The Reality Of Book Signings

 

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.

Pricing Your Book At Events

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a multi-author signing at a local indie book store. I shared a table with an author who was there with her debut novel.

 

We hadn't been there long when someone came up to our table. She ended up purchasing one of my table-mates books...with cash.

 

The other author is in her early 20's and said to me after the fact that she hadn't thought anyone would buy her book using cash, so she hadn't prepared for that. She had QR codes for using Venmo, Zelle, and Square, but no way to process cash...or give change.

To make matters more complicated, she was charging $18.99 for her book.

 

Now, this might not sound like an issue. I mean, its not uncommon for books to cost around $20 these days.

 

It wasn't the $18 that was the problem. It was the 99¢.

 

I published my first novel 14 years ago and I've done quite a few in person events. In that time, I've learned a few things and one of them is that you want to make transactions as easy as possible. Especially, when you're dealing with cash transactions.

 

After the reader left our table, I imparted some advice to the new author sharing my table. Make your book an even amount at events, so you don't have to carry change around with you.

 

I'm not talking about paper money. I'm talking about actual coins.

 

If your book is $18.99, then you'll need to have pennies on hand to give change.

 

Granted, most readers will say don't worry about it (at lease this has been my experience), but again, just make it easier on yourself and make the book $19.00.

 

For me, I typically sell my novels for $15.00 at signings. This is less than you can buy them for on the major retailers.

 

Why is it cheaper?

 

Two reasons. 

 

1) I'm not sharing royalties with a retailer. When I sell my book on Amazon, Amazon keeps 30% of the retail price, plus the cost of printing. When I'm selling directly, I don't have to pay that 30%.

 

2) It gives readers an incentive to buy the book from me right then instead of waiting.

 

Do you have to do this?

 

No. You can charge what you want for your books. But as an author who's done this for over a decade, it's something I've found has made my life easier and gives a bonus to readers when the choose to support me when I go to events.

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.