The rules are:
Sign up, grab the banner and make a list.
Keep your list to between 5 and 25 items. You can list whatever you feel like (except for adult type content.)
Sign up, grab the banner and make a list.
Keep your list to between 5 and 25 items. You can list whatever you feel like (except for adult type content.)
Book Fair Smarts That Go Beyond the Elevator Pitch
(Or, Lessons I Re-Learned Just Last Saturday)
1. Come prepared with everything you need: books, bookmarks, square reader, change, eye-catcher/poster, business cards, giveaways (candy, short story on one page, writing prompts, buttons), and a light snack (or lunch, depending on the time).
2. Follow all the rules, sign-in procedures, etc.
3. Smile. Be positive. Make the best of whatever table you've been assigned.
4. Walk around and meet your fellow authors.
5. Love on your fellow authors - compliment them on their book covers, book blurbs, or their set-up.
6. Give yourself a book budget to spend before the event and buy at least one book from a fellow author. (Maybe two, especially if someone looks like they've had the toughest day ever.)
7. Walk around the room a second time and/or third time.
8. Make the book fair rock with conversation. This is a good attention draw for readers who might be scared to approach authors sitting by themselves at their tables. Plus, it helps everyone's nerves.
9. Help other authors sell their books. If another author gets up to walk around and someone approaches their table, give them a smiling welcome for that other author and even a little blurb of their book (this actually will help your sales, too).
10. If you are approached by a writer who hasn't been published yet and they want to tell you about their writing, listen and ask questions. Encourage them and don't hard sell your book. (The more you converse about how much you both love writing, the more likely they will pick up your book. Writers are often readers.)
11. Say thank you to the host of the event at least three times: upon arrival, on leave-taking, and after the event via mail or e-mail. (You can also add in a fourth or fifth time, if the host walks around the book fair and takes pictures.)
Bonus(sorry, more paragraph than list):
Something I learned at last weekend's event
A university bookstore offered to carry author books for the event - meaning that they would take care of the cashier/check-out details. I worried that as an indie author that I might look bad for not using this service.
It turned out that the bookstore check-out area was in a different room at the event. Most authors carrying books through them didn't have more than one sample book at their tables. These authors sold zero books because the customers had to meet the author in one room, go to another room to buy the book, and then return to the author room to have their book signed. Customers didn't make that journey.
The most experienced author in the room had books with the university bookstore and books at his table. He hand-sold books from his table but also told customers about the bookstore. He writes full time, has books through a large publishing house, books through a small press, and books that he's self-published. He knew all the angles. (I took notes.)
Sorry, I never quite finished this post and I haven't been around for comments today - had a busy day with an afternoon of exhaustion and a headache that can only be described as "my brain hurts." I'll make the rounds in the next few days.
