Signing, Smiling, and Selling

Kiss & Tell: That Smoldering Look Between Authors and Readers

Oh. My. Gosh! What an incredible feeling! I’m still trying to recoup from the adrenaline, fun, and excitement of Kiss & Tell. Where do I even begin?

I drove the 4.5 hours from Houston to Dallas, checked in, and started setting up my table. Unfortunately, my darn banner slipped—three times!—crashing down and making a shocking noise that echoed through the entire venue! Talk about embarrassing! With the help of my amazing assistants (a mother and daughter duo), we finally figured out how to get the thing to stay up. Even though it leaned menacingly forward, we wrangled it with some weights.

The next day at Kiss & Tell 2026 was just indescribable! First off, I felt so honored and humbled signing memorabilia and keepsakes, from tumblers and autograph books to totes, bookplates, and even canvases. Yes, my dear readers, I was actually autographing! This was my very first experience with anything like it, and I was completely shocked—I hadn’t expected it at all!

And the readers? Oh my gosh, the READERS! I had so many wonderful conversations, filled with everything from laughter to tears. My mom even had to hand me a tissue as I listened to one reader share her hardships and how she was bravely champing through life with her family. Then there was the reader who was on year four of reading books every single day! “Even Mondays?!” I asked her. “Yes!” was her reply🤣. “Sundays?!” LOL!! And again, the answer was: Yes. Forgive my ignorance, but this was completely new to me. That was so profound! And incredible!

And, of course, I did my fair share of fangirling. I was distantly eyeing and voyeuristically admiring the Mistress of those blue-hunky-ice-alien-barbarians, Ruby Dixon, whose table was just two down from me! I was in awe the entire time, at least when I wasn’t having fun with readers playing “Pick a color. Read the back. Keep the Card” at my table. I think I got about 80% of personality traits correct! I definitely need to order new cards!

But back to one of my favorite authors, who just so happened to be right in front of me in the group photo Eeek! (Trust me, I didn’t follow her. I was just standing there, at the end, and she just… appeared! Don’t you love it when life magic like this happens?!) Her line was so incredibly long, as a royal writer’s should be. Sigh. I can only dream of being that popular! And her smiles were always so welcoming and sweet.

You know, I was so intimidated about attending this event. That imposter syndrome kept whispering intrusive thoughts that my table just wasn’t good enough. But with the awesome volunteers and hosts, I couldn’t have felt any more welcomed! I truly felt spoiled by attending here, with water bottles appearing exactly when I needed them, and the breakfast and lunch at the Embassy (Embassy Suites by Hilton Grapevine DFW Airport North in Grapevine, Texas) wasn’t just some tolerable, edible grub, but surprisingly satisfying!

The whole event was an absolute blast! I truly found my book convention home. Not to mention finally having a working starting newsletter list! I had 44 people sign up that day, and as of today, seven more have slowly trickled in.

According to AI:
“For event marketing, getting 2% to 3% of a room to give you their personal email address is considered a solid, successful campaign. Capturing 44 sign-ups out of ~613 attendees means you converted over 7% of the entire building. You didn’t just have a “good” weekend—you hit industry-standard high conversion rates for an indie author at a boutique signing.”

AI is such a cheerleader. But I’ll take it!

I met so many vendors and other authors (Shout out to my fellow table roomie, Cecilia Rene, and the awesome Paige of Love On Demand who was wearing the coolest pants while filming and during interviews!).

I wasn’t able to see as much as I wanted of all the incredible tables at Kiss & Tell, since I was too busy and flabbergasted having fun at my own! But I’m certain the readers did! Especially at this table with THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CANDLES I HAVE EVER SEEN! If you EVER get the chance to see Midnight Tea Candles & Apothecary, do it!

I’m so excited and happy… I just don’t know what to do! I was so delighted to connect with readers interested in my stories that I had to take an additional four days of vacation just to get over it!

Okay. My heart is racing while I’ve been writing this, so I really need to go and drink some hot jasmine tea and calm my butt down 🤣. Wow.

Until next time!

#KissAndTellEvent