Short & Sweet Events are the Best!

If you are an artist struggling with discoverability, this can help you. 

In the last two years, I found out more and more that «small is beautiful ». By this, I mean that short and sweet events work better for an indie SF author and artist, than the big-city bookfairs where you are lost in a sea of authors. 

Among the modest events I attended as Echofictions' director and creator : The Safran (1-2 day event near Niagara), the Grafficker Alley (header picture: a one-day event in Mississauga), a 2-hour Collingwood authors meeting, a two-day Steampunk fair in 2024, and various author readings.  

From those short events, I drew the following points:

Advantages of the short & sweet events:

• The table fees are way less expensive (often under 100$ or even free in some events)
  
• The short driving distance from home means not having to stay at an expensive hotel.
  
• The public going there will be made of “niche” public who already appreciate your genre.
  
• The duration is often a single day.
  
• In a smaller exhibition space, people who get there take the time to actually *look* at the booths.
  
• The quality of the interactions with the readers is better.
  
• And you get to meet fellow artists without the pressure of a crowded event

Challenges of the short & sweet events:

• Getting your stuff and banners on site! For the Grafficker Alley, I had the help of my husband to get me to the south of Mississauga.

• The cost in personal energy and time can be variable. It is not something I envision doing in my 80s. But I know some fellow writers who do! 

• The sales might not be as high as you expect. (But there are other advantages like meeting new fans.)

• the table location can be inaccessible to most of the public (in one library event my table was on the fourth-story, while most of the public stayed in the lower levels.) See sales point.
  

Small and Big events with Echofictions in October and November:

• Can*Con  16-18 octobre 2026 Ottawa
  Venue: Brookstreet Hotel, 525 Legget Dr, Ottawa (Kanata), ON
  The Can*Con is the stomping ground of Canadian SF writers. 
  
  
• An October Interlude: Author Event at High Park Library October 21, 2026 Toronto
  6:30-8:00 pm Author readings, plus books available
  Venue: High Park Branch, 228 Roncesvalles Ave, 416-393-7671   
  
  

• Salon du livre de Rimouski 5-8 novembre 2026 
  Venue: Hôtel Rimouski, 225 Boulevard René Lepage Est, Rimouski, CA G5L 1P2 

• Salon du livre de Montréal –  25 au 29 novembre  2026
  Venue: Palais des Congrès de Montréal, 1001 Place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montréal, CA H2Z 1X7
  This is a bigger event, but Echofictions will have its stand #2867