Is it worth going to conventions to sell book?

I don't know about the bigger conventions, but Authors After Dark was well worth the money to me.

I'll state here that I am not published, but I've been to a BUNCH of conventions.

I would think it would honestly depend on the convention.

I've been to GenCon, and I've been to World Fantasy. Quite honestly, I did not buy books at either conference.

GenCon doesn't really have a specific bookstore that I saw when I was there. It's a great con, but book sales were happening by the individual authors who had brought their own copies, unless their publisher was at the con...and most weren't. There were a few people with media tie-in books who were published by Wizards of the Coast, or other similar gaming companies, who had their books at the company's tables. There were some independent bookstores who had booths and books, but I didn't see a relationship between that and the authors present. (I will say that I highly recommend this con and their writing symposium, but as a READER I did not see a lot of opportunities for bookselling. Please keep in mind that I was there three years ago...there may have been some changes. I did spend a lot of time there with a friend who was an author signing in Author's Alley, so please also consider that, too.) It's my understanding that either last year or the year before, some of the authors at that con may have set up some kind of group signing event with a local bookstore, but I don't know if it was at the store or at the con itself. You might want to look for the list of authors who were present and send them an email if you can, asking for their impressions.)

I went to World Fantasy last year, and I saw some selling books in the dealer's room, but I don't know what relationship they had with people actually doing readings. People at the con were talking more about the books in the freebie bags and things that weren't out yet than the books being sold in the dealer's room. There was a group signing event, but I did not attend it; I had an opportunity to do some networking instead, so I don't know how those sales were handled.

Of course, an actual author who sold books at these conferences might have a different take, but these were my impressions. I had great things to say about both conferences and highly recommend them both as an attendee, as an aspiring writer and as a reader, but I didn't really see visible, connected sales going on.

I'm not sure that I would necessarily look at a conference as a place to sell books, but rather as a place to network, talk writing, make contacts, and meet readers. Selling would be icing on that cake, but like I said, I'm not at that point yet.

If I'm reading this wrong, I hope someone jumps in. I know that some of the authors from the Gen Con Writers Symposium are on these boards....I hope they still are...

I know that cons are often a way for creators in the indie comic and webcomic fields to sell their books. I don't think I've seen too many prose authors selling their books at conventions, but that doesn't mean it couldn't work.

For what it's worth, I did go out and buy a Kevin J. Anderson book because I ran into him at Dragon*Con and he seemed like a nice guy. I don't know if any promotion opportunities you'd get as a vendor rather than a guest would justify the time and expense, but it's a thought.

I've purchased books at Cons. I've also sold some. I'd advise sharing a table with several authors to make it worth it.

I've never been to one of these but I wanted to give my two cents as a marketing person. If you are going to set up a stall and sell books then unless you are well known you probably aren't going to get much take up.

As Nitaworm said, definitely share a table with authors. Try and draw people to where you are, as soon as you get a small crowd people will wonder what all the fuss is about.

I think these sorts of cons are a better place to network and make connections rather than make actual sales.

It really does depend on the convention and your book. I'm a conrunner, and it's been my experience that the authors who do best selling their books at conventions attend a LOT of conventions. At $50-100 for a table (you may get an author table for less) plus gas, hotel (unless you're local), stock, promotional materials, and time, you should really think long and hard about this.

I second the idea of sharing a table. You'll be sharing expenses and time, leaving you time to see the convention and network.

All conventions have a "freebie" table. The best bang for your buck is to leave some promotional materials there. Also go to conventions and talk to some book dealers. If you're with a commercial publisher, they may be willing to pick them up from a distributor and take them to conventions all over the region and country. If you're self-published (or with a small press with no distribution), they may be willing to cut a consignment deal with you or work directly with your publisher. Don't expect a prompt answer, but be prepared to hand over some promotional materials and possibly a copy of the book.

Hi - I'm new here

Finding your discussion very interesting, as I was just wondering the same thing. I am a fairly new author of a series of vampire books called ALMOST HUMAN, and I was invited to attend the upcoming Vampire EyeCon in Atlanta GA next month.

I am independently published with 4 novels in the series, and doing moderately well. Most of my sales come through Amazon:



But I was featured in the New Title Showcase of Book Expo America last year, and my books are being picked up by many bookstores now. I live in NY, but I know that I have a small fan base in the Atlanta area. However, I doubt many people at the convention will have heard of me yet.

I have never done a convention and am trying to figure out how many books I should be prepared with. This is a 2 1/2 day convention Fri evening - Sunday evening, and there will be celebrities from the television shows "Vampire Diaries" & "True Blood" in attendence, so I expect there will be a very good turn out for the event. I am still unsure if I will be in the vendor room, or if I may be able to have a separate signing session elsewhere.

If I am only in the vendor room at a table, can anyone suggest a realistic # of books I should prepared with? My series is actually written in a succession of trilogies, so besides selling single novels, I will have the 1st trilogy sold as a set for a significant discount (like a buy 2 get the 3rd free) and I will be signing all books.

I was also wondering what people sell signed books for at conventions, as compared to retail price. I want to give a nice discount, but Indie books are costly to print and ship. Will I be able to be competitive? My novels are approx. 275 pages (6x9), urban fantasy/paranormal romance, and sell for $10.99 on Amazon.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

~ Melanie Nowak
www.MelanieNowak.com

I've gone to conventions and handed out my business card. The card is free for the potential customer, you strike-up conversations with others, and then the potential customer takes your card home with them to check you out later. It's networking

I've written a couple articles about this topic, and perhaps they'll be helpful:

http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/booth1.shtml

http://www.writing-world.com/promotion/booth2.shtml

Think of a con appearance as a promotional opportunity and any sales you may get are a bonus.

For pricing, think in terms of a flat total that includes sales tax (if applicable) and a small discount. Folks don't necessarily expect a discount but it's nice to have a "con sale" price especially if you can round it down to an even number, ten or fifteen dollars. Dealing with ones at a booth can be annoying.

Good luck and I hope it's fun for you as well as profitable!

Thanks so much - I appreciate the advice

I have limited experience with this, but what I found was, at the big convention that I went to with a bunch of big name authors (no one had heard of me), I didn't sell a single book. At the very small convention I went to where I *was* one of the biggest names (not that anyone had heard of me there either, but I was one of the few who had a book with a major publisher) I sold eleven copies and maybe could have sold more, except I ran out because I wasn't sure I'd sell any at all! So I think if you're looking specifically to sell books, small local cons where you'll get more attention simply because there's less competition for that attention are the way to go.

If you're good at hand-selling, I've heard of people having success just carrying copies of their books with them at a con and talking it up to people here and there, no need to pay for a table then. I'm not so comfortable doing that myself.

Thanks Melusine, I really appreciate the input! I'm not one to 'hawk' my wares either

Sorry you didn't sell at the big convention. I was invited to be on the author panel last year with a bunch of big name vamp authors, for a TwiCon event at Planet Hollywood in Vegas - I was terrified! I'm sure everyone there would have been excited to see the other authors and then been looking at me and going "Who's that???" I was thrilled to be asked and planned to do it though. Then the whole event got cancelled - just my luck
As it turns out, family stuff has come up that prohibits me from attending this convention. Definitely something to think about for the future though. Maybe I will stick with signings at bookstores for now. I tend to sell 10 - 30 books at a store signing (I've done 4 so far) and that's without having to pay for a table. Conventions might be good for exposure, but for now I think I'll save my funds for other things.

Best of luck to you!

~ Melanie Nowak