I’m back from the big Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. SPAWN had a large booth where some of our members displayed and sold their books to a crowd of around 150,000. (SPAWN is Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network) http://www.spawn.org
People came out to the festival, which was held at UCLA, despite the fact that temps were in the 90s. They came to buy books and to meet their favorite authors and other celebs such as Valerie Bertinelli, Mary Higgins Clark, Michael Connolley, Sandra Dijkstra (literary agent), Maxine Hong Kingston, Dr. Laura Schlesinger, Jonathon Kirsch and Tommy Lasorda.
Is a book festival a good place for an author to sell books? Well, yes and no—sometimes and sometimes not so much. Some books sell and others just sit there. Your book will do better at some festivals than at others. Some festivals attract serious readers/book buyers and some draw lookiloos with nothing else to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon; and many of whom left their wallets at home.
I attend several book festivals each year and I’m always experimenting with booth design and sales approach. I observe other authors and I attempt to discover their secrets to bookselling success. Here’s what I’ve learned:
• You really must have an appealing and/or interesting cover. This weekend, the favored book was one that pictured dolphins swimming in vivid blue ocean water.
• A title can be a draw for some people. The book most picked up in our booth without solicitation was one containing the word “Halloween†in the title.
• Your booth should have a theme. I sell many more copies of my books on writing and publishing from the SPAWN booth than I do if I join others in a generic, no-theme booth. People come to the SPAWN booth looking for help, advice, information, etc. about writing and publishing.
• People will gravitate toward an attractively designed booth. Large interesting posters, a generous bouquet of flowers and tasteful decorations related to the theme of your book, etc. will definitely catch people’s eyes.
• Personality plays an important part in book festival success. Genuinely likable authors who reach out to people sell more books than those who just sit back and wait for the sale.
• Freebies and samples can raise your sales quota. Authors who offer something for free or who serve food treats, for example, can attract a crowd and sometimes sell more books.
If you’re an author with one or more books to sell, try setting up a booth (or share a booth) at a local book festival or flea market. Watch the calendar section in the county newspaper to find such events. Contact the Chamber of Commerce in other cities to see if they have book festivals scheduled during the year. Go to the Directory of Book Fairs at http://www.lights.com/publisher/bookfairs.html
Check out my article on “How to Work a Book Festival so it Works for You,†at http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/promo_bookFestival.htm
If you have a stalled or failing book and you feel like giving up the whole authorship thing, stop—read my new ebook, first. Let The Author’s Repair Kit breathe new life into your book.
http://www.matilijapress.com/author_repairkit.html