Tag: Book selling

The Making of a Book Trailer

As I mentioned earlier in a post, my hubby and I found a wood box trailer that I envisioned as a traveling book trailer for some of the events I attend in eastern Oregon. This post will show you the journey of the box trailer into my finished book trailer.

I and hubby had been watching the online selling sites for over a year trying to find a trailer I thought would work for my book trailer. I finally found one on craigslist and it happened to be not very far from where our oldest daughter and her family lived. While visiting them in December we looked at it and our son-in-law towed it to their house.

It was a simple wooden box trailer that had been built on an old camper frame. Nothing pretty but I could see the possibilities. I wanted wood so it would be easier for us to make changes to the body. It had a drop down back door, which we changed.


The inside had makeshift shelving and the fenders needed to be caulked around. The above photo is of the inside before we went to work on it.

Once the trailer arrived at our place we started cutting out the side windows and taking off the back door, making the opening taller.

One window cut out.
The doorway cut higher and you can see we pulled out the shelving.

When the windows were both cut out and we had more light inside, we made the new shelves that covered the fenders and made space to keep the totes that hold the extra books.

It took a bit of thinking on hubby’s part to come up with the way we would hold the windows up. And yes, we had many people tell us we look like a food vendor cart.

That is the apparatus we used but it was more refined by the time we finished.

We framed the inside of the window flap to make it look more finished and make it close tighter. We also put plywood on the inside of the trailer to make it look more finished.

We screwed slats to the outside of the trailer to give it the bat and board look. We both wanted to make sure the trailer had some character. Not just a square box.

Hubby thought hard and long and finally came up with a workable solution for the steps into the trailer. He wanted them sturdy but not too heavy that I couldn’t put them on if there wasn’t someone to help me. I had wanted a ramp for people in wheelchairs or pushing baby buggies, but the ramp would have been too steep to keep it from sticking out in the way of people passing by. As it is, there are only two steps and they are short steps. We also put hand bars on the sides of the opening so people can use that to help steady them. Many of the people I didn’t think would walk up the stairs did and they grasped the bars readily. I was happy about that!

I wasn’t sure what colors I would paint the inside but after finding the fabric I wanted to cover the shelf where the totes would be stored, I went to the paint store and picked up several of the sample cards. Then my friend and I went over them and I came up with these colors.

And with the curtain added… It made me happy to look inside of the trailer.

After the inside was painted it was time to do the outside, after I put a fresh coat of tar on the roof. I wanted a color on the outside that looked rustic but not old. It still needs another coat which I will do in the next couple of weeks. But the one coat works for now.

I almost forgot the doors! You can see how we glued tongue and groove pine together to make the two “barn” doors in the back. Hubby made metal braces that we bolted on and then we added the hinges and the latch.

The floor and stairs were painted with a gray floor paint.

What it looks like hooked up to hubby’s pickup. He took it to Sumpter for me since it was the inaugural run and he wasn’t sure how it would go. He pulled it there, helped set it up, and then came back on Sunday and hooked on to it and brought it home. We are putting some better jacks on it to stabilize and level it out better.

Note the flaps over the window to keep the rain from coming through the cracks when the window is open.

And this is what it looks like all set up and ready for a fun weekend of selling books! Mary kept saying she felt like a Queen. We didn’t have to worry about our tent blowing away when it ripped a canopy out of the ground and when it rained our books stayed nice and dry without us having to moving them to the center of the tent. We were definitely happy when we didn’t have to set up or take down a tent.

All set up and ready to sell books!

I am excited about how well this trailer turned out and how many compliments we received at our first outting.

Getting Ready for Sumpter Flea!

The past seven years I’ve been attending the Sumpter Flea Market every Memorial and Labor Day weekend in a small town in NE Oregon with my author friend Mary Vine. She had been attending the event for several years before she invited me to join her. We both have books set in the area and enjoy visiting with one another as well as selling our books.

We started out with just a couple of tables, book stands, and a canopy for our spot. We now have a tent, more tables, and more book stands. We have also established ourselves there and have repeat readers coming back to see what we have new or to add to their book collections from us. It’s fun seeing these people. I remember their faces but have a heck of a time remembering their names.

Cracker Creek behind the cabin

When I first started attending, Mary and her husband owned a cabin at Bourne, a ghost town 6 miles beyond Sumpter up a bumpy gravel road. It would take me nearly 30 minutes to drive the 6 miles in my car. That and the beautiful scenery and usually pretty weather. At Bourne, I would stay in a one-room cabin with bunk beds, no plumbing or electricity. The best part was sitting on the tiny deck of the cabin watching and listening to Cracker Creek.

I would take my dog, Tink, for company. We’d go for walks or when I wrote she’d sleep on one of the beds. There were sometimes several families staying at their cabins while I was there and sometimes there would only be a couple of families. A couple of times I’d wake up to it snowing or having snowed during the night.

Bourne one of the snowy mornings.

Mary said some people who have stayed up at Bourne have heard saloon music during the night. And others said they heard children playing. I didn’t hear either. I enjoyed my stays in Bourne, but Mary and her husband sold the cabin and now I Airbnb in Baker City.

I make book bags for each weekend. All during the year I either sew on quilts for grandkids or I sew book bags. These are bags that I give away with each book sale. It makes it easier for the buyer to carry their purchases. One time I had a woman show up at our booth saying she saw one of my bags and it reminded her she had to come get the next book in a series from me. So they do work!

book bags

Mary and I enjoy visiting, talking about writing, life, and watching the dogs that go by. Yes, nearly everyone who walks by has a dog or 2 or 3. We discuss what breeds we think they are and if the owner comes near our booth we ask to see who was closest to the right breeds.

This weekend, I’m taking my new puppy Nia and a granddaughter to puppy sit. She has to learn to go everywhere with me and be used to people, so we are starting her “training” now. It will be fun to travel with a dog again. The dog I lost in February, Tink, had traveled everywhere with me and I’m looking forward to a traveling companion again.

Nia enjoying the warm grass

It looks like it should be in the 90s. Hopefully, we’ll get a bit of a breeze or it can get hot in the tent, even though we put the sides up and are under large pine trees most of the day.

If you’re in the Sumpter, Oregon area come on by and say “Hi!” I also have some freebies I hand out.