My apologies for being so absent from the blog-front for a while. I’ve been hit and miss with it for about four months now. I have some health issues that sap my energy at times, and I have to pace myself. I actually wrote most of this blog months ago, but it’s time to finish it. So here is my attempt at climbing back on that horse and seeing if it can give me a ride to a couch where I can take a nap.
Let’s dive in!
For indie authors, one of the biggest challenges faced is the matter of encouraging people you don’t know to check out what you’ve written.
It’s all well and good that your friends and family might be interested in what you’ve written (or they might feign interest), but what about beyond your family?
There are many options available to you to get word out, such as advertising, blogging, Facebook, etc., but a lot of these are slow-moving and can be quite discouraging.
Running a book table, however, can be a great way to meet some new people, develop some interest in your book, and to get your book out there to new readers.
Now, very rarely can I manage alliteration, but somehow it happened in this blog when it came to talking about Book Tables! So, let me introduce all the titles starting with the letter “P”!
1. Professional look
2. Pleasing Display
3. Powerful Signage
4. Pushing Friendliness
5. Phenomenal Draw
6. Prepare for Sales
7. Practical Matters
1. Professional look
You need to dress the part.
I don’t mean you need to wear a ball gown or a tuxedo. You need to dress in a way that fits with your book. If you’re selling middle-grade fiction, don’t wear a suit and tie. If you’re selling a book about fishing, consider wearing that awesome hat with all the lures stuck in it. It helps to create the “feel” of the book for people.
This is not something you have to go overboard with, just don’t wear a spacesuit when selling a book on knitting. Well… maybe you might want to. Truthfully, I’ve never been to space, so I don’t know.
2. Pleasing Display
I would recommend you buy yourself a table (one that folds in half, so it’s easy to transport) and a cool fitted table cloth that hangs down to the floor (mine is all black, and it looks great). It will keep your table and display looking sharp and help people to recognize you as a professional.
Your books can then be laid out in a cool display on your table, and your extra books can be set on the floor under the table (hidden under the table cloth).
3. Powerful Signage
Don’t underestimate the value of proper signage. It should “scream” what your books are about or what they are like. One of my hashtags is #bewarethechicken, and a mom saw that on my printed banner from across the hall once and brought her daughter over to check out the books on my table (because her daughter likes chickens). Sure enough, they walked away with a set of books.
Banners and signs can be ordered and printed on vinyl so they last and they can be shipped to your home, often for very little cost. Take a look around for some good sites that offer printing and watch for a sale. You might be surprised how cheap you can get a large banner to hang on the front of your table!
4. Pushing Friendliness
This one is IMPORTANT! Don’t be afraid to say hi to people. It will help to draw them in, open up conversations, and introduce people to your books.
If you are at a place where there are other sellers, interact a LOT with the other people at the other tables. First, you can meet a lot of great people. Second, they may buy your books. Third, they have connections that might be helpful.
At one, I made a connection with someone who pointed me to a store that carries indie books. That store is now carrying my books.
Say “hi” to EVERYONE. It’s surprising how many will simply wander past your table if you do not interact.
5. Phenomenal Draw
You should have a draw. It’s fun.
I would recommend that you have an opportunity to sign up for your newsletter at your table, and everyone who signs up gets entered into your draw to win a copy of your next book!
It’s a great way to create some excitement as well as to build your newsletter list. You can have them sign up on an iPad or print little cards for them to fill in their email address and name.
They say the newsletter is the bread and butter of a lot of authors… don’t miss out on this! Make sure you have a giveaway and a draw. It attracts people, and it allows for some extra interaction.
6. Prepare for Sales
Accepting all kinds of payments is crucial–nearly half your sales (or more) could be credit card. I highly recommend using SquareUp. They take about 2.8% per transaction, but you can use this referral link to save yourself the transaction fees on the first $1000 in sales. Not bad…
Here’s a blog on how Square can be useful to you as an author.
You will also want to have a Cash Box with a float (different sized bills and change). Imagine someone says to you, “I’d like one of each of your books, but I only have a $50. Do you have change?” and you say, “No.”
I’m sure that didn’t take a lot of imagining which leaves you some imagination left in order to imagine that person walking away without your books.
If you have a series, it is important to have a discounted price for a set of books. You can do the price for the whole series and maybe even give a little extra something with it. You can also do a set with two different books (maybe the first book in two different series) for a discount. People love a discount, and it helps to get the books into their hands.
About 95% of my sales are book sets. My wife made up a cool paper band to put around the sets. It has Velcro on it and looks great. I can open it, sign the books, and close it back up again.
7. Practical matters
Have bags. You can order bags from places like Staples or Amazon, just be careful to get the size that’s big enough for your books. Too small and you’ll struggle to get your books in there. I use bags with some extra space in the bottom (the bottom spreads out a bit). It’s ideal for more than one book.
Have pens. You’ll need them for signing books and for people to fill out the forms for your draw. Don’t have “just enough” pens. Have loads!
Have free stuff. Find something affordable that you can give to people with the name of your book on it. I gave away water bottles with a label we printed ourselves. Now, water bottles are currently going out of “vogue” (as a middle-aged man with an unkempt beard, I don’t get to use the word “vogue” often enough so there it is), so water bottles might not be the best choice. Now… a reusable water bottle might be a good idea, but you’d want to print your label right on the bottle.
Have a second person to help you.
I like to have a second person with me to help with sales and to allow me to slip away when needed (the health limitations I mentioned leave me needing naps… that may sound odd, but it’s me. Too many people, noise, lights, etc., is overstimulation and without a nap, I struggle a lot). When you’re both at the table, the second person can focus in on the transactions, leaving you free to interact with people, sign books, and share your story!
While it’s not necessary to have the second person… it sure is nice.
There we have it!
Make sure you comment below with some of the lessons you’ve learned along the way doing your own book tables!
Here’s a picture of my son and me along with Author Mark Gunning at a book table event. Now… just because Mark didn’t have anyone at his table at that moment doesn’t mean we were awesome and he was not. He is awesome, and he has awesome books.
For further reading, here’s another blog on book tables:
https://gjstevens.com/2019/01/08/authors-life-book-signing-event/
Shawn
