Book Marketing

 Book Festivals are generally organized by a book club or the local library. They charge a low fee to authors, inviting them to set up a table and show their books. The festival will ask for authors to submit their biography, a photo, and some information related to the books that they will be offering at the event so they can do PR and make brochures ahead of time. Sometimes they have educational talks. It is best to have a goal of showing your book, rather than selling the book, because as a general rule, most authors only sell a few books. 

Planning for a book festival: There is a transition from writing college papers to writing a professional book, and it should be evident in what you present. Part of becoming professional is setting up a mojo. Tables are usually 8-10 feet long. It is a good idea to bring a tablecloth (I buy lightweight waterproof fabric shower curtains that are the same color as my logo). If the event is outdoors, I provide a way to tack down the tablecloth. At the very minimum, you should bring business cards that tell others who you are, the name of the book, and how to order it. I recommend a simple banner (like those available from Vistaprint) featuring the book cover that can be displayed along the back wall or on the front of the table. Pull-out or pop-up banners are popular as well.

Book board signs are more difficult to display but can be read across the room. I bring no more than 20 books to the event. If it is outside, or there is some distance between the parking lot and where the event will be held, I recommend putting the books into a rolling ice chest. You can put other items on top of the ice chest and move it along easily. If the weather turns foul during an outside event, you can store the books in the ice chest, where they will be protected from the elements. It is nice to display a few books on a stand on the table; inexpensive ones can be found at Ross or Hobby Lobby. Some authors get creative and make their own book stands.

When you have a lot of books—or a series of books—you may want to invest in an expandable bookshelf appropriate to the size of your books. I have one and keep it in its box, pulling it out whenever we need it. To plan for the event, I set it up in my office and have my office manager fill it with books. Then she removes the books and packs them separately for the trip to the event. This way, we can set up quickly, because everything is preplanned. 

Some events require a pop-up tent. I purchased one online that matches my logo color. Event spaces are always rented as 10’x10’ spaces, so an average tent will work well. I suggest buying the sturdiest one you can afford. The low-cost tents will fail when you need them most—in inclement weather. 

Our pack-and-go book event kit includes:

• Tent (if it is outside)
• 2 fold-out tables (6’ x 2’)
• Two table covers
• Book stands (2 for larger books and 4 for smaller size books)
• Mascot (We have a big stuffed frog as the mascot for our children’s books and he looks nice sitting on the table next to the books. He is indestructible, and he doesn’t mind being smashed into a container). 
• A plastic container of books with a lid. Again, if it is outside, and may be stormy, we prepare for it. 
• We have a large vinyl advertising banner that has Velcro along the top and loops along the bottom. We can attach it to the side of the tent for protection from the sun, wind or rain. It is a sturdy sign with large lettering that can be seen across the event. 
• · We bring a couple of flags. Some events do not permit certain types of flags, so I advise you check on this prior to packing them. We have our logo on a 1ft x 1.5 ft flag, and we were creative, attaching it to a pull-out painting handle. We affixed a rod to keep the flag extended. We can bungee the flagpole and extend the pull-out to several feet above the tent, helping shoppers locate our booth. I have ordered several of these types of small flags for authors with their book on each flag. They fly it above their area. You can insert the flagpole into an umbrella stand as well if the event is inside. 

We also make sure we have the ability to take money. Many people do not carry cash these days, and you will sell more books if you offer the option to pay by credit card, Zelle (https://www.zelle.com/), Venmo (https://venmo.com/), or PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/).

The most common small business credit card app is Square Up. You attach a bank account where you want the money to go, and they send a penny to the account. You confirm it, and the account becomes active. It takes about a week to get it going because of all the confirmations. It is not necessary for you to be a licensed business to set up such an account; any individual can set one up. I advise putting your name as the ‘business’ on the receipt and omitting your personal address. It is free to set up and charges a small fee for each purchase. (https://app.squareup.com/login)

Usually, with book events, they will request each table to submit a book. Then later in the day, they have a drawing with an opportunity to win free books. Sometimes they use them as raffle items. At the start of the event, I generally locate the sponsor and hand over my submission. The sooner the better, because they will display all of the submissions on a prize table—you may as well take advantage of their PR. 

Most commonly, I see authors rush in to set up, bring 50 books, have homemade business cards, and neglect to talk to other vendors. They see the other vendors as competitors rather than working together to sell everyone’s book. They sit stone-faced, waiting for someone to come along and buy their book. When books don’t sell as briskly as they hoped, they become sad….Again…conventional book marketing is about SELLING the book. Don’t go there! 

The best way to enjoy a book fair is to prepare in advance by setting up everything at your house. Fix the table the exact way you want it to look while at the event. Put all of the items on the table (including books) and evaluate how it looks. Make changes… and pack only the items you need. Make an effort to minimize the setup and have a ‘face’ for the table. The colors, brochures, bookmarks, business cards, press releases, banners, and flags should match. That is called “Branding.” If you are not familiar with the term, do a bit of research. Your book becomes the pivotal point for your brand (unless you have a series—and then you should have a logo which will help others to connect the group). *Tip: If you order from Vistaprint, they make suggestions regarding branding. (https://www.vistaprint.com/)

More Events

Local Events that invite people to set up a table. Some require a business license, but most are inexpensive and do not. Just check when registering. Women of the Moose was one of my best festivals! Don’t reject an invitation to attend an event because it was not a book event. Again, consider your target audience. Will some of those people be at the event? 

Do not allow the cost to deter you from attending an event. If you are challenged to come up with the fees to be in an event, often, if you volunteer to help out with it, they will give you a courtesy booth spot. Free is good. 

As a rule, if I am invited to an event, I give it a try. If it is not a good fit for me to attend, I forego it next time. For example, we were invited to a festival at the local Christian school. We quickly discovered that sticky little fingers are not a good place to put our nice children’s books on display. This was before I understood the value of recognizing the ideal client. We brought children’s books to a children’s event. The books are not sold to children, but adults. We turned our staff into book babysitters!.