Over the past ten-ish years I’ve spent a lot of time at craft and vendor fairs selling my books. Some events are more successful than others, but I still find it the BEST way to meet readers and build a meaningful relationship with them.

I noticed that as soon as people realized I WROTE the books I was selling, they were MUCH more interested. Often times, though, it would take until two minutes into a chatting up a prospective customer before the light bulb would go on and they’d say, “Oh… so, YOU wrote these books?” (Duh! Yes! That’s why I’m standing here!) But suddenly, they were invested. They now had a story about MEETING the author, getting their book autographed, owning a slice of the benevolence we all feel when supporting local small businesses. These factors are so much stronger than me say, “Buy my book pretty please!”

This discovery and realization was good, but I needed to figure out how to make it happen faster. Not many people, especially those distant passersby that would rather eye the wares from a distance. They don’t want to be sucked in and feel obligated to buy. But if they knew I was the author? And I was local? This might be enough to entice them to step a bit closer to my booth and see if my books might be a good fit for them.

I needed to figure out a way to communicate with my consumer audience without relying on conversation.

Side note, I love to talk. I’m definitely an extrovert. If you are reading this from your office or on your phone and are quaking in your proverbial author boots about having to talk to strangers, you are defintely going to want to hear this advice.

I thought about designing a shrit that said, “I’m the author!”, like the literary version of those “I’m with stupid —>” shirts. And I still might, but what I decided on were booth signs that had not only my book covers on them, but also my face and the words “local author”. I was putting the puzzle pieces together for them. Let me show you.

Do you know what I noticed when I used these signs? People paused. Sometimes they even backtracked their passing-by steps to read the sign a bit closer! And then, if they were readers, they stepped up to the table and I was able to engage them in a coversation… one that sometimes led to a sale or at the very least a hand off of my bookmark (aka: business card). (P.S. People do NOT keep business cards these days, but a bookmark - with your website and where your books are available - they will hang on to that baby for YEARS.)

This is just one of the impactful changes I’ve made to my author sales table that have made a positive impact. Here are a few others.

QR Codes

Everybody and their brother worth their salt as an entrepreneur will tell you you need an email list. In-person events are a great way to collect email addresses, but deciphering those handwritten letters and entering them into MailChimp (or your email service provider of choice) can be a real pain, not to mention, time consuming. Instead, I now place QR codes on my author table that people can scan with their phones and sign themselves up. Not only is this more efficient, but in post-pandemic times such as these, people will not have to touch the same pen that other have used, and that’s kinda nice. It also cuts down on “fake” email addresses that will eventually just bounce and muddy the waters of your list numbers/effectiveness tracking. I also use QR codes to prompt people to subscribe to my YouTube Channels.

You can learn how to make QR codes in this quick tutorial video.

Pro Tip #1: Laminate these so you don’t have to waste your color ink printing them each time! Personally, I like the BluSmart Laminator Starter Set and these Scotch Thermal Laminating Pockets.

ProTip #2: I have started asking for my business wish list items for Christmas, birthday and Mother’s Day gifts. Would I rather have a plant or a laminator? A manicure or a subscription to Canva Pro? Hmmmmm…

Letterboards

This simple communication tool looks trendy and let’s you share a sentiment in a way that adds a personalized flavor to your display. The best part, you can change the message to match the event or your mood. Got a new book coming out? Change your prices? No need to reprint signage, just swap out the letters and you’re good to go.

I bought my letter boards at Michaels, but there are tons out there. Here are two online shopping letterboards that I love. (Click the image to see product details/purchase.)

I hope that as we wade back into the waters of public events, these tips and ideas help you create a visually attractive and effective author table display. Do you have any techniques or tricks that work well for you? I’d love to learn from you! Contribute to our little creative community by adding your ideas in the comments below. hope that our paths cross in-person soon and that when we do, we will both have good-looking displays.

All my best, Amanda

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