Why the Fryeburg Fair?

Many people ask me why I take so many days of my life to set up and sell books at the Fryeburg Fair. Why? It's about so much more than selling books--although that's nice too! Read on...

Now that my hips and feet are recovered from nine days on the concrete floor of the

Craft Center at Fryeburg Fair, I reflect on why I have done it for five years. Yes, such a

volume of sales in one week puts enough revenue in the robertwbooks bank account to

carry me through to Spring. And, yes, exposing my novels to an audience far wider than

southern Maine gives me great hope for the future. Yet, for me the most welcome

reward of the selling marathon is re-meeting so many readers who return each year to

say hello and look for new releases.

Like Eileen who purchased Spinster from me in 2021, came back in 2022 to buy

PROSPECTS and then a year later for Francena Hallett’s Heart. This year she was

pleased to be able to get her hands on Conflicting Roots without any explanation from

me to her. As usual she wore a cute and colorful hat and this time she had a male friend

with her. “Robert this is my friend, Fred,” she said. “He likes your books, too.” They

walked away hand in hand. He carried the book.

Then the young man with MS whose wheelchair was parked in front of my table by his

dad. His mother says “I don’t know if you remember us, but Paul loved your book about

the miner. I read it to him.” Of course, I remembered how two years ago the family

stopped and checked out my wares. Paul liked PROSPECTS but also liked a novel by

the author next to me. We both made our pitches, then stood aside in silence. Several

minutes went by while he considered which one to take, his eyes going back and forth

between book covers. When he pointed an index finger to mine and smiled, I almost

cried while signing.

There are more stories like this. The storehouse of memories grows larger each year.

Oh… one more. A couple walked up to my table and the man puts his hand on top of

PROSPECTS. “I read this one,” he says.

“Did you like it?” I ask.

Without hesitation he responded “loved the book, hated the ending.”

I laughed loudly with the couple and told him he might like Francena Hallett’s Heart which starts a month after the ending he didn’t like.

“It has a happier ending,” I told them.

The woman bought it for him.

And those are just some of the reasons I return to the Fryeburg Fair again and again.