#WriterWenesday: 5 Things To Remember When Attending A Book Event

So this weekend I attended the  Black Writers and Book Club Literary Festival #BWABC in Memphis TN. This was the first out of town book event that I’ve attended since I started writing in 2012. I was excited that I was finally going to see my #soulsis Nigeria Lockley and a whole lot of authors. By the way my #soulsis and I presented a workshop together on the Challenges of Writing. Check out her blog to get the 411.

Anyway, being my first outing, there were somethings I just didn’t remember or think of. So I decided to do what the Military calls a debrief for you and for me.

1. Make sure all your electronics are fully charged. The venue may not have an outlet for you to charge them. And there’ll be a lot of opportunities to take pictures with other authors and readers. And it’s not a good look if you don’t have any juice on your phone. In my case, on the first day, my cell phone died, so I couldn’t get my #soulsis to record my workshop. By the next day I was prepared but not properly recording my workshop was a missed opportunity.
2. Not everyone carries cash. As a reader, when I go to fairs, I carry only cash.That was my way of staying in control of my spending once the money finished, I headed home. Well I forgot I wasn’t a reader here but a seller and not everyone carries cash. So I had to get my #soulsis to get my square set up on my phone and send my husband out to buy the reader. That caused my first sale to be tedious as I spent time looking for change and getting the reader to use Paypal. Again not a good look. Good news was, I got it taken care of in about half and hour and things got better.
3. When I go the store, I either take my own cloth bag or the store gives me a nylon bag. So why did I not think to get something for my customers to carry my books in when they buy them? And not just any bag from the dollar store but as my #soulsis will tell you, branding is everything. Lesson learned, don’t let your customer hold the book in their hand. Not a good look.
4. Have some candy on the table…you give people that come to your home refreshments right? So it’s just a nice thing to do. Oh, I had some but letting you know in case you don t think about it. 🙂
5. Even if you don’t make a sale right there, ask the potential reader to sign up for your newsletter. You may be able to convert their interest to a sale later.

Above everything else, have fun and make a lot of contacts. I had a wonderful time.

Do you have any tips for book events? Drop them in the comments.

Be Blessed

Unoma

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