One of the ways to market yourself and your books is to do in-person signings. For most authors, it’s one of the more fun parts of the job. You get to meet and talk with readers and sell your books. Since I’m traditionally published, most of my events have been connected with a bookseller, which is easy for me—I just show up to the event. However, this past weekend, I was lucky enough to be invited to be a vendor at the 10th annual Little Falls Cheese Festival in Little Falls, New York. This is a very large festival—people came from as far as Wisconsin and Texas, and the estimate for this year’s attendance was between16,000 and 17,000 people. It was my first time selling my books on my own at an event, so I wanted to share with you some things to consider, depending on the type of your event.
For the outdoor event, I needed:
• Canopy tent
• Tables and chairs
• Cash box
• Smaller bills for the cash box to make change
• A square reader for credit cards and/or Venmo
• Signage for pricing, your bio, and list of books for sale
• Signage may also include a banner
• Signage may also include a large display board of one of your books
• Other signs to draw people in, i.e., “Get Your Book Signed by the Author”
• Book holders to display your books
• Tablecloth
• Your books
• Pens to sign books
• Bookmarks or other swag
You might also want to have a notepad where they can write down their email address to subscribe to your newsletter. However, because this was such a large festival and my booth was often crowded with people, I opted to just offer my bookmark, which includes my website. I also slipped a bookmark into each book I sold.
Give your books a whole-dollar flat price with tax already included. You don’t want to be dealing with figuring tax or handing back a bunch of coins. Make it as easy as possible for people to whip out their cash and buy a book! I opted to charge a higher price for credit card sales, which covered the fees and also incentivized customers to use cash.
People will ask what your book is about, so have a short pitch ready. Mine was as simple as, “It’s a cozy mystery where my protagonist is a cheesemonger who owns a cheese shop and solves murders in her spare time (as one does).” I could tell they basically wanted to know why an author was at a cheese festival, so that gave them an answer. But my cheese pun titles pretty much sold themselves.
Think about your own comfort. Plan for weather. We got lucky with a warm, sunny day, but weather can vary, especially when you have to get there early to set up and be there all day. We brought a blanket for the chilly morning and dressed in layers. Splurge for cushioned chairs. You’ll be sitting most of the day. Remember to bring plenty of water and (not too messy) food for yourself. You don’t want to have to leave your booth to stand in a food truck line for lunch.
If you have someone willing to help you set up and deal with sales while you sign and converse with readers, take someone with you! My sister came with me, and I literally could not have done it without her help. Plus, it was a lot more fun to share the day with her.
Decide how many books to take. Since this was my first time at this event, I wasn't sure how many books I should buy for it. Honestly, I didn’t think enough about it. I’d bought most of my books (at a discount) a year or more ago and hadn’t been to many self-sell events, so I was anxious to finally get rid of them. The last thing I wanted to do was buy a ton more and come home with a bunch of them. Most likely you’ll be doing future events where you can use those books, but since my series is complete and most of my events include a bookseller who supplies the books, I didn’t want too many left over.
I ended up taking 120 books, which wasn’t enough. The festival ran from 10AM – 5PM, and I sold out by 1:00. I'm certain I could have sold at least 50 more books. I wish I had taken more, but another thing to plan on is a learning curve when it’s your first time attending an event.
Consider which events to participate in. Figure how much it will cost you (don’t forget the possible cost of the booth space) and how many books you’d have to sell to make a profit. You want it to be worth it and know (as much as you can) what you’re getting into. Part of the reason this one was so successful for me is that not only is it a very popular event, it’s a cheese festival. So, my Cheese Shop Mysteries fit right into the theme. They only allow cheese-related vendors, so every vendor had artisan cheeses they made or sold in their shop, or they had items related to cheese or dairy. My books not only had a target audience for their cheese theme, but unlike the cheese sellers, I had no competition.
Even with my expenses, I still made a nice profit, and I had a lot of fun. I got to visit a new town—Little Falls, NY—which is very much like the quaint small towns we cozy mystery authors write about (minus the murders), and I met so many wonderful people. The festival was exceptionally well organized and a great experience, all around. There’s nothing better than meeting readers excited to read your books! Chatting about mysteries and cheese all day? Sign me up for next year!
If you want to know more about this year's Little Falls Cheese Festival, The Daily Post has a great article and video!
Writers: At what kinds of events have you sold & signed your books?
Readers: At what kinds of events have you met an author and bought their book?
This is a very good summary of what authors should consider for festival book signings. I've also found it's good to know what those near you are selling so if someone isn't interested in your type of books you can refer them to others (and they'll do the same).
ReplyDeleteI've had success selling at church Christmas sales. These don't tend to be large, so it has never been anywhere near your 120 books. People show up at these, looking for Christmas gifts and expecting to spend money. Most sales are of the "Oh, Aunt TIlly loves mysteries! And she's so hard to buy for."
ReplyDeleteYo do have to be very careful with surcharges for credit card purchases. In some jurisdictions they are forbidden, and they must be disclosed in your signage. Discounts for cash or check are a bit less regulated, but still need to be apparent to the casual purchaser.
How wonderful, Korina! I've sold books at lots of festivals, but have never had this kind of sales day. Congratulations!
ReplyDelete