Why I Love Book Signings!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to set up a table at a local craft/vendor fair. It wasn't a book event. In fact, I was the only person there selling books. But there can be a huge advantage if the event is attracting people who might be your type of readers.

 

In this case, the event had people who made jewelry, soaps, and candles. There was someone who sold Pampered Chef, Norwex, and even Color Street. These are all vendors that tend to appeal to women and given my readership is 80% female, that means there should be a decent amount of people who come to the event who could be potential readers.

 

I know some authors hate in person events. I LOVE THEM!

 

Why? Because I get to interact with other people like me who love to read and introduce them to my books.

 

I've attended book conventions and local book signings over the years and there are advantages and disadvantages to each. 

 

With book conventions, you know all the people who are attending are readers. They may have genre preferences, but they all love books. However, there are usually 50+ other authors there trying to sell their books as well. If you're a well known author, this isn't a problem, but if you're new, or aren't overly social, you may find it difficult to make connections and stand out from the crowd.

With local book signings, this isn't the case. Most of the people who'll walk by your table won't read novels, and even less will read the type of books you're selling. But that doesn't mean it's a waste of your time. Especially if you pick events that target the types of people who tend more inclined to reading your genre of books.

 

For example, if you write sci-fi or fantasy, you might set up a table at a local comic con. And if you write books that feature animals, a pet expo might be a good fit. For me, since I write romance, I'm looking for events where a lot of women attend. That will give me the best chance to connect with people who will enjoy, and hopefully buy, my books.

 

Like with book conventions, you need to make sure you have something people can take with them. Not everyone who stops by your table is going to be ready to buy a book from you right then and there. Some will want to do a little more research...read reviews.

 

While business cards are helpful in some cases, bookmarks are better. Personally, I prefer rack cards. They're larger and you can fit a lot more information. I usually put the book cover and the blurb. I have these for all my books, usually grouping series together, to make it easy for people to tuck them into their bags and take them home for easy review later.