How to Sell More Books at the Book Week Fair
Writer and poet Liron Tzedaka offers a practical, detailed guide for authors setting up a booth at Book Week or at fairs, from proper preparation to dealing with crowds, sales, and disappointments. If you wrote a book, or more than one, and you are proud of what you wrote, want to mix with the public, sell your book at a fair and spread the word, this guide is for you. The Book Week fair, and in fact any fair, is an event. And setting up a booth at a fair is great, it is your time as authors to meet readers, receive impressions and reactions, reach a new audience, be exposed to it and expose it to you, and sell your books, the ones you wrote, created and published with great effort and at considerable expense. But writing a book is one thing. Selling it at a booth is a completely different story! So before deciding to rush to Book Week and set up a booth, it is worth reading this guide first, getting to know from the inside the world of fairs and booths, and taking the complexity into account.
Me and the audience, exposure: Standing at a booth means being exposed. Some people like that, and that is why they set up a booth at a fair, while others are a little more shy and find this exposure less familiar and less pleasant. If you are not yet a well-known author and the audience is not coming specifically to look for you and your books, you will probably need to stand at the booth for hours and explain to anyone who comes by and shows interest who you are and what book you wrote. It is a good idea to prepare a few short, clear sentences in advance. People who write do not always know the craft of sales and marketing. You should come prepared, and keep in mind that at first it is not easy and sales will not always be what you expected. There will be many disappointments on the road to success. But from experience, after every fair comes a rise. You get more polished, you become more familiar with the work, and the audience gets to know you more from fair to fair. That is how the way is paved. Step by step. With persistence and patience.
Dedications and signatures: At fairs, people like to come and meet the author himself. Many times they ask for a signature or a dedication in the book. That is why they come to buy a book specifically at a Book Week booth or at a fair. But often fairgoers are not even aware that you are the one who wrote the book. They assume you work for someone else. Therefore, it is a good idea to introduce yourself to booth visitors and tell them that you wrote the books at the booth. This creates a close encounter with customers. They are impressed by your creation, respect and appreciate it, see you as a person of culture, value your creativity and regard it as something important and special. Yes, it definitely affects sales! Offer them a dedication or a signature, or respond to their request. Try to write a personal dedication and give the customer your full attention, but when there is a crowd at the booth, know when to stop and filter. Some customers come to talk. You also came to sell. Find the right balance between service and personal attention to the customer and a focus on sales.
Approaching customers: If you sit on a chair behind the booth, which hides you, and wait for customers to come and buy, you will probably return with full hands. And no, an author who comes with a stock of books to a booth wants to return with empty hands, to sell as many as possible and go home with a car that is free of boxes and with a slightly fuller pocket than before. Therefore, do not be ashamed to make eye contact with the audience, politely address passersby walking near the booth and invite them to come and look through the books, tell them that you wrote them, and in general, take the initiative in selling. On the other hand, do not be pushy. Give the customer space to decide and approach. True, children are great consumers, but do not forget that the parents are your customers, and you must respect them. Even if your books are intended for children, always address the parents. Do not turn directly to the children yourself and try to sell to the parents through them. That is not fair and not proper. You would not want a booth seller to use your child and force you to deal with a purchase you do not want. And, what is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. True, there are such temptations at food and candy booths, and some people use manipulation. But you are a writer and you have different values. And in the end people appreciate that and buy from a place of respect and appreciation, not from a place of no choice. On the other hand, if a child turns to you and shows interest in the book, be patient and answer politely and kindly, even if in the end there is no chance that the parents will buy from you. The child sees you as an author and remembers the meeting with you. Your attitude toward him is what will leave a lasting impression, for better or worse.
Good energy: Yes, it is not self-evident. There are good days and less good days. Sometimes you arrive in a low mood. Sometimes you are already tired from standing for hours. Sometimes there are few people and that is really disappointing. But for the customer who comes to you and is interested in your book, even if he does not buy in the end, it is very important to see you as much as possible at your best. Honor him. Be polite, patient and pleasant, even when you are very tired or frustrated. Arrive prepared, dress appropriately, stay fresh and take disappointments lightly. A smile, vitality and good spirits increase sales, and the opposite does too. As water reflects a face, so one heart to another. This is true in life, and even more so in sales.
The fair, type of fair: When the fair is a book fair, people come to buy books. When the fair is a kind of carnival, with performances, workshops and a variety of sales booths, the customers' wallets, the money they will spend at the fair, are really a cake that gets divided. When there are food or toy booths, those are the ones that sell, and a lot. They get a very significant slice of that cake. You, as a book booth, will wait patiently and may get a bit of the leftovers of the cake, if at all.
Number of people: There is a fair with a lot of publicity and buzz around it, but in practice few people arrive, and there is a fair that was barely publicized and many people will come. There are regular fairs whose attendance is more predictable. Check the publicity and the expected audience size carefully.
Concept events: Check whether you and the type of booth you have are suited to the event and the audience that comes to it. They are not always compatible. And when there is no match, it is better to forgo it מראש. It is a shame to arrive at some fair, event or conference, and realize too late that you do not really belong there.
Duration of the fair: Some fairs are short and others last for many hours. As a booth owner, you should come prepared. Make sure you have a chair so you can sit for a few minutes when you are tired from standing. Water, preferably cold and in sufficient quantity. Food, bring it with you. Do not count on buying it at the fair. It is very expensive, it requires you to leave your booth, and it is precious time you could have spent with customers at the booth instead of standing in line at another booth.
Tip, for the more dedicated: If you have time and patience, it is worth staying until the end. This is the time when those who saw you at the entrance meet you again at the exit. Some of them will buy now. In addition, some of the booths have already left. You have fewer competitors for the customer. A better chance they will buy from you.
Start and end times: For a fair held in the morning, it is always a good idea to prepare everything in the car the night before. In the morning it is not always convenient to get organized, and sometimes things are forgotten in the last-minute rush. For a fair held in the afternoon or evening, take into account the time you will get home. Some events end late. If you decide to stay until the end, your body is already tired. Make sure you are alert and fit to drive after exhausting hours of work standing in front of customers, noise, crowds and bustle. It is a good idea to sleep well the night before, or to sleep a little in the afternoon.
Calendar: Book Week is an event. An event that takes place every year, in the same month. If you check in advance where such events are taking place and register on time, you will secure a place at several fairs and be able to maximize profits. A more successful event will make up for a less successful one. But overall, even if your booth is small, there is a good chance you will make money from it. In addition, there are other well-known and regular fairs in various places. And of course there are other different events in all sorts of places and opportunities. Put regular fairs into your calendar in advance. Make contact on time, not at the last minute. If you initiate and contact the organizers in time, there is a good chance you will find yourself inside as well.
The booth, the booth itself: Ask yourself, and ask the contact person at the fair, the following questions: Do they provide you with a table, or do you need to bring one from home? If they provide one, what size is it? Do you need more than one? Maybe you can bring another table from home? What does the booth look like, old and dirty or nice and maintained? If you need it, is there electricity? Water? For book booths, usually not necessary. Is there shade?
Environmental conditions: A fair held indoors and air-conditioned is more comfortable for everyone, both the booths and the customers. If the fair takes place outdoors, keep in mind that you and your merchandise will stand in the rain or the sun, and your customers as well, accordingly. A booth that has shade will sell more, simply because no customer likes to stand in the sun.
Location: Even if many people came, sometimes there are too many booths, and the location of your booth is not always optimal. This greatly affects sales.
Music: Very important for the pleasant atmosphere of the fair, and it also affects sales. Sometimes the booth is too close to the amplification, or the sound is too loud, and then it is hard to communicate with customers. The fair organizers are not always aware of this and do not always act to change it. If the amplification comes from performances, forget trying to ask them to turn it down. They will not. Just find a more distant place where you can speak with your customers and also hear them.
Booth cost: There are fairs where the organizers ask for payment to set up the booth. Sometimes the prices are exorbitant. Check your financial viability in advance. It is worth finding out how much audience is expected, what booths will be around you, whether there is a division into different areas, and so on. Sometimes the expense is too large and not worth it. It is worth checking in advance to avoid disappointments.
Signage: Check whether the fair organizers take care of signposting the booths. Sometimes the signage is beautiful and respectable, and sometimes it is not. In any case, it is worth having your own appropriate signage. Make sure there is a clear sign on the booth itself stating what you sell, the prices of each product and the payment methods. This saves a lot of problems and makes things much easier for the customers, and for you too. Remember, the booth is small. Make sure the sign is suitable, that there is a prominent and stable place to put it, and that it does not take up space at the expense of the products.
Booth arrangement: Even if all you have at the booth is 'only' books, and even if you do not yet have a variety of books to offer, the appearance of the booth and how the books are laid out on it still have a great influence. Try to make the booth always look orderly. Place the books so that they are not only stacked, but also facing the audience. Leave one or two books open for browsing and flipping through, taking into account wear and tear as an expense. Make sure your products are prominent and accessible to the customer. A booth that looks good also sells better.
Who stands at the booth?: As I wrote earlier, there is no doubt that a meeting between the audience and the author himself is special and wonderful, but not always can the writer come to the fair, or not always does he have sales skills. Sometimes there are shyness barriers. Writing a book is one thing. Selling it is a completely different thing. In such cases, it is worth considering hiring an employee to set up the booth for you. Of course, only on condition that you know it will indeed be worthwhile financially and that the employee is a serious and responsible guy who knows the job and can be trusted. Look for a serious employee who comes to sell, not just to stand at the booth. Explain to him exactly what he needs to do, and reward him not only by the hour but also according to profits, the amount sold. This will incentivize him to sell more. Sometimes even better than you.
Payment: Make sure in advance that you have several payment options. Even if you do not have a credit card clearing device, almost everyone has Bit or Paybox on their phone. These are applications available to everyone and do the job very well. There are also those who will pay in cash. Make sure you have some change prepared in advance. And there are also those who do a bank transfer. Be ready with your account details מראש. Note that the customer shows proof of payment before you hand over the books.
Receipts, invoices: Do not cut corners. Every business must report income and must pay taxes accordingly. If you have a suitable device, issue an invoice to every customer immediately at the end of the transaction. If you are a small business and do not have a suitable device, issue a consolidated invoice for all income at the end of the event.
Expenses: You made contact, checked the details, everything fits and you decided to join the fair? Right before you close, take into account additional expenses: travel expenses, fuel, wear and tear, transportation and product wear, packaging, bags, stickers, advertising, signage, design, graphics, wages for an additional worker if needed, booth setup cost if there is one, parking cost, hourly cost versus expected income, and more. Of course, not all the expenses on the list apply to every booth. Check which of them are necessary for you and whether there are additional expenses. A booth is a business like any other, and it is important to take its financial viability into account, expenses versus income.
In conclusion: Setting up a booth at a fair is a bit like taking part in a lottery, you cannot predict the income in advance, but if you organize yourself properly, you can improve your odds of winning. Good luck! Happy Book Week and wishing you good livelihood. The writer is a novelist and poet, a member of the authors' group 'Writers in Faith', and a resident of Sderot.
