How to Make the Best of a Bad Book Event

Careful Analysis Will Help Improve Future Book Selling Opportunities

Mar 16, 2009 R.L. Coffield

When analyzing what went wrong at a book signing or event, carefully consider the venue, factors that were beyond a participant's control.

Nothing is more discouraging to a new writer, even to a veteran writer, than a book event or signing that results in poor (or no) book sales. Too often new authors leave these events vowing never to do another. These events, however, can offer valuable learning opportunities.

Book Signing Venues

In excitement, or desperation, authors often seek out opportunities to sell their books at venues that are just not conducive to selling books. Trying to sell books at the wrong venue can be a painful exercise in futility.

Book fairs and events specifically geared to sell books present the best opportunities to actually make sales. However, even at these venues, there can be obstacles. For example, if the book fair/event is sponsored by a library, is the library also using the event to sell used books? This is often the case, and it is very difficult for an author to compete with books that are being sold at rock bottom prices.

If the venue is a craft fair, many craft vendors bring along boxes of used books to sell for next to nothing. This can truly undermine an author’s efforts to sell his/her book.

Sometimes the venue is geared to a specific interest group, and unless an author has a book that is about that interest...that specific niche market... he/she may find it next to impossible to interest attendees in the title.

Vendor Booth Presentation

It can be very difficult to sell many books if a person has only one title available. If the title is specifically geared to the crowd at hand, of course, that’s another story. Generally, however, it is difficult to draw people in, no matter how nicely the booth is decorated, or how well a vendor has prepared for the event, when he/she has only one title featured in a booth or at a sales table.

Notice that booths with multiple titles attract far more people. One title authors should consider sharing a booth with another author or two who write in a different genre. That way the booth offers variety, and participants will feel more willing to help each other make sales.

On the other hand, often people who write in the same genre, such as suspense or romance, will attract many readers to their booth because people are seeking those specific types of books.

Factors Beyond One's Control

There are often factors beyond a person's control that are going to influence sales, such as the weather, the local economy and the literacy of the area. Even where a booth or table is placed at the event can be detrimental to sales. Remember too, according to Dan Poynter in The Self Publishing Manual, that 42% of college graduates, and 58% of high school graduates, say they’ve never read another book since they graduated. Further 80% of U.S. families do not buy or read books, and 70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in five years. These grim statistics are reality.

Analyze and Learn

Before a person quits attending book signings and events, he/she should analyze the most recently attended event to really understand what may have gone wrong. Take this opportunity to learn from any mistakes that may have been made. Take into account the venue, the title(s) offered for sale and those things beyond one's control. Adjust where needed and try again. Even bad events can lead to new opportunities.

The copyright of the article How to Make the Best of a Bad Book Event in Book Publishing is owned by R.L. Coffield. Permission to republish How to Make the Best of a Bad Book Event in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

The Event May be Tailored to a Niche Market