Member-only story
Author Income Streams, 6 of 15: Event Book Sales
“Event book sales” refers to the income you make selling directly to the public/audience members at, during, or after your events. For example, it may be the sales you do after a program you give at your local library or to a business organization, or the sales at a launch party, or the income from a purely sales event, such as a book fair, convention, or outdoor festival.
Thinking of the setup for this type of income as a retail event will support your efforts. You are, in these cases, a pop-up retailer. Go beyond simply exchanging a book for money and professionalize the experience. Every little thing matters. These little things accumulate powerfully and contribute to sustained and improved results over time.
Sales Table Presentation
Approach the setting up of your sales table as if you were a department store window dresser or other artiste or scientist of retail display.
If you can control the location, make it as high profile as possible. For indoor events where sales happen after an author program, this typically means locating the table near the door so all will see it and pass it when they enter and again when they leave. If it’s an outdoor event, seek something in a well-lit, high-traffic area, often by the food or music. At a large-scale indoor event, procure for yourself, when possible, something in a highly-visible, high-traffic area. Near the front. At the ends of aisles. Near the food or restrooms. Near other popular booths. Sometimes being near busy booths will leave you in the shadows, but usually you benefit from the proximity and spillover attention.
Add height, depth, dimension, color, variety, and other elements of visual interest. Bring a tablecloth. Add a branded table banner. Consider posters of your book cover/s on foam board, having some books gift wrapped and ready for quick sale (they’ll serve as a subliminal reminder to keep your books in mind for gift-giving occasions), bookmarks/postcards or other free swag, a candy dish, email sign-up sheets, flyers for your next event/s, etc. Make it an ongoing practice to find new ways to tweak and refresh your display.
