Have you ever sat behind a display of your very own books at a book festival, greeting visitors in hopes that they will make a purchase? How many times have you walked away after a book festival despondent because you are toting most of the books you came with? How many of you have vowed never to pay for space at a book festival again? It doesn’t have to end this way.
Book festivals present great opportunities for authors. But you have to do your part. I suggest that you change your approach and your outlook.
What is your main objective when you reserve space at a book festival? Most authors say, “To sell enough books to make it worth my while.”
Have you ever considered the side benefits to participating in a book festival? There’s exposure, of course. If you stay in the game and continue promoting your book to your audience, exposure can lead to sales. Exposure is more valuable than many authors know. There are people who purchase books on the spot. But there are many others who don’t buy a book they actually want until they’ve seen it, heard about it and/or read about it numbers of times.
And exposure can garner other advantages, as well. Let’s say that your book features unusual gifts you can make for under $25. You might meet a stringer for a home and garden, country or craft magazine who would love to interview you for an article. A librarian might want to include your children’s book in their summer reading program. A small business owner might see your book on office organization and hire you as a consultant. An organization or corporate leader might take your card and call you several weeks or months after the event to order two boxes of your business management book for employees.
Exposure is not typically a one-shot opportunity. Very often, there are ongoing and far-reaching effects resulting from exposure.
Authors often say to me, “I did a book festival once. Didn’t sell many books, so I won’t be doing that again.”
I will sometimes ask the author, “Did you meet anyone interesting at the book festival?”
She might say, “Not really.”
I’ll say, “I almost always meet someone who offers me an opportunity of some sort.”
The author might then reply, “Oh yes—there was this guy who came by my booth. He gave me his card—what did I do with that? He said that he was in charge of buying goodie-bag gifts for conventions coming to town and he wanted me to give him a bulk discount price. I guess I forgot to contact him.”
Hellllooooo! That’s called an opportunity.
Some authors recognize the opportunities that occur at book festivals and still don’t consider book festivals worth attending. I know one author who met the producer of a syndicated radio show who wanted to put him on the air with his book. And another met a man who later filmed a documentary around the theme of his book.
New authors ask me what to expect at a book festival. I will talk about that in tomorrow’s blog post. I’ll also provide some tips on how to make your book festival experience a good (and profitable) one.