Episode 77: How to Prepare for a Book Festival as an Author: Tips for Success

Now preparing for a big festival is a lot different than preparing for something small like a coffee shop or a Barnes & Noble because there are going to be a lot of people there, and there are going to be a lot of people there selling books.

So it's not just gonna be you there or you and one other author.

It's going to be you and many authors.

But the good news is that people who attend book festivals are there for one purpose, and that is to buy books.

So you've already got an advantage of people going into a coffee shop because they're going in to buy coffee and, yes, maybe they'll buy your book.

But book festivals, people are there to buy books.

They come with money prepared to buy books.

But there's a lot of people selling books.

So let's see if I can give you some tips of how to make your display kind of stand out from the rest.

Okay.

Part one: things you need to think about doing well ahead of time.

Okay.

First of all, if you've never done a big book festival before, um, you have to register for it like as soon as it opens for registration, and that is usually months in advance.

So for example, the Las Vegas Book Festival, as I have already mentioned, which is this Saturday, October 17th, registration for it opened the Monday after the Fourth of July, and that's pretty standard for a lot of book festivals.

It's about three or four months early is when they open for registration.

And FYI, the Las Vegas Book Festival was sold out, all right, by like the end of August, or I think actually it was the middle of August when they said that they were already full.

So you gotta be on top of that.

So if there's a book festival you know you wanna do like Tucson, LA, or wherever, make sure you find out when they open for registration and you pay the registration fee.

Now, book festivals are pricey, just FYI, a lot more so than doing the free signings at Barnes & Noble or the free signings at coffee shops.

So for example, this Las Vegas Book Festival is $200 for the table.

$200.

Like, if you don't make $200 that day in selling books, you're not gonna make your money back.

I have always made my money back, so I can tell you that as long as you're prepared for it, you have a good shot at doing well.

But be prepared.

They can be pricey.

Now preparing for a big festival is a lot different than preparing for something small like a coffee shop or a Barnes & Noble because there are going to be a lot of people there, and there are going to be a lot of people there selling books.

So it's not just gonna be you there or you and one other author.

It's going to be you and many authors.

But the good news is that people who attend book festivals are there for one purpose, and that is to buy books.

So you've already got an advantage of people going into a coffee shop because they're going in to buy coffee and, yes, maybe they'll buy your book.

But book festivals, people are there to buy books.

They come with money prepared to buy books.

But there's a lot of people selling books.

So let's see if I can give you some tips of how to make your display kind of stand out from the rest.

Okay.

Part one: things you need to think about doing well ahead of time.

Okay.

First of all, if you've never done a big book festival before, um, you have to register for it like as soon as it opens for registration, and that is usually months in advance.

So for example, the Las Vegas Book Festival, as I have already mentioned, which is this Saturday, October 17th, registration for it opened the Monday after the Fourth of July, and that's pretty standard for a lot of book festivals.

It's about three or four months early is when they open for registration.

And FYI, the Las Vegas Book Festival was sold out, all right, by like the end of August, or I think actually it was the middle of August when they said that they were already full.

So you gotta be on top of that.

So if there's a book festival you know you wanna do like Tucson, LA, or wherever, make sure you find out when they open for registration and you pay the registration fee.

Now, book festivals are pricey, just FYI, a lot more so than doing the free signings at Barnes & Noble or the free signings at coffee shops.

So for example, this Las Vegas Book Festival is $200 for the table.

$200.

Like, if you don't make $200 that day in selling books, you're not gonna make your money back.

I have always made my money back, so I can tell you that as long as you're prepared for it, you have a good shot at doing well.

But be prepared.

They can be pricey.