I’ll be gone over the weekend, so there will be no post Saturday or Sunday. I’ll be busy, busy, busy at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books (LATFB). SPAWN (Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) has two booths this year. Some of our members will be with us promoting their own books while a few local board members talk to booth visitors about their publishing projects and how a membership in SPAWN might help them to meet their goals of publishing success.
We’ll have books on display for members who can’t make the event. And we’ll be handing out hundreds of “SPAWN Catalogs of Members’ Books and Services.” We usually have wonderful ambiance in the booth among members—most of them meeting for the first time in person. And we have a great time chatting with each other and the many visitors to our booth.
Some of us, by the end of the day (or two days) sell boxes of books and others not so many. It depends on the product (the book), the sales pitch and the crowd. We’ve always known that some potential customers will not buy books on the spot, but collect promotional bookmarks, etc. and then order the book cheaper from Amazon.com. I believe that with the rise in e-readers, even more people are doing that. So it is most advisable for authors to have their books on Kindle, Nook and other e-readers as well as in print and even audio.
Does this mean that the book festival is becoming obsolete? Well, it may be time for us to look at the book festival opportunity with renewed expectations. I’ll give you my more educated opinion after this weekend. So far this year, the book festivals I have attended have not resulted in many on-the-spot sales. But this happens in certain venues and on certain occasions. I won’t know until my royalty statement comes in whether there is an upsurge in e-book sales after these events. I have a history with the LATFB, however and a track record for the types of books I sell. So it will be interesting to see if the sales of my hard copies remain consistent or not.
Here’s to exposure!!
By the way, did you see the comment left by an author after my post on the value of hiring an editor for your book project? Here it is:
“You’re spot on! I did not have an editor for my first novel and while many people commented that they liked the story, the main complaint was editing. I’ll never make that mistake again. You can find good editors who will work for a reasonable fee. You owe it to yourself to find one. Your sales will reflect your wise decision. ;o)”