A few weekends ago, BatCat Press attended AWP for the sixth year in a row, but for the first year with students! Sarah and I, Olivia, represented the press in Minneapolis in an effort to spread our name and sell some books! I know I can speak for Sarah when I say that we had a great time being out in the writing/publishing community and proudly wearing our logo on our shirts!
We got to talk to tons of different people, from aspiring authors, published writers, librarians looking to collect unique books, and even Matthew Mahaney (Your Attraction to Sharp Machines) and Kevin Haworth (Far Out All My Life)! We found ourselves eagerly explaining BatCat to absolutely anyone who walked by (including a very nice blogger who wrote an article about us!), handing out logo pins and little circle, spinning pamphlets with all of our information inside.
Sarah and I did so well with all our talking that we completely sold out of the copies of Surviving we brought with us, plus all the first editions of Poems in Which You Die and our 2013 Broadsides! For the two of us, writing “SOLD OUT” in red Sharpie and then putting out sketchbooks and Where Nothing Can Grow in the open spots was such an adrenaline rush! We were driven from the start, but as the conference went on, we only got more confident.
We didn’t just sell books, though! You see that green box right there, in that last picture? I made that! I’m so proud of that box, but I suppose what’s more important is the pins inside of it. Each section was full of handmade pins that had five or seven syllable phrases on them – when someone picked up a pin from each bin, they ended up with a haiku!
“Where are you going?
The designated driver
Follow who I am”
Between talking to customers and visitors, Sarah and I had down time that was either dedicated to fry-eating or picture-taking. Personally, this is my favorite photo from the weekend:
I’ve never felt more proud of anything I’ve done than when I was standing behind a table, talking about the press and the projects I’ve worked so hard on. I’d like to thank everyone who stopped by and listened, and to my parents and Miss Mulye for getting me out to Minneapolis. I’m expecting to go to AWP in Los Angeles next year, and I could not be more excited!
From behind the table,
Olivia C, BatCat Staff Member
BatCat Press 
Those haiku buttons are BRILLIANT. I love your logo and your press looks absolutely phenomenal…. Maybe someday I’ll apply a project to you guys, if you are taking open applications at the time!