Showing posts with label Jim Stevens. Show all posts

Saturday, March 17, 2018

Spring in the Desert – Tucson Festival of Books 2018

Spring is here and it’s time for the Tucson Festival of Books, 2018 style. This is a very special event where readers, onlookers and kids can meet with outstanding authors and have a good time. This was the tenth annual festival with another record attendance for the two day event.

Again, I got to see many of my Spotlight authors. This year started off talking with two of my favorites, C. Michael Bennis presenting his new release, Ralph's Place II (coming soon) and Sharon Skinner showing off her new release, Collars and Curses.

Some of my old friends were there including Jeffrey J. Mariotte and Marsheila Rockwell from the Dreams Convention Group, the Amigos and Ladies of the West and the Murder, We Wrote writers and some new friends in the Mostly Books booth and the Brick Cave Books booth.

This is my sixth Tucson Festival of Books and again I had a mission. I am at the festival as a Blogger this weekend to find out how my fellow authors are handling direct marketing. I leave my Mystery writer’s hat at home.

As always, my goal is to talk to as many authors as I can, take a lot of pictures and to see how the authors are trying to market their books and themselves.

It was a nice, overcast weekend with a hint of rain in the air. I even considered taking an umbrella. Then I remembered what my papa told me one time. “Only a fool or a tourist would say it was going to rain here.” In the desert anyway.

Author’s Goals

An author should have a set of goals when they attend a book festival. Here are some of the goals that comes to mind.

1. Sell your books directly to the attendees. Have that sales pitch ready.

2. Get the reader/prospects to look further after they leave the festival. If you sparked their interest, they will check your books out online.

3. Make an impression and maybe the reader/prospects will tell someone else about meeting you.

A book festival requires a different approach than a regular book signing at a bookstore. The fun continues at the Tucson Festival of Books. Lots of swag. Great entertainment. Wonderful weather.

As usually, I give the best materials a shout out for being the best of the best.

Observations – Sales Tools

Business Cards

There were lots of 4-color quality cards with cover pictures and much better contact information, including email addresses and internet links. This year there were many great author business cards. There were two that stood out with pictures, color and information.

Deena Remiel @deenaremiel – Book: Trinty

Jenn Windrow @jenmwindrow - Book: Pricked by Thorns

Bookmarks

Almost all the bookmarks I reviewed had great presentations. Most of the bookmarks were high quality, done with covers pictures and contact information. In years past that was a problem. I saw several marks highlighting book series. A couple had 3D barcodes. My choices were:

Anna Questerly @AnnaQuesterly - Book: Basic Alchemy with Essential Oils / The Alchemist's Guild

Elise M. Stone @EliseMStone‏ – Book: Double Pink Murder

Post cards

Cards are indeed getting better every year. They offer more space to have more and better information. Most of the post cards had copies of the author’s book covers and series. I did pick two in this category.

C. Michael Bennis @CMBennis - Book: Ralph's Place II – Spotlight Interview

Jim Stevens @JimStevensWritr - Book: The Case of the Dearly Departed – Spotlight Interview

Large Variety of Promotional materials

This year I added a new category. I asked for swag and boy did I get some. Teresa reached into her bag of swag and the items kept coming. She started with a paper hat on a stick highlighting a series, followed by several bookmarks, a pen and topped by a glass cleaning towel and a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

Teresa Burrell @teresaburrell – Book: The Advocate’s Illusion – Spotlight Interview

Best Presentation

The best presentation by an author this year was easy to pick again. Remember everyone is a prospect even a blogger roaming the festival.

Gail Ann Gibbs @gailanngibbs – Book: Sketches in the Air and They Called Me Dragon

She had a quick prospect presentation but her promotional materials were well organized including a bookmark, 2 postcards and festival special (all clipped together).

This Year’s Takeaway Ideas

Idea 1

Several authors were offering free or discounted ebooks to readers. Some were even giving free, autographed paper books. If done properly, giveaways during the event could increase your Amazon rating.

Idea 2

The authors did a great job displaying their books. A quick check of their displays, their name was easy to see. They still need to display their genre somewhere. If I’m a mystery reader, I probably waste my time at a Sci-Fi booth. Then again I might get a prospect interested in a new genre.

Idea 3

Most of the authors were wearing show name tags on strings. They were very difficult to read as they flopped around in the wind. Use a clip or something, please.

Name tags/plates are still a problem. There were not many name plates at all. Have a name plate made up and place it on the table in front of you. I wore my name tag: James Moushon - Mystery Writer – Blogger.

Finally, a Great Time in the Desert Comes to an End

Authors need to have a plan to get the most bang for their buck. You need to focus on what sells your books:

Have marketing materials with great cover pics and contact information.

Qualify your prospects quickly and then give them a short, quality presentation.

Other related posts:

A Hot Time in the Desert – the Tucson Festival of Books 2017

A Flower in the Desert – the Tucson Festival of Books 2016

Desert Delight – The Tucson Festival of Books 2015

Ever thought of attending a book festival? X Shelley Young

Fun In The Sun – the Tucson Festival of Books 2014

Book Marketing, Trojan Style: LA Festival of Books 2013

Book Marketing, Desert Style: Tucson Festival of Books – 2013

Follow me:

Follow Me on Twitter: @jimhbs

Or EMAIL at: james.moushon@gmail.com

View my website: James Moushon – Mystery Writer

Or visit my blog: Indie Author Corner

Take a look at my Author’s blog: HBS Author’s Spotlight

And the HBS Mystery Readers Circle

Check out the Jonathon Stone Mystery Novels:

Black Mountain Secrets

Game of Fire

The Cajun Ghost

Thursday, March 16, 2017

A Hot Time in the Desert – the Tucson Festival of Books 2017

It’s that time of the year again. The Tucson Festival of Books in the spring is a special event where readers, onlookers and kids can meet with outstanding authors and have a good time. This was the ninth annual festival with another record attendance for the two day event. This year was warmer than previous years and shady places to stand were at a premium.

Again, I got to see many of my Spotlight authors. This year started off talking with two of my favorites, Rebecca Dahlke @rpdahlke and D.R. Ransdell @dr_ransdell. At the end of the day I met up with J.A. Jance @JAJance who has just released ‘Man Overboard’. Her new release will be showcased on the HBS Author’s Spotlight soon. Judith is a Tucson-based bestselling author and a graduate of the University of Arizona.

This is my fifth Tucson Festival of Books and I had a mission. Again I took off my Mystery writer’s hat. I am here as a Blogger this weekend to find out how my fellow authors are handling direct marketing.

Like previous festivals, my goal is to talk to as many authors as I can, take a lot of pictures and to see how the authors are trying to market their books and themselves.

Author’s Goals

Like I have stated before, when an author attends an event like a book festival, they should have a set of goals before they start, like selling their books at the event AND/OR getting the reader/prospects to look further after they leave. If you sparked their interest, they will check your books out online. They may even tell someone else about meeting you.

A book festival requires a different approach than a regular book signing at a bookstore. This year there was less swag than normal but lots of fun. A lesson learned. Don’t have chocolate candy as a giveaway. Not in the desert anyway.

Observations – Sales Tools

This is what I observed while I made my way through the festival. Let’s start with the sales tools. I picked up a lot of literature and took a lot of pictures. The following is a good list of marketing items to consider for authors attending book events. I like to give credit to the top items in each category of sales item. This year there were so many good items in some of the groups I could not pick the top ones.

Business Cards

The cards ranged from 4-color quality cards with cover pictures to plain Vistaprint cards to none at all. This year the business cards had better contact information, including email addresses. Authors are starting to loosen up on the email info. This year there were many great author business cards. There were two that stood out with color and information.

Natalie Wright @NatalieWright_ - H.A.L.F.

D.R. Ransdell @dr_ransdell - Dizzy in Duranbo

Bookmarks

All the bookmarks I reviewed had some way to contact the author. Most of the bookmarks were professionally done with covers, review snips and contact information. My choices were:

Teresa Burrell @teresaburrell - The Advocates Homicides

Carly Thomson @CarlyThomson3 - Truth Seekers

Flyers

I saw several flyers on colored stock. This was something that I thought I would see more of. There is so much area (letter size) to get your message across. Besides, the cost factor is a plus. There were fewer flyers this year than in previous years. No picks on this item.

Books Covers

There were lots of books with great covers. The authors were more than willing to sign a purchased copy.

Post cards

Now we are getting into some great stuff. There were fewer post cards this year also. Most of the post cards had copies of the author’s book covers and collections. I did pick two in this category.

Kathryn Lane - Waking Up In Medellin

Jim Stevens @JimStevensWritr – The Richard Sherlock Whodunit Comic Mystery Series

Book Displays and Posters

The same great quality was displayed here, with lots of cover blowups. It was hard to pick one here too but this display stood out.

Bill Markley @BillMarkley - Deadwood Dead Men

Top Author Booth

The booths were organized better this year with the numbering finally making sense. My booth pick had so many outstanding authors (about 15 at one sitting) I couldn’t list them all.

The Dreams Convention booth

Congrats to Kris Tualla @kristualla for putting together such a great group of authors.

Amigos and Ladies of the West booth

And to Doug Hocking @HockingDoug for a unique booth with authors dressed in Western attire to match their genre.

Best Presentation

The best presentation by an author this year was easy to pick. As always most of the authors had their pitch all ready for me. The top pick this year was from one of my Spotlight Authors. Remember everyone is a prospect even a blogger roaming the festival.

Kris Tualla @kristualla - Enemies & Traitors

Novelty Items

Not many tote bags this year but other items took their place. Like I have said before, give the festival goers something of value and your swag will not wind up in the trash can. I spent some time talking to the picks in this category,

T.L. Smith @tlsmithbooks – Business Card with trinket (Shooting Stars and Bad Guys, All in a Day’s Work)

Cathy McDavid @CathyMcDavid - Envelope opener

Action

Like I have said before, I like confronting authors at the festival. There are a variety of presentations. Some had long pitches, some had none.

A book festival is an on-the-spot sales opportunity. It is a chance to sell yourself to prospects and readers. To me, the most effective pitch was the short, quick one. A long pitch surely loses some sales opportunities. If the pitch is long, it better be interesting.

A few of the authors qualified me. Less than last year. That is a key first step. They offered questions like this. Do you read Mysteries? Do you like Suspense? What type of books do you read?

They should be thinking about the person in front of them and react. Is he a buyer or prospect? Is he a tire-kicker? Is he someone that will promote me and by book, like a blogger?

Some authors jumped right into their sales pitch often wasting their time and mine. They start telling their book’s story before they find out the visitor is not buying or doesn’t read their genre. You just want to hang up but you can’t.

There were a lot of tire kickers according to the authors. These were people who were there for a good time but were not buyers. Lots of kids, which was great. They were there to ‘snag some swag’ as they say.

There were a lot of people and the authors needed to work the prospects. Talk to them. Socialize with everyone. Hand them a copy of a book or literature. Here take a look? You never know.

This Year’s Takeaway Ideas

Idea 1

Finally, I am starting to see authors offering free or discounted ebooks to readers. This is great time to run a promo during the festival. Give the attendees a shot at it. If they like your work, they will buy your other books. If done properly, giveaways during the event could increase your Amazon rating.

Idea 2

Give your prospect/readers something of value. Something with your book title, your name and web address or twitter tag or email address.

Idea 3

Like last year, name tags/plates are still a problem. The authors did a great job displaying their books. A quick check of their displays, their name was easy to see.

Face time with a prospect is very important. Have a name plate made up and place it on the table in front of you. I wore my name tag: James Moushon - Mystery Writer – Blogger.

Give the attendees more than a name. Readers looking for Mysteries will stop. Others would move on. Qualify. Qualify. Qualify.

Finally, a Great Day in the Sun Comes to an End

Authors need to have a plan to get the most bang for their buck. You need to focus on what sells your books. Presentations. Marketing materials. Good covers. Qualifying prospects. Great copy. Forming Relationships.

Other related posts:

A Flower in the Desert – the Tucson Festival of Books 2016

Desert Delight – The Tucson Festival of Books 2015

Ever thought of attending a book festival? X Shelley Young

Fun In The Sun – the Tucson Festival of Books 2014

Book Marketing, Trojan Style: LA Festival of Books 2013

Book Marketing, Desert Style: Tucson Festival of Books – 2013

Follow me:

Follow Me on Twitter: @jimhbs

Or EMAIL at: james.moushon@gmail.com

View my website: James Moushon – Mystery Writer

Or visit my blog: The eBook Author Corner

Take a look at my Author’s blog: HBS Author’s Spotlight

And the HBS Mystery Readers’s Circle

Check out the Jonathon Stone Mystery Novels and Collections:

Black Mountain Secrets

Game of Fire

Operation Alpha Dog

The Cajun Ghost

Friday, April 26, 2013

Book Marketing, Trojan Style - LA Festival of Books 2013

It was a beautiful spring weekend in Los Angeles and it was time for the 18^th Annual LA Festival Books sponsored by the LA Times. This weekend there would be over 150 thousand in attendance.

The football field at USC was covered with tented booths and the adjoining buildings were filled with various panels, seminars and readings. The sideshow even included Carol Burnet doing her Tarzan call. If you missed it, here is a link to a YouTube version.

For authors and everyone else involved this is a really, really big deal. Everyone loves a parade and readers love a Book Festival.

It is time to give your pitch

So you’re an author seating or standing (mostly standing) in a booth, greeting prospective customers. You have a great red cover on your book, begging for attention.

The first thing that comes to your mind is “have I remembered everything”. You’ll find out soon enough.

You can forget almost anything but you need to bring a plan. You know, a goal of what you want to accomplish and how to get there.

Most authors have a set of common goals. They want to sell books, gain exposure, meet people and have fun. You are meeting readers and potential customers.

Sales

One thing you realize before you get started is this is an expensive proposition. So you must be prepared to get the most ‘bang for your buck’.

At the minimum you need sales materials. If the prospect shows an interest, he has to leave with something.

It would be nice if it was an autographed book.

I suggest something of value like a pen with your information on it. Something that they won’t put in the trash can at the end of the aisle.

With all authors vying for attention, they must have something of yours that will refresh their memory later.

You need a sales pitch. Like Terry Ambrose told me at the Tucson Festival of Books last month, “[Long ago I] learned the importance of the hook. Depending upon the reader, the author has on average 10-15 seconds to describe their book and get the reader interested. I have three different opening lines that I'll use depending on the question I get from the potential reader.”

Get your radar going. Qualify your guest and give them your best pitch.

Writer’s Groups

Writer’s groups seem to have it figured out. First of all, most of them are genre-oriented. That immediately qualifies your visitor.

They share cost, help fellow authors and carry the atmosphere of the genre because everyone is talking about the same type of book, like a Mystery.

I thought it would be interesting if I could single out a group and get their observation on the festival.

This time around, I connected with the Murder, We Wrote writers group.

I thought it would be fun to ask the members of a group about their experiences at the show and pass that on. I solicited Terry Ambrose’s help and here is what we came up with. (Author credits at the end of this post.)

Making connections at a Book Festival is one of the things we discussed with the group. Here is their take.

Connections

Mystery writer Teresa Burrell had this to say: “Two different attendees approached me to do speaking events this fall, both for legal organizations.”

Mystery Author and Humor columnist Gayle Carline continued the thought:

“Sometimes I meet people who are interested in speakers, and I never turn down a speaking engagement. This year, I was interviewed on two different radio stations. You never know where that kind of publicity will lead.”

Mystery and Psychological Author Jenny Hilborne said, “I met the Vice President of Advertising for the LA Times. She purchased my latest release, STONE COLD, a thriller set in Oxfordshire, England. As a fellow Brit, I'm hoping she will enjoy it and maybe include a review in the LA Times.”

Mystery writer Terry Ambrose had a good connection also. “I met a lady who does a radio show with a significant audience and hope to get an interview on her show. I also may have lined up a slot on the program for the Greater Los Angeles Writers Conference. I have my fingers crossed on both!”

Now those are the type of connections you want. If those come through they can be worth more than selling dozens of books at the show.

Writer’s Group Event

Synergy is one of the major components in a Writer’s group. You can just fill it.

Gayle Carline had this to say about her group. “I love being with this crew of writers.”

I can fill her motivation, can’t you? Most authors who are not rockstars in the industry need help with the costs in a large event like this.

Mystery Author Pam Ripling had a comment on Costs.

“… authors lose the opportunity to meet and market to one of the biggest gatherings of readers in America. Costs of exhibiting solo are also prohibitive for most independent authors, so it makes sense to share resources in a cooperative fashion. Murder, We Wrote is just such a co-op.

And on Sharing Space, she said, “The MWW authors also come home with inspiration, ideas and knowledge they didn’t possess when they arrived.”

Teresa Burrell had this to say about one of her takeaways. “What I enjoy the most is seeing the same readers come back year after year to buy the next book in my series.”

Author Gayle Carline echoed that. “[This was] the opportunity to meet people.”

Learning Experience

One of the areas that we don’t read much about is the opportunity that a Festival affords authors to learn more about the other aspects of authorship besides writing their novel.

Mystery Writer Paul Marks had this to say about the experience. “And since we all write different sub-genres of mystery it was good to have a booth where almost anyone interested in mystery could find something to enjoy. And it was good to see how the other writers work and promote their work.”

Watch and observe other authors. This can be a learning experience that can help build your audience.

Making the Sale

Terry Ambrose commented on group sales. “All during the event, we were able to ask reader’s questions and then have the most appropriate author(s) talk to that person.”

Mystery Author Jim Stevens said this about closing the sale. “Finding that one phrase that 'clinches the sale' can be worth its weight in printed paper. I also met some TV and film people that bought my book; sure hope they like it.”

There were many authors and writing groups like Murder, We Wrote sharing their booth with writers.

Takeaways

Qualify your visitors. Adjust your pitch. Make the sale.
Group/Team efforts like Murder, We Wrote can be like a tag team match. Work together to make the sale.
Try to make a connection. You can only do that if you quality your visitor. You never know who will visit your booth.
Hand them something of value to refresh their memory later.
This should be a learning experience. Soak it all in.

Final Thought
If you participate in Amazon’s KDP program or have giveaways to promote your books and your brand, consider giving away free ebooks at a festival.

You display your book with that great cover. You give the prospect your pitch. Then you close by handing them a flyer or other sales media with directions on where the free ebook can be downloaded.

Your focus is on building your brand and increasing your Amazon ranking and get some reviews.

Remember you are one on one with a reader. You are not fighting with hundreds of free book offers online. It is just a different focus.

Free Books: Give it away. Just give it away.
Book Marketing, Desert Style: Tucson Festival of Books – 2013
Crime Fiction Collective