As a nonfiction author, one of the most frequent ways I sell my books is in conjunction with attendance at a conference or convention. In most cases, I have been invited to host a workshop, breakout session, participate in a panel discussion or present a keynote. When potential readers hear you speak about your topic, they will naturally want to learn more and purchasing your book is an easy way to do that. While your primary purpose may be to sell books, you will want to set up your space so that you can capture names for your mailing list even if people don’t buy. Here are nine tips to ensure you maximize your book sales and add names to your list:
One: Do your homework about the event audience. Find out the expected attendance and make an educated guess about the amount of traffic you will get at your booth or table. I was recently at an event that had thousands of attendees but I knew that only a small percentage of them would be in my ideal reader category. Consequently, I brought a small number of books with me (read about my early failure to estimate correctly).
Ensure that the cost to ship books to the venue and return ship those you don’t sell won’t eat up your profits.
Two: Price your books to sell: The list price of Book Smart is $24.95, however, I always offer a conference special, usually $20 which includes tax. When going to an ATM machine for cash, most people will select $20 bills. When you match your book price to the most frequent bill people have in their wallets, you don’t have to make change and the buyer doesn’t have to search for singles or coins.
If the list price of your book is less than $20, consider offering it for $10 or offer two for $20 and encourage the buyer to gift the other copy. Of course, you will need some change in the form of five dollar bills or one dollar bills but this strategy will minimize the amount of change you need.
For receipts, pick up an inexpensive receipt book from your local office supply store or get fancy and have a receipt pad printed with your logo from a local printer or online from Vistaprint.
Three: Have a clear cut, easily readable sign that shows the price of the book. Buyers want to know as soon as they walk up to your table what the investment will be. Your sign can be as simple as an index card clipped to the display copy of your book showing the pricing or a simple, printed flyer with the price (show special) clearly legible.
Four: Have the ability to accept credit cards. It used to be that in order to accept credit cards, you needed a merchant account similar to what brick and mortar retailers use. These accounts carry monthly fees and minimum monthly charges.
As an author, you may only attend a few events each year and won’t want to incur fees when you’re not using the service. Today, there are several apps that will allow you to accept credit cards. There are no monthly fees or minimum monthly charges and you only pay a fee per transaction when you use the app.
The two I use are Square and Paypal Here. Both services offer apps for your smartphone or tablet as well as card readers that will allow you to swipe credit cards. You can set your book up in advance as an inventory item and adjust the pricing so that the $20 purchase price includes sales tax. Customers can receive receipts via email or text.
Five: Always have a sign-up sheet offering a free giveaway. Not everyone who stops by your booth or table will be ready to buy immediately. They may be interested but aren’t willing to invest on the spot. Make sure you let them know that by signing up, they will be added to your mailing list in addition to receiving the free gift. You don’t want to be accused of spamming them. Ensure that your mailing app makes it easy to unsubscribe. I use MailChimp and Aweber to manage my mailing lists.
Six: For those people who don’t want to signup for your mailing list, have some bookmarks or postcards containing the book cover image and a link to your book on Amazon or on your website. I always include a QR code to make it easy to scan and buy.
Seven: Speaking of signing, your customers will want you to sign their purchases. Make sure you have a high-quality pen or thin marker that is fast drying and won’t skip or smudge. It can be awkward to think of something on the fly so decide in advance if you will use a standard tag line in addition to the person’s name. For Book Smart, I usually say: To -‘ buyer’s name’ I hope to see you in print soon! Linda. You can use something as simple as ‘Best Wishes’ or ‘Thanks for your support!’. Sign on the title page. Always ask if they want the book personalized and ask for the spelling of the person’s name.
Eight: It’s also a great opportunity to take photos of you and your buyers holding your book, of course!
Nine: Draw buyers to your table with a poster-sized copy of your book cover. I like to put mints or chocolates on my table. Smile and make eye contact. It can be intimidating for some people to approach your table.
Following these tips will increase your book sales and build your mailing list!
