I've been publishing for about 13 years now, so I have a lot of experience with going to different signings, both traditional book focused events and local vendor/craft fairs. If you're thinking about attending one of these, you need to go into them with realistic expectations.
A little over a week ago, I went to an event in Atlantic City, NJ. It was a book centered event, meaning all the vendors there were either authors, or selling bookish merch.
It was the first event for this promoter in this location. Any time an event is new, there is always a question on how successful it will be. I've been to ones where I've sold a lot of books and others where I've sold next to nothing.
In this case, it did not go well and I could see the writing on the wall almost as soon as we arrived.
After parking our vehicle, we headed inside to see where we needed to go before unloading all my books. We went through a set of doors to access the elevators and immediately, we spelled urine. Not exactly a great first impression.
We took the elevator to the second floor and followed a long hallway until it opened up into a large room. To the left were more elevators and people waiting to get on them.
Once we got closer, we noticed a sign directing us down another hallway to a conference room. One of the organizers of the event greeted us and confirmed we were in the right place.
Back at our vehicle, we loaded all the books on a cart my husband's father loaned us, and went back inside. The ride up was uneventful, and we hauled everything into the conference room and found our table.
The set up went without a hitch and the organizers were attentive and came by to see if anyone needed anything. Authors trickled in, setting up their tables and preparing for readers to start arriving at 11am.
Only, they didn't. When the doors opened to VIPs, less than 10 people entered. With around 50 authors present, we realized quickly this isn't look promising.
The event ran until 4pm, a total of five hours. In that time, about 50 people walked through the room, only about half being readers. It was disappointing to say the least.
I'm not sure what doomed this event. Was it the location in the hotel? Was it because the event was in Atlantic City?
To contrast this, last weekend, I set up a table at a local vendor and craft fair. I was back on my home turf in Ohio and at an event I've done multiple times before.
For the first two hours of the event, I had more people walk by my table than I had the entire day at the Atlantic City event. Granted, not all of them were readers either, but I can't attempt to sell books to people who aren't there.
At the end of the day, I paid $150 for my table at the Atlantic City event and sold 5 books. I paid $60 for my table at the craft and vendor fair and sold 15 books.
This is the reality of book signings. You never know what you're going to sell. It's always a risk you're taking. But historically, I've sold more at craft and vendor fairs than I have at book conventions and the table fees are significantly less.
