FRONTIER DAYS By Morgan Mandel

YA Author, June Sproat, Romantic Suspense Author, Margot Justes, Mystery and Romantic Comedy Author, Morgan Mandel in the back.

This year two special author friends and I will be selling and autographing our books in a booth at Frontier Days Marketplace, at Recreation Park, near Belmont and Miner, close to Stage West in Arlington Hts, Illinois on Saturday and Sunday, July 5 and 6 from 10am-6pm

Although I've been a Festival volunteer for over 15 years, autographing at Frontier Days is a new experience for me, but an appropriate one.

With the publication of my debut mystery, Two Wrongs, I crossed the line from unpublished writer to published author and entered a new frontier. Before, I wrote only for myself. Now, I write for everyone. What that means is I'm constantly busy getting word out about not only Two Wrongs, but also my new romantic comedy, Girl of My Dreams.

Some, but not all of the ways I've been doing this are autographing my books at booksignings, participating in panels, attending conferences, putting up displays at the library, even riding in the Festival parade with my brother and nephew handing out bookmarks alongside the car. I've also been known to stick my bookmarks and business cards at such out of the way places as advertising kiosks at rest stops or bulletin boards at restaurants.

In addition to that I spend countless hours on the Internet networking with fellow authors and meeting new readers. I created Book Place at http://bookplace.ning.com to provide a venue for booklovers and book industry people to promote their wares. I joined My Space, Good Reads, Bebo and countless other sites. Every day I get new invitations of places to join, many of which I accept. I've even become a book editor on an online magazine at www.juniorscave.com/morganmandel.html

My time is not my own which can be a discouraging thought. On the other hand, I love what I'm doing and do it willingly. You might say it's Frontier Days for me every day as I explore the territory of being an author.

Happy Fourth of July!
Morgan Mandel
www.morgan mandel.com
http://bookplace.ning.com
www.myspace.com/morganmandel
www.juniorscave.com/morganmandel.html
http://http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com
http://mysteryturtles.blogspot.com