Selling in Person at 4 different events – What I learned from each

In the past year, I did 4 events selling in person (2 homeschool conventions, outdoor vendor fair, and indoor Christmas market). Here’s what I learned!

First homeschool convention (CHAP) – I had a picture book and 2 short YA books for sale. We had a craft activity related to the picture book as a way to draw people in to the table. I used the Square terminal for payment (as well as cash) because I didn’t want to rely on my phone.

-The craft activity worked as a draw in, but for the most part I can’t say that it directly led to any sales. We did make about 30 kids very happy, and for my first convention I was just glad for the interaction, but by the second day we found we were tired of being a craft table.

My analysis of the problem: the craft was too good. Kids would spend several minutes making it, and by then the parents were ready to move on. Even if the parents glanced at the books, the craft was so distracting that it kind of stole the spotlight. Plus, they were already walking away from the table with something, so they tended not to look for anything else.

-The Square terminal was great when it worked, but I had to set it up for offline payments because even though the Expo center had wifi, it turned out the terminal can’t connect to public wifi that requires a user agreement to connect. This just meant I had to connect to wifi within 24 hours, and meanwhile I was still able to take payments and print receipts, but heads up if you’re thinking of using the terminal.

-Another author posted advice about using floor mats at your book table. This was great advice! You do a lot of standing, and the cushy mats we brought made a big difference.

-I printed price list inserts to go in the welcome packets that all convention registrants received. This was not worth the investment. It maybe brought one or two people to the table, but I can’t say for sure. It seemed like people paid more attention to the business listings in the convention handbook. Having my website in that book was more effective than the printed cards.

-We also realized we didn’t have any signs, either to list bundle deals or tell people we were away leading a speaker session, and had to create makeshift signs out of scraps from the craft materials.

Outdoor vendor fair – This was a small local fair and the event didn’t draw much attendance, but did allow me to test an outdoor setup. I brought a 6-foot folding table and a bag chair, since we were setting up in a parking lot and had to bring all our own supplies (unlike the homeschool convention, which provided us a table and chairs.)

-My main advice—if you plan to sell at outdoor events, GET A CANOPY. After some research, I brought the Eurmax canopy with detachable sidewalls. Most of the other vendors had some version of a camping canopy, with no walls. It was August, and by mid-morning it was close to 90 degrees. The problem with having no walls is that the sun moves, and so only having something overhead won’t necessarily keep you out of the sun. The Eurmax is designed for vendor booths, is very sturdy, and I can set it up by myself.

Christmas market – This was held in a historical building in December. Although indoors, it had no heat. I bought some Christmas decorations to spruce up the table, and added Christmas hershey kisses and some Christmas-themed goody bags since I was doing the craft this time.

-The worst thing—it was cold. I dressed warmly, but it wasn’t enough. I was only saved because my neighbor (the fudge lady) gave me some hand warmers and her blanket! Space heaters weren’t allowed. In retrospect, I would’ve brought the canopy. The coordinator told me that even without space heaters, the smaller space inside a canopy does make it warmer. I noticed it also makes your setup more noticeable and professional-looking.

-Hypothermia notwithstanding, I did better at pitching my book to those who stopped. There wasn’t a big crowd at this event either, but I did sell two picture books. Hershey kisses did not work as a draw-in (I’ve never seen anyone turn down a Hershey kiss with such disdain!)

Armed with all that experience, I went to the homeschool convention for my second year.

CHAP Year 2 - I’d heard a Novel Marketing episode about book table displays, and made changes to raise my display more to eye-level. I got 2 wooden crates from Michael’s and put books inside and on top. Comparing photos from last year, the booth was way more eye-catching with a more vertical display. I also brought a mini-easel chalkboard/dry erase board that we used to list prices and and announce when we left for the speaker session. It worked great.

-With my YA novel still on the way, I had the same books as last year, but I had started my podcast. I printed cards with podcast art on one side and put a QR code on the other that linked to the podcast website, and this worked well.

-We ditched the craft this year, but I decided to offer a student writer critique session, and posted this signup at the front of the booth. This did draw in a few people, and got a handful of signups. Something I realized was that my newsletter signup didn’t announce that people would get a short story for subscribing, so that’s a change I’ll make for next year.

-This year, instead of always sitting or standing behind the book table, I brought a stool and set it in front. Amazing how different the interactions feel when you’re not talking to someone across a table.

This was my most successful event so far. I sold a few more books than last year and had at least enthusiastic return customer from the previous year. The lack of a craft put the focus on the books, and I noticed the quality of the interactions was better this year. Another thing I’ll add to the table is a stand-up flyer for the newsletter and switch out my custom tablecloth for a banner to hang behind the table. I got the tablecloth printed with my LLC imprint logo, but this has been confusing some people because they think I’m a publisher of books besides my own. The banner will feature my author name instead. This was a change I made with my website also, using my author name instead of my LLC name and logo.

Those are my lessons learned! Hope it’s helpful for someone!