• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • About Us
    • Meet our Team
    • Events
    • Contact Us
    • Publishing Imprints and Divisions
      • West Wind Press
      • White Parrot Press
      • FIRESIDE Press
  • > Our Authors
    • Suzanne ‘Sumi’ Fyhrie Parrott
    • Lizzy Armentrout
    • Allen Ballard
    • Leslie Compton
    • M. F. Erler
    • Joni Jesme
    • Diana (Weinberger) Kilpatrick
    • Lori McNamara
    • Carrie Merrill
    • Patricia Murphy Minch
    • Dorothea Wollin Null
    • Mary Richards
    • Amanda Schrader
    • Mel Smith
    • Glenn Voelz
    • Pat Wiley
  • News & Highlights
  • Our Catalog
  • > Get Published
    • Publishing Imprints and Divisions
      • West Wind Press
      • White Parrot Press
      • FIRESIDE Press
    • Submissions
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Global Distribution Partners
    • Self Publishing? We can help…
  • Blog
  • || Bookstore ||
  • || MY ACCOUNT ||

First Steps Publishing

Oregon Coast Publishing : For Authors Seeking a Solid Foundation

You are here: Home / Self Publishing Authors / 10 Tips for Selling Books at Book Fairs and Conventions

10 Tips for Selling Books at Book Fairs and Conventions

March 24, 2017 by Jeremy Soldevilla Leave a Comment

The following article by Terry Cordingley contains great information for anyone planning on exhibiting their books.

The 10 Commandments of Selling Books at Book Fairs, Conventions, and Festivals

1. Register for the event as early as possible.

• Contact the event organizer.
• Find out the cost of the booth or registration.
• Register for the event and inform your marketing representative.

2.  Spread the word about your appearance at the event.

  • Online newspapers free event calendar listings
  • Free online listing at Craig’s List http://www.craigslist.org/about/sites.html
  • E-mail invitations to your address book
  • Church bulletin
  • Split the cost of the booth with another author, if festival organizers allow booth-sharing.
  • Decorate the booth with a banner and tabletop posters announcing that the author is available to sign copies of books.  Make the booth as attractive as possible!

3. Establish a family member or friend to help you during the event.

4. Be prepared with conversation starters.

  • Have a one-minute pitch ready to go that tells people who you are and what your book is about.  Practice it so that it seems natural and not forced.
    • “How did you hear about the event?”
    • “Are you an avid reader?”
    • “Do you live in the area?”

5. Have a guest-book on your table for people to sign their name and e-mail address.

  • By doing this at every event, you can create a large mailing list for e-blasts or newsletters about your book.

6. Practice good booth etiquette.

  • If you are sharing a booth, be considerate and polite to your fellow authors.
  • Don’t complain to your fellow authors if the event isn’t going well and you aren’t selling many books.  Attitude is contagious!
  • Work out ahead of time how you will approach customers at the booth so you aren’t overwhelming them and pressuring them to buy books.
  • Be friendly and approachable.
  • Don’t just sit at the booth and wait for people to come to you.  Engage passersby in conversation and offer them any giveaways you may have.  Use the opportunity to tell them about your book.

7. Arrive early, allowing plenty of time to set up for the event.

Items you will need for your booth:

  • Books. You will need to determine how many books you will need to have available for the event.  You can always keep extra copies in your car, if needed.
  • Giveaways. Just like at trade shows, attendees are always looking for free items.  Have a supply of bookmarks, business cards and push cards on hand to help promote your book if people don’t buy a copy on the spot.
  • Décor. Most festivals will give you a table and a chair, and not much else.  Find out if you’ll need table coverings, a tent or awning (if an outdoor event), or a power supply for any video or audio needs you may have.  Also make sure you have pens and posters to advertise who you are and why you are there, preferably with a photo of your book cover on it.  You may even want to have a banner made for your book that you can re-use at future events.  You’re only limited by your imagination.

8. Have book ordering information available in case you run out of books.

  • Business cards and push cards can be used for this purpose.

9. Send a thank-you card to the organizer after the event.

  • If the event was especially successful, send a letter of commendation to the event organizer. They may ask you to be a featured author next year.

10. Book early for next year’s event.

For more information about book marketing and promotion, read Terry’s Cordingley’s self-titled blog at http://terrycordingley.blogspot.com.

 

Originally Published March 24, 2017 on ChristopherMatthewsPub.com. Christopher Matthews Publishing is a division of First Steps Publishing.

Filed Under: Self Publishing Authors Tagged With: book fair, conventions, marketing tip, self-publishing

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

BE PART OF THE FIRST STEPS PUBLISHING FAMILY

First Steps Publishing: Fireside Press, White Parrot Press, Westwind Press

Your First Steps to Success

At First Steps Publishing, we take raw manuscripts and turn them into carefully designed and well marketed masterpieces people want to read.

About Us

Contact Us

Get Published

Get Notified of New Releases

Advanced notification of our latest books, including pre-order discounts, contests and author signed copies and more.
| VIEW PAST RELEASES |

* indicates required



Powered by MailChimp

Footer

Important Links

Contact Us

Our Publishing Imprints

Submission Guidelines

Submission Form

Visit our Bookstore


BOOKSTORE

Self-Publishing?

FIRST STEPS PUBLISHING is a Traditional Publisher accepting AGENTED SUBMISSIONS only.

FIRESIDE PRESS, is the Open Submission hybrid division of FSP, offering the same professional services.

First Steps Publishing regularly monitors all FIRESIDE PRESS titles, looking for new, talented authors.

While there is no guarantee of the number of titles First Steps signs each year, FIRESIDE PRESS is a way to get your foot in the door.

MEMBER OF

  

Copyright © 2021 · Lifestyle Pro by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress