Saturday, December 12, 2015

How I Sell Books at Conventions


Knowing I am a regular vendor at conventions, a fellow author friend of mine asked me some tips on how I sell my books at these events. It's no secret that I love cons. My Facebook page is filled literally with hundreds of pics of people buying my books. I don't know the exact count but I estimate I've sold over a thousand books at cons over the years. Conventions give me the chance to speak face to face with readers, exhibit my books, and to promote myself as an author. In fact, besides selling on Amazon, conventions make up the bulk of my book marketing techniques. So how do I do it? What's the process for new authors wanting to promote themselves to the eager buyers on the convention floor. What advice can I give? Continue reading below to find out.

Picking the Convention

This is pretty fundamental but is so important. In my experience there are many types of conventions from which to choose. When you are a vendor every convention is a crap shoot. You take a gamble to make the money back on your investment. In my opinion, if you go to a con and can pay for your table and hotel room through sales it is a success. Making a profit at one is a resounding success! Below is a list of the types of conventions and and what you can expect at each:

Writers Con: Lots of authors and networking. Very little sales. Maybe in a big metropolis of the there a tons of eager readers who show up for these, but I haven't experienced them yet. Most of the sales you are going to have is to other authors who are there, just like you, to sell books. That doesn't mean these are bad conventions, however. It's a great place to network, meet publishers, and get information about publishing through author panels. They are also a lot fun. I personally try to go to at least one of these a year. Estimated book sales: 10

Local Convention: The local sci-fi/horror/fantasy convention is my favorite. It is a great place to hobnob with fans and friends and there are room parties, panels, concerts, etc. that make it a lot of fun.The table costs are low and many offer author tables at a reduced price. I try to keep travel time to this type of con less than three hours. Sales are limited because they don't garner the huge crowds of the big time conventions. Estimated book sales: 20

Specialty Convention: These are those cons that deal specifically with the type of subject matter that relate to your genre of writing. For me it is the horror con. I tend to do well at these with sales, the trick is getting a table at one. A lot of these conventions have you apply for a table and then you don't know if you get one or not. I've been turned down at two so far. Still sales are worth it if you don't have to travel far and can afford the expense. It's also filled with customers who are interested in what you have to sell. Estimated book sales: 40

Corporate Convention: These are the large corporate run events that are held in big cities all over the country. They attract big name celebrities for autographs and large crowds. Wizard World is one of these type of conventions. For book sales these are the best. I've not lost any significant money at one of these events and tend to at least break even. It's worth traveling some distance especially now with the gas prices so low. Estimated books sales: 50+

Mega-Conventions: These are the big ones with 60,000+ attendees. I've only been to a couple but never done well at them. There are just too many vendors with too much items to sale. They tend to stick authors in a back section of the floor and you spend much of the weekend watching droves of people walking by your booth with bags of stuff they didn't buy from you. Another thing I don't like they have things like Half Price books with a huge display underselling your books all con long. These work well for vendors who have a lot of merchandise to sell, not for authors who have a few books. Estimated sales: 15

Your convention table

You've bought a table and got the hotel room reserved for your upcoming convention. Now what about the table itself? The space you purchased is the point of sale for your books at the con so make it interesting to those potential buyers. Put up a banner which is the first thing most con goers look at when walking past your table. The banner should be representative of you as an author. Make it professional looking. You can purchase one online at places like Vista Print, etc. The style of it is up to you. Display your books for the customer to see. Give the table some eye-catching props that will attract interest. Remember your table is competing with all the other tables at the convention. Give it an edge with some interesting visual appeal.


Selling the book
So your table is set up and your books are displayed. The con opens, and if your lucky, buyers approach your book. How do you make a sale? I'm going to list some pointers below that may help:

Be engaged with the crowd: Smile. Say hello. Greet people as they walk past your table. Don't set there looking at your phone playing Candy Crush as throngs of people go filing past you. Be alert to what is going on and look open to talk about your books.

Don't hawk your book: Don't be a carnival barker begging people to come look at your books. This works for some authors who shout out to the people shuffling past. Not for me. I want to be the seller that I would want to talk to if I was a customer. If they don't show interest in what you have displayed, that's fine, let them walk by. This is why you have a display to catch people's interest.

Display the price: It's easier to make a sale if the customer can see the price up front. A lot of times they assume the book is more expensive then it is. Have your prices displayed so they know how much they will be paying if they decide to buy.

To swag or not to swag: I'm not a big believer in author swag, though many swear by it. There's nothing wrong with business cards or book marks, but remember all that swag comes out of your bottom line when you profit on the book sale. If it produces a lot of peripheral sales I've yet to see it. Most of those free buttons, stickers, ribbons, etc. just get tossed in the trash. I'm not against business cards, though. Have them available on your table for a customer to pick up. You give your bookmarks to the person after they bought the book.

Your book selling spiel: Have your sales pitch ready to go. Make it informative and to the point about the book when the customer asks. Find your own selling style. I also let the potential customer to read the back of the book if they ask about it. When they are reading the back blurb, be quiet until they finish. Don't interrupt their focus on reading about the book. The back blurb is there to help sell your book so use it. 

This wraps up my information on how I sell my books at conventions. I hope that it was helpful to any potential authors who are planning to sell at these events. The most important thing is to find your selling style, make money, and have fun.