG thanks on this because I was very tired.) Once we got the car loaded up, we headed back into the brewery to grab some food and drinks before heading home. I made it home about 9 PM!
So here's the gritty details of the day:
Full day 11:45 AM - 9:00 PM - event ran from 2 PM - 7 PM
Reused last time's equipment - $0
3 wide drawer Sterilite tower - $20
Ankle weights - $31
Total Booth & Equipment cost: $51 (still reusable!)
We didn't buy any new merchandise for this market and we went with what we already had in stock. Business cards, free bookmarks, paperback books, "Bans off our Books" bookmarks, mini totes, sharpies
Total Merchandise cost: $0 (sort of)
Booth Fee - $0
Food for 2 meals for 1 adult: $36
Final thoughts
I'd absolutely do this one again. It's nice to know that I can do a market alone (though it's definitely easier with help!) and I'm learning more and more about what we need to have to do this sustainably.
Being part of the book community here in the PNW has introduced me to so many incredible people and I really love being able to share our hopepunk stories with them. We're looking forward to lots more events to come!
Next Up:
Saturday, June 27, 2026 10 AM - 3 PM Northwest Book Fair
Saturday, August 8, 2026 10 AM - 4 PM Stanwood BookFest
Sunday, August 9, 2026 12 PM - 4 PM Puget Sound Book Festival
We hope to see you there and happy reading!
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