This week, steampunk author Dana Fraedrich joined me on Zoom to talk about attending book fairs as an author. Last year alone, Dana has attended around 20 book fairs and events, which makes her a bit of an expert.
Guest-starring Bruin, Dana's dog.
Here are some tips from Dana:
- Research the other attending authors for the event you're interested in to make sure it fits your niche.
- If possible, attend the event the year before to see how it's set up and whether it's right for you and your books.
- You won't get along with everyone in your event, but do be nice and friendly :)
- How many books you bring with you to sell depends on your budget, but no matter how many you take, bring twice as many of the first book in a series.
- If you decide took a half table, make sure the other author is someone you can communicate well with so you can help each other out on the day.
- It's a learning process, so be patient with yourself.
- If you're giving away free stuff like bookmarks, make sure you include all your info on there, like social media links.
- Read her Live Show Guide (https://www.wordsbydana.com/blog/2017/12/8/writers-life-live-show-guide)
- Read her tips on saving during live shows and traveling (https://www.wordsbydana.com/blog/2019/6/14/saving-during-live-shows-and-travel)
- Read her post on Vendoring at BookCon (https://www.wordsbydana.com/blog/2018/7/3/writers-life-vendoring-at-bookcon)
Your action step this week is to research book fairs near you. The one Dana mentions is the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville (https://www.visitmusiccity.com/things-to-do-in-nashville/events/southern-festival-books). In Britain, you can look into the London Book Fair (https://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/en-gb.html). The event I attended was the British Book Bash (https://www.facebook.com/BritishBookBash/), which is in a different city every time. Once you find one you're interested in, see what the other vendors are selling. Attend as a guest first to get a feel for the event.
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