AC Member Pam Kelly Sets Promotion Example for Us All

Authors' Coalition thank yous go to Pam Kelly for putting the Authors' Coalition (and my guest appearance at her class) front and center on her blog. http://www.pkellycom.blogspot.com/.

Her blog is a perfect place to see some shots of fair happenings at our booth (the videos with Rey Ybarra at our booth, shots with Annette Fix, (a fellow Authors' Coalition booth participant) and Book Publicists of Southern California (BPSC) leader, Irwin Zucker, plus notes on the way she used a drawing (and promoted it!) during her signing time and, of course, the beautiful set-up for her table during her signing time. Her passion shows through, of course, (She wrote Speak with Passion! Speak with Power!) but her promotion details set an example for us all.

Just a quick note on the Authors' Coalition catalog that goes out to booksellers, too. Mindy Laurence is sending copies to bookstore buyers. Both in her hometown and that of her PR client, Dr. Dan Skelton.


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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Authors' Coalition Members are Slide Show Stars!

Here is our 2008 Authors' Coalition slide show! Many members are featured on this slide show and many others of you will want to see some of the things AC is doing and possibly want to post the slide show on your blogs, website, social networking sites, etc. just to build your credibility as a member of Authors' Coalition. Here is the slide show with Joyce Faulkner's explanation of how to use it.

This particular AC benefit works best for those who speak or teach and can, therefore, run this slide show on a computer or project it on a screen at those events. It is cross-promotional marketing tool meaning that when everyone on it is posting to their websites and taking it on their book signings with them, everyone benefits! Joyce will be showing it at the huge Branson Veterans' Week in November and on her speaking engagements. I will be posting it on the AC site, my www.howtodoitfrugally.com site and on several of my blogs including this one.
So see below for the details and the html code. And know that if you don't know what html code is, you webmaster will! (-:

Thank you Joyce for adding so much value to Author's Coalition! This takes a huge amount to time for you to do!


Hi everyone,

At long last, here's the 2008 Authors' Coalition Slideshow. Your book or books appear in this slideshow if you are either a sponsor, a catalog participant, or simply a slideshow participant.

The goal of this slideshow is to give the participants as much exposure as possible. To that end, feel free to share it with your audiences, post it to your websites,blogs, My Space, Facebook, etc -- heck, give it away to friends if you want. The more that we use the slideshow, the more exposure everyone gets. As Carolyn says, cross promotion is extremely powerful and allows us to reach audiences that we might not touch otherwise. Understand that this is just one promotion in an arsenal and that it takes time to get name recognition. However, it IS a good tool and one of many ways to get your message out and your book known.


INSTRUCTIONS:

I'm including the slideshow here in a variety of ways --

I've provided the code for 5 different sizes so that you can embed it on your websites or blogs, My Space, FaceBook, etc. (They are posted below my signature on this email) Your webmaster will know how to add it to your site. If you don't know how to do it, you can contact me and I'll walk you through the process.

If you want to have it run on a blogger type blog (your url will have the word "blogspot.com" in it)...you will sign into your blog and go to the Layout tab. Choose Page Elements, Add a page element, Slideshow. Under Title, type in "Authors' Coalition Slideshow 2008". For Source, select "Picasa Web Albums". For Option, choose "Album." For Username, type in JoyceKFaulkner@gmail.com. For album, choose AC2008SS. Then Save and when you publish your blog, the slideshow will appear and play automatically. (NOTE: This is a pretty small version, so I don't recommend this one.)

You can also go to Blogger and add a new post...and paste this code in the posting box.



NOTE: I like this one better than the first blog option, but it will eventually scroll down away from top of your page...so there's a trade-off.
If you just want to view the slides in a Picasa Album, you can see it at this link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/JoyceKFaulkner. At that address, you can invite folks to come see the slideshow if you want to send to your mailing list.

If you would like to download the PowerPoint Slideshow, you can go to http://www.redenginepress.com/AC2008.ppsx and save it to your hard drive. From there, you can burn to a cd that will play automatically.

If you'd like to receive the slideshow on a cd so that you can show it at your events, you can either send me a check or I'll invoice you via Paypal for $4.50. (For those of you who have already ordered it, we'll be burning cds tomorrow and it'll be off to you on Thursday.)

Just a note, the Powerpoint slideshow is set to run slowly and has elaborate transitions. Each slide is set to show for 15 seconds. The show will loop continuously...so once you set it up, it'll go until you stop it. It will not have these fancy transitions in the website versions.

Carolyn will post the new slideshow to the main Authors' Coalition page. I'll be posting it to my websites as well...which includes the Red Engine Press site. Next week (if the moon is right LOL) I'll post a version of it to YouTube.com.

Take a quick glance at your slide and if you see any errors, please let me know and i'll make corrections.

Good luck everyone...and I hope you enjoy the show.

Joyce Faulkner
Director, Authors' Coalition

CODES TO IMBED IN WEBSITES:

Largest (800px)



Larger (600px)




Large (400px)



Medium (288px)



Small (144px)




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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Q&A a la Ann Landers: Is a Book Fair Booth Signing Worth It?

Below you'll find a question from one of our booth participants that turned into my annual report of book fair booth do's, don't's, pro's, con's and marketing secrets:

Question: It would appear, from my short stop at the tent [at the LA Times Festival of Books], that no one made enough sales to break even. If that is true, an analysis would determine if it is worthwhile.


Answer: Thank you. This is a perfect way for me to focus that fair report that I promised those who participated in our booth. Questions and answers are always better than a plain old report. (-:

I can't remember exactly when you came onto the scene in our little book fair process. I say over and over again (in my newsletter, on my website, even in my book and on this blog that fairs are NOT about book sales but about exposure. The chance to send out invitations, releases, etc. and align oneself with the name of a fair as prestigious as the LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books. It is prestigious not only because of its size and its own association with names like the Times and UCLA but also because the general reader assumes that if you're signing at the fair in any capacity, that's a big deal.

I. E. book fairs are about opportunity, not sales. That is why all our AC booth participants receive e-mails from me over and over again. They include templates for releases, for fliers, for invitations and tons of stuff on the basics of marketing in general and marketing book fair appearances in particular.

Having said that, I can't think of one book promotion in the ten years I've been doing it that "pays for itself." For one thing, except for a book fair, it's rare if we know exactly how many book sales to assign to a particular effort. Even a fair can't really be measured this way. Did people go home and buy a book online, as an example? Did they do it Monday? Will they do it Wednesday after the fair? Will they do it when they see you or your title again in the newspapers or on the WEB next week?

Marketing is cumulative. Marketing is about "Persistency over time" and "frequency." Those words are my marketing mantras.

A fair is also about networking. As are many speaking engagements (where one also may sell quite a few books and sometimes, may not).

So, I think the question to be asking ourselves here is not if anyone sold enough to cover their expenses (if you count my time billed out at minimum wage, I certainly didn't and haven't for the last six years!) But instead each person who signs at a fair should ask themselves:

1. How much did you learn?

2. What would you do differently next time?

3. Did you participate in any of the value-added promotions offered by your booth planners or produce any of your own? Did you do your basic marketing? Those releases and invitations?

4. Are you using what I'm sending you after the fair for follow-up publicity. And are you assigning a value to that (not in book sales--again, that's too hard to trace -- but in what you would pay for advertising space equivalent to what you got either on the Web or in your hometown newspaper?)

5. Did you make an important contact for your future career at the fair. A publisher? Editor? Bookstore buyer? A writing club? Editor? etc.

6. Did you collect names for your contact list? That's important so that the next time you will have more people to invite.

7. Did you use your participation as a featured author in your other promotion? Your website? Your blog? Your newsletter? (It is not too late!)

In other words, did you play this fair (or any other fair or book signing or event) for all it can do for you?

For those of you who participated in the catalog only, the principles I've mentioned apply to that kind of promotion, too. Did you supply book buyers' names as asked? Are you following up with that list to talk to booksellers about the catalog? Are you sending them another catalog or media kit or sell sheet now that the catalog has been delivered? Perhaps with a handwritten note attached pointing your book out as one written by a local author.

By the way, did you know that big marketers think any campaign is HUGE if they get 7% of results. That means if they send out 100 postcards, they feel very fortunate to get responses (even nonbuying responses) on seven of them.)

So, to answer this question. Those of you who prefer to evaluate your book fair may certainly find that it didn't pay for itself. Of course, much depends on your royalty/profit margin on your books. Much will also depend on the kind of book you have. Generally, as an example, nonfiction books sell better than fiction. It's the nature of the game. That is true across the board in the world of publishing.

I saw people in our booth sell from two books to about 12 in an hour (the higher number is a guess because I obviously can't count everyone's sales when I'm busy.) And I would welcome figures from you all. I also saw many visitors ask authors for their signatures on posters, ask to pose for photos, etc., and I believe that those with signs that made passers-by immediately aware they were authors, saw more of this kind of action than others. That may not seem like a calculable benefit to some, but I sure think it adds to the fun. And those pictures can end up on Facebook, blogs and more. Especially if you had good signs and/or remembered to grab a copy of your book and hold it face out for the camera!

If enough of you volunteer to give out your sales, I will be happy to post that. I'd also like you to briefly enumerate what you did to promote your appearance before the fair.

Here are just a couple of additional items to report. We had three volunteers who handed out fliers and bookmarks and many authors brought their own volunteers who were generous about handing out materials for authors other than the author they came with. Yes, I often asked them to do that. Ha! Our books were on display individually (something few booths do) and well lighted, also a book fair booth rarity.

If any of you have anything to add to this, suggestions for next year or things I missed, please use the comment butt on this blog.

What have you found effective in the book fairs you've participated in? Please share here by using the comment link below!
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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Booth Participant Sends Valued Suggestion

This suggestions was offered from one of the authors signing at this year's Authors' Coalition booth. I have long encouraged authors to bring help but usually to run errands, help take money, etc. Maybe we need two helpers. Here is the suggestions from David H. Jones:
Hi Carolyn,

Dian and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the Authors' Coalition booth on both days at the LA Times Festival of Books.

It was a delight meeting you and all of the other good folks involved
with Authors' Coalition. Thank you for having us.

One thing that was very apparent to me during my two stints at book
signing was the importance of having an assistant out front of the
booth handing out bookmarks for my book, Two Brothers: One North, One South. Dian was able to steer a number of people to the table. Almost all of them bought a book and
had it autographed.

Visitors to the Book Fair become so visually overloaded as they walk
past a multitude of interesting booths that many who would otherwise
stop, simply go by without taking notice of our presence or signage.

I highly recommend that author's bring someone to fulfill that
function during a crowded event . . . it makes all the difference in
the world.

Cordially,

David

David H. Jones
Author of Two Brothers: One North, One South
www.davidhjones.net
http://davidhjones.net/blog/


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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Best Selling Author TV Offers Book Fair Participants Post-Fair Exposure

Just because a fair is done, doesn't mean the publicity has to die, too. Now, to aid those who signed at Authors' Coalition's booth with their post-fair publicity comes this great spread from Best Selling Author TV!

How might you authors use it? Link to the page Rey did for us on your website, your blogs, and let your fans know about it! Try to spot your books on display, your posters, your faces. Here's Rey's note and link! Leave a comment, please, and, for the good of your book, leave a web address with your signature!

Thank you, Rey. We'll look forward to seeing more videos!

Please click on the link http://bestsellingauthortv.blogspot.com/2008/04/authors-coalition-teams-up-with-best.html to see photos and write ups for authors who participated on our Best Selling Author Television program from this years UCLA/LA Times Festival of Books!


Sincerely,

Rey Ybarra
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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

LA Times/UCLA Festival of Books: Authors' Coalition Featured Authors

Visit with these authors.

Let them sign your purchases.

Get a free book with your purchase while our supply lasts.

Come to the LA Times/UCLA Festiva of Books, Booths 610 and 611, Zone F, Near the Food Section on April 26 and 27, Saturday and Sunday!

Saturday

Two per table

Please note--some authors are signing both days.


10 am Carolyn Howard-Johnson and Joyce Faulkner

11 am Fred Ephraim and Deborah Amelon

Noon Danalee Buhler and Annette Fix

1 pm Christine Alexanians and Sona Ovasapyan (both poets)

2 pm Carol Wood and David H. Jones

4 pm Rey Ybarra, video photographer



Sunday

Two per table

10 am Annette Fix and Carolyn Howard-Johnson

11 am Fred Ephraim and Pam Kelly

Noon: Danalee Buhler and Barbara Crandall

1 pm : Carl Nelson and Patti Kokinos

2 pm David H. Jones

4 pm Rey Ybarra, video photographer

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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com

Stuff to Know Before the Book Fair...

...or Preparations Before the Fair.



Here is what you'll need and a few directions and helps:

Those who are signing at our booth, please take the time to read this all the way through. There is lots here that can make a difference to you. If you still have questions after reading through, highlighting, and absorbing, please ask questions on this blog by using the comment feature. That way we can ALL benefit from them. Also, everyone feel free to chime in with a comment, to exchange ideas and to give help according to your expertise. (-:

To park go to the LA Times Festival of Books website (www.latimes.com) and look at the campus map. Park in the #3 structure, near Sunset and Hilgaard. You will find people there who will help direct you to our booths, #610and 611. Parking is $8. Follow parking directions to the letter. Tickets are expensive.

Bring your books for sale and be prepared to take extras back to the car if you have more left than what you can carry. We can't store backstock of books for everyone. There is just not enough room and we try to keep a tidy booth.

If your poster does not arrive in the mail on Friday before the fair, it most likely will not get posted. These posters go up at 6 am on Saturday morning--or before.

It is best to use something that rolls to bring your books and display material for your table.

You will need:

-Change for cash sales.
-A Visa machine set up if you take credit cards (not necessary)
-A resale license (it can be temporary). You probably won't need it but you should have one anyway.
-Decide whether you want to take checks. I do. I don't take credit cards, though. That's because I don't sell many books myself but go through wholesalers and distributors.
-A box for your money/checks, etc. I use my pockets. Not too classy but very fast.
-The signs you put out on the table for special offers, the price of your books, if you have an award and want it to be evident, etc. We provide the signs that say our customers get a free book with a purchase of a book, while supplies last.
-Stands for your books and/or other display aids like inexpensive card holders. Try Michael's or Staples.
-You may want to pack a lunch, depending on your schedule.
-Wear warm shoes in case it is cold or rains. The booths are on the grass and feet can get cold.
-Dress professionally or in a way that will market your title or brand yourself. Color works well if you want to attract the visual media. Also, you will be filmed by Rey Ybarra for Authors' Coalition videos.
-Arrive at least 15 minutes before your allotted time. There is some trade-time between authors.
-Make your reservations for your personal video with Rey Ybarra if you wish. To reserve your own special time ($99.) e-mail him at rybarra106@aol.com.
-Plan to be at the booth each day at 4 pm for some video footage that Rey will shoot for Authors' Coalition. These videos will be available to everyone who is participating to use for promotion. You will want to be on them!
~A guest book if you wish. Keep collecting names for your contact list.
~A good signing pen. Several others for backup.

I can't be specific about how many books you will need. It depends on your title, how old the title is, how you promoted your signing beforehand, how well you relate to the crowds walking by the booth and the people who come into the booth, how expensive your book is. The free book with purchase offer will help you close a sale. Beyond that, I have seen a book priced at $50 sell two books. I have seen authors sell as many as 40 books in an hour. Bring what you think you can sell. Stow extras in your car (always a good idea). Bring a friend to help you run to the car if you need to and help in other ways. And, in the meantime, promote, promote, promote! Keep in mind,though, that this fair is HUGE. It attracts 135,000 visitors including Hollywood types.

You may also wish to take advantage of the great free seminars offered by the fair. There are dozens and some are presented by famous authors. Others are valuable panels.

You may sell your books before and after your allotted time but we do ask that you step outside of the booth to do so. Those who are signing will want to be seen and if you crowd around you will limit visiblity. You may also want to discreetly pass out fliers before your signing time and/or post them in lavatories, etc. Note the word discreetly. If you are asked to desist, do so politely.

Please plan to send out invitations if you have not already done so and e-mail reminders one or two days before your signing date. Don't forget your media releases to your local press/TV/radio. You could even call your local reporters and invite them. Even send personal invitations to them.

If you haven't heard from me, that means I do not have your materials for display. Display means the bookshelves that show your books when you are not signing. That is where we put your order forms, books, and bookmarks. You may have some of those materials on your table when you sign, of course!!

Give yourself time and a small budget to browse and to buy the books of others. If authors don't buy books, how can we expect others to buy ours?

Note that Rey and Randy (TV host and cameraman) will be in and out of the booth filming. This will attract traffic. It is up to YOU to utilize it well. I. E., strike up conversations with those standing about looking.

Also note this is a cross-promotional effort. When you have sold a book (say to someone you have invited to the fair), introduce them to your table mate and/or suggest one of the other books in the booth. When you first sit down, take a minute to learn something about your table partner. Early in the day, browse the other books on display.

Use the booth and the entire fair to network. You will be evaluating your experience not on sales but on many intangibles. Leads. Contacts. Opportunity to contact those who can help you in the future (editors, publishers, readers, etc.). Learning new promotion techniques from your fellows. I. E. fairs are opportunities for you get more exposure and to build relationships. Also keep in mind, many who don't buy your book will go straight home and buy at a discount on Amazon. I recommend that you let them. I don't think it is a good idea to sell your own work at a discount. It competes against your bookstores (not really ethical) and it diminishes the value of your work. That is one of the reasons we offer the free book with purchase.

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Blogging by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). Learn more at both the AC site and Carolyn's website, www.howtodoitfrugally.com and her blogs:
www.thefrugaleditor.blogspot.com
www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com
www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com