Book FestivalsHere comes book festival season! We hear of a new book fest every day around the WWW office, and today received a cool post on how an author can break out from the pack to sell their work at a festival from friend and author Steve Piacente. So we wanted to share Steve’s post, along with another favorite from author Patricia Fry.

Ready to market your work at a book festival? These tips will put your festival book marketing into overdrive!

Break Out from the Pack at Book Festivals

Trade shows and book festivals are a great way to introduce your work to readers. One thing you’ll find at your first fair is that not all booths are created equal. Here are some tips to get you off to a running start…

How to Successfully Promote Your Book at a Book Festival

(Excerpted from Patricia Fry’s article How to Work a Book Festival So it Works For You.) There are hundreds of book and author festivals held throughout the U.S. each year where you can rent a booth and sell books. Authors can also secure booths at trade fairs, flea markets and art and craft fairs.

Stay tuned for our May 1 release of the new Winner Circle, with an interactive calendar list of book festivals throughout the country (and beyond!)

(Graphics courtesy FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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12 thoughts on “How to Make the Most of a Book Festival

  • May 10, 2013 at 3:29 am
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    Snazal will be showcasing their collectable book gifts set @ their book festivals on1st July 2013

    Snazal Showroom

    Unit 5 Vulcan Business Center

    Vulcan Road Leicester

    LE5 3EF

    SHOWROOM – LEICESTER

  • May 5, 2013 at 11:53 am
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    I really enjoyed reading this article because I started participating in book fairs last year and it was quite an experience! Yes I was disappointed that I didn’t sell more books, but the exposure was amazing. I love the advice on wrapping some of your books as presents and displaying them on the table. Great advice!

  • April 29, 2013 at 1:00 pm
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    The article was excellent. I have been to numerous book festivals and it is like the box of chocolates…you never know what you’re going to get. It can be a long day and you need to stay attentive to potential buyers. My books are related to crime, as I am a retired police officer. I spend a lot of time talking about police procedures and hopefully the talk leads up to my books. I try to be very polite with people, even when they want to discuss a bad encounter with cops. Thanks for the very informative article.
    By Dick Ellwood

  • April 28, 2013 at 6:41 pm
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    P.S. Thanks for including my piece, Shari and “Where Writers Win” team.

  • April 28, 2013 at 6:40 pm
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    I hear you, Nancy. The problem is that technology has made it easy for anyone to publish, and everyone is, which translates to a cluttered marketplace. Authors, whether self-published or published by a major house, have to get out to get heard. I have a friend published by a major house who’s in the midst of a six-month author road trip – with her husband and small kids! My bottom line is that when you finally get someone’s attention, you need to be ready. Most of my writer friends don’t enjoy the face to face campaigning. Unless you have thousands to spend on a PR campaign, however, I don’t know any other way. I use a combo of social media and personal appearances at book clubs, stores, fairs, etc.

  • April 28, 2013 at 9:15 am
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    Mirror and modeling, straight out of Tony Robbins. Yes, bring up something evidient that you have in common with your visitor at the booth. Lot’s of good suggestions; here’s one more–remember your audience is more intimidated than you, make them comfortable, notice them, and listen. And smile!

    • April 29, 2013 at 1:06 pm
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      You know, that’s true, Jane. We shouldn’t forget that most people look upon writing a book as an impressive accomplishment. Sometimes it’s something they’ve thought about themselves. Authors willing to talk about the back story – where they got the idea, what inspired them, etc. – will do well at book fairs.

  • April 28, 2013 at 8:51 am
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    Where can iI get a list of book festivals near the Chicago area? I am not able to travel too far afield.

  • April 27, 2013 at 10:56 am
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    Interesting article, full of good tips. It’s good for people to know that this is part of the business. Being an author is like many other jobs, there are parts of it you absolutely love, and parts of it you don’t. However, the article underscores most authors’ pet peeves. We sit alone in a room and stare at blank paper (or a computer screen) until we bleed and then the world expects us to “learn body language,” of potential book buyers, “practice a sales pitch,” etc., which means actually looking people in the eye and telling them, “This is the best book ever written; see the drops of my blood on every copy? Buy this!” Yes, authors need to be able to sum up the content of their book(s) and converse with skeptical strangers without running scared, but the conundrum of all writers is that we’d rather write. Quiet, introverted, creative people are usually not well suited for the sales side of it. If we wanted to pitch something we’d be in sales. I have had to stand in a booth like a carny barker and try to sell my novels. Not only is it desperately difficult, but it squelches the Muse for days or even weeks. Writers need to know, going into a Book Festival, that they need to set aside their “writer” self and be this other thing for a few days, and not worry, because they are writers at heart and the Muse will return.

    • April 27, 2013 at 3:03 pm
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      Well put, Nancy… It’s definitely not our natural state – more like putting us in a freezer, but yes, we do return to a liquid state after it’s all over and the good news is that it CAN be invigorating and inspiring after all’s said and done — getting some validation for our words and meeting our would-be readers!

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