Whether it be a book signing, book fair, festival, or something related where you've been granted a table, you're going to need some important items! You'll need to grab passerby's attention, and stand out from the rest! While all you *technically* need for an event is yourself and your books, when you have only these items you will likely not reach your full sales potential. Without additional steps to grab people's attention, your booth will look bland and consistent, and you'd have to work extra hard to reel people in. This list will help you decide what to bring to your event, and while the more the merrier, sometimes you won't have the space, money, necessity, or time to bring it all. Before we dive into the list, let's talk a little bit more about spacing. You don't want to clutter your table, or block potential consumers reach to your work. My rule of thumb is a spacing between items no smaller than three inches and no greater than six. This way, you maximize your space, but don't appear cluttered and disorganized. Furthermore, you should also have a 3-6 inch space between the edges of your table and your items. This keeps the chance of your stuff getting knocked off low, and lets you hide personal items in the back behind your display (like snacks and pens for signing). Secondly, when displaying your work, you want to use what I've coined "stair formation." When someone views your booth from front to back, their gaze should climb up as if stepping up stairs. Shortest items in the front, and tallest items in the back, but nothing directly in front of the other. The "stairs" can also have an auditorium shape, with the smallest in the center and the "steps" encircling it. Here's my "stair formation" at the Heartland Book Festival! You can see it's a bit of both auditorium and regular stair style. YOURSELF, PREPARED. Whenever you have an event, you should be prepared to talk and stand most of the time. Standing is your secret weapon. It makes you look more approachable, which results in more people interacting with you. In reference to talking, you should be prepared to answer and describe your work. Be prepared to make eye contact, another secret weapon. But above all, be prepared to smile!
YOUR WORK. What I've noticed a lot of authors do with their books is display their entire stack. This is unnecessary, and a waste of your space. You need one display book, held upright with a stand, so your cover can catch people's eyes. I like to put a paper in my display book that sticks out and says "pick me up!". Then, you'll need one stack, just to remind consumers that you have plenty to sell. Store the rest in a box under your table. A PEN. You need something to sign your books after someone purchases them! Stay away from sharpies! They bleed through, and nobody wants sharpie bleeding through onto the rest of the text, making parts harder to read. I'd also stay away from fine point pens and ballpoint/gel pens. Fine point pens might "bend" through the paper when you press down to hard, and gel pens can smear. I use oblique calligraphy pens (size 2.0), and you don't really have to know calligraphy to write with them (the secret is to hold them at one angle, using the prefered tip you want to write with)! They have the appearance of a sharpie, but they don't bleed through! Yay! If you don't want to use calligraphy pens, I think regular fine point markers would work. INFORMATION, YOUR WORK. For an event, you'll need a paper for general information on your work (held up in a paper stand). Sometimes minor information is provided on a little card by the event itself, but you are not required to use it, nor do I recommend you do. You'll want larger, bolder text of your work's title, and you'll need to list the price(s). If you have ratings, include some/one of your best ratings. To fill the space on a sheet of paper, if this doesn't already, rewrite the blurb in larger font (as this could be more eye-catching). INFORMATION, THE AUTHOR. In another paper stand, have a sheet about yourself. This is where I display my website, facebook, and blog links. You may include a tid-bit about yourself, something that could cause people to strike a conversation with you. INFORMATION, TO-GO. For those who are interested but not quite committed to purchasing your work, give them something to take home with them. The little reminder in their pocket that may later convince them to pick up your work. Business cards are more professional, and I'd recommend them first, but you can also hand out bookmarks, something that appeals to readers. On the front, have information about yourself: your name and links where you can be found. On the back, have some information about your work: its name, where it can be located, and/or a blurb or rating. LARGE ITEM. To complete the set of stairs, I had a large (relative to the rest of my table items) painting made by my friend, an artist. It's of one of the characters in my book. It caught many eyes. It was very unique as well (though large items are unique in general), so if you can afford a painting on a 12" x 20" canvas, I'd recommend it. Some other large options are posters. You don't want any repetition, so make sure your poster is unique from your informational papers. I'd have it focus more on your book, or make it interactive. For example, have large, bold text of your favorite quote in your work. Or, have a question like "What do you love about reading" and sticky notes for others to pin to it. EXCLUSIVE ITEM. I did not sell as much at my first event as I did my second. Why? I believe it was because of my exclusive item. I offered a free short story, only obtainable by purchase at the event. An exclusive item is not necessary, but I'd highly recommend it. It tells possible consumers why they should by your work now, and not later. It helps you make sales. MARK YOUR AREA. Make your table unique from others' bland white tabletops with a banner or tablecloth. I chose a banner, though not all event spaces allow for them, and they can be costly to print. TRUSTY SIDEKICKS. Bring scissors and tape! You'll never know what'll happen. I also had a paper cutter with me, but this is only because I hand cut my own bookmarks. It came in handy if I needed to trim any! Hope everything goes well! Happy eventing! PS. Don't forget to reach out for me if you need help!
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More InfoErin blogs because she wants to help other young adult writers and new writers. It's aimed to educate others on the writing and self-publishing process. If there is anything you'd like to know that she hasn't covered yet, please contact her! |