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What to Bring When Selling at Book Conventions - A List

I’d like to thank the book fair organizers I’ve met and the people I’ve met at book fairs. From them, I learned about what to bring to these events. 

Apart from the basics that organizers will often send creators an email reminder about, I’ve listed down other items based on what I saw from other creators that I thought was pretty handy.

This will be part 3 on my series on book fairs. You can also review part 1 and part 2.

What to bring as a seller at an author expo? 

You can check out my first booth here to get some ideas.

Tumbler Thankfully book fair organizers provide water and coffee dispensers so you can get free water and reduce plastic water bottle waste.

Small easel So you can prop and display a copy of your book.

Table cloth So you can dress up your area, make it stand out from the sea of many wooden or plastic booths and even hide any unsightly clutter

Signs These should be about your product and pricing and can be on felt letter boards, a propped up sketchpad, and/or post its.

Pentel pens, ball pens, notepad For making signs, tallying how many books sold and sometimes signing the books

Purse full of coins and another purse full of bills Usually Php 20s and Php 50s and Php 100s at least Php 500 to start so you can provide change even on your first purchases. It’ll discourage people from buying if getting change is inconvenient.

About 40 copies of your book You can bring more if you’ve gotten traction for your work and your brand as a creator but bringing 40 is a safe number for your first events.

Official freelancer receipts Most of the artists and freelancers I met have these once their activities with book fairs and freelance work becomes a viable secondary or primary source of income.

Other things you can bring:

A small folding chair and/or table if the event has a floor set up

Wet wipes and some hand sanitizer that I bring everywhere anyway for bathroom breaks, removing sticky food substances, and overall germophobia

A jacket because I get cold easily and a lot of these halls can have their air conditioners on full blast to make up for the many hot bodies inside

Masking tape to keep books, table cloth, and other signs in place

Stickers, if you have them as small versions of your work, so that people can still support you even if they pay a smaller rate than your actual work. In other cases, stickers make your actual work seem more value for money

Reusable utensils and baonan/tupperware/reusable containers if you want to save on money and bring your own food and again reduce plastic waste. Most organizers will offer lunch or snacks to creators too.

I am still working on what author expos I will join next but in the meantime, you can buy my books from either Studio Soup Zine Library, BooksActually and Porch Reader Philippines.

You can also follow my author page on Facebook to get updates on my next book fairs.

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How to Spot a Good Book Fair Organizer?

Yes, I’m doing a series of blogs on book fairs now.

Jumping off from the practical lessons I listed in part 1, I’d like to focus on some green flags that indicate that an organizer and a creators community is good.

My main takeaway is that it can be evident which ones have real empathy for all stakeholders.

By stakeholders, I mean vendors regardless of size, tenure or, brand recall; the vendor’s collective, friends, or assistants; the organizer team, and volunteers; and book fair visitors, customers and media partners.

There are no surprises because of constant communication. It was better to see daily updates from the organizers than to not hear back for weeks or months at a time only to find out about something that affects me at the very last minute or on the event itself.

Event and project management is apparent. If you’ve done marketing, advertising and even construction or corporate work, there is a level of management involved from setting goals and milestones, planning timelines, tracking progress, and keeping a scorecard.

Considerations for behavioral economics and UI/UX can be felt. There’s an anecdote of Walt Disney observing how many walking steps it would take before people would need a trash can. Consciously or unconsciously, a good book fair organizer would have pre-event discussions about things like the flow of human traffic, where the trash cans are located, and where the vendors can easily find the organizers’ booth for help. People will feel that these discussions exist based on how comfortable it is to walk around the hall, to sit and watch over your booth, or step out for bathroom break.

There is a request for feedback post event. Whether via email, Google forms, or Facebook messenger, a request for feedback from the creators and the guests show that everyone’s opinion is heard, that there is openness and that there is an eagerness to make the next event better for everyone.

While I don’t have any book fairs lined up for the coming months or weeks, you can buy my books from either Studio Soup Zine Library, BooksActually and Porch Reader Philippines.

You can also follow my author page on Facebook to get updates on the next events I will join.

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Practical Lessons On Author Expos & Book Fairs

If you’re a new creator or if you’ve mostly attended them as a consumer, there can be a lot of questions surrounding author expos: How are they organized? How should creators prepare for them?

Image by malaquiastimoteo from Pixabay

I’ve reflected on my two experiences with book fairs so far and have come up with some answers that can be used as starting points.

My first author expo was with Gantala Press and it wasn’t by design. The opportunity for it came at a time when I hadn’t even started thinking of how to distribute my book “Deskaril: 5 Stations in Verse.” At the time, my 200 copies from the printers wasn’t ready yet.

How to know your market and the event’s market?

In the course of planning and implementing the distribution for my book, I’ve established and fleshed out further that my book gets responses from Gen-X people and xennials or older millennials in Southeast Asia who’ve grown up in the time between analog and the introduction of social media.

There’s also the secondary persona of younger millennials and generation Z who are in art school or who are exploring their capabilities as artists.

That said, very few baby boomers get my book unless it is recommended by another baby boomer.

You should also know the market of the author expo you’re joining. Is this for millennials like at Komura; ? Is it for Gen Z? Is it for Baby Boomers? Is it specific to a genre like sci-fi, poetry, fiction, a specific medium like comics? Or featuring women? Men? Queer creators? Creators from a specific school, region, or community?

How much to get into a book fair?

The ones I’ve joined have asked for either 2 copies of my book to add to their library (which was great if they were connected to a national cultural commission) or Php 600 for a small piece of floor space.

What can an author expect at a book fair?

My musician friends say book fairs can be comparable to gigs -- long boring stretches with spurts amazing moments and some mathematical computations. In a way, they are a necessary marketing and distribution channel for new creators.

In the background, there can be pocket sessions for artist talks, games, musical performers, people reading their work on stage. You can featured in some of them.

Then there can be moments when nothing is going at your booth and other moments when you need to speak to a handful of potential customers and customers at the same time.

No book fairs lined up for me in the coming months or weeks. But you can buy my books from either Studio Soup Zine Library, BooksActually and Porch Reader Philippines.

You can also follow my author page on Facebook to get updates on the next events I will join.

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My Self-Publishing Story

Has self-publishing been worth it? My short answer is yes. My long answer includes the process of "going for it", revising and revising, the cost, and dealing with the entrepreneurial side i.e. the having to wear many hats and need to self-promote your own creative work.

I started putting together the poems in my now self-published chapbook "Deskaril: 5 Stations in Verse" with every intention of working with a local publisher. It would definitely have helped me share the load of expenses, coordination with suppliers, and marketing efforts.

But my attempts were met with either rejection - something I totally understand because my work may not be for their market - or no response at all, which is just bad business.

After a few workshops where friends and former professors reviewed my work so I could think on how to revise them, make them more full-bodied, I came to a point where I felt my work was substantial enough to merit either a good editor from a known publisher or to begin the process of self-publishing. But there were no responses from traditional publishers.

So the choice was clear - I should self-publish. The first step was to work with a designer. I had eyed one designer friend but her schedule and my budget just never matched.

It was thanks to this leadership and coaching course I was taking for my digital marketing job that I found encouragement to "make things happen".

I changed designers, I met with another friend (thank you, Juju Gosingtian!) who had actually been there when some of the poems were first drafted. The timing matched and we got to make the budget work. I enjoyed the process of measuring sheets of bond paper to different book sizes to see how they would actually translate for my book.

(Photo by Apple Hermino)

I worked to not be the annoying client because I know what's that like as a creative. But I need to admit that there were hiccups like me not realizing I had to write/get parts of the book other than the actual poems: blurbs from other people, table of contents, title page, acknowledgements, copyright page.

Then there was the matter of deciding on a printer and/or someone to help with getting an ISBN. Some printers didn't respond to me, some were only available while I was at work. Some also didn't help with ISBNs.

On ISBNs, I had contacted the National Library and while their steps were clear, you had to process the application in person and their communication led me to believe I had to get another document from the DTI even if I was self-publishing.

And then I found sir Vic Lo and his team at Books on Demand. Not only were they located in Ortigas near my home and office but they helped with ISBNs too. Sir Vic also showed me their samples and they included poetry books.

In terms of the price, I have to admit it took some timing between my Christmas bonus and moving to a new role at work. These actually helped a lot so, I'm grateful to StraightArrow.

It was a crazy milestone when I picked up the books. I left the office, took a Grab to the printers and picked them up. They opened one of the 5 packs of 40 books to show me. My boyfriend met me at the printers to help me carry the books. I didn't look at them until 3 days later when I had to sell some at the Gandang-ganda sa Sariling Gawa fair for women creators.

What came after that, is another story. But I'm sharing the updated skeletal process that another friend shared with me in case any writers here are on the verge of self-publishing. I hope these help with your creative journey.

Write, edit, revise your manuscript.

Write your table of contents, title page, acknowledgements, copyright page with a blank space for ISBNs.

Decide on your book’s size and layout.

Apply the size and layout on your own with help from a designer

Have your ISBN number made (optional but it adds legitimacy). Some links on ISBNS below: http://web.nlp.gov.ph/nlp/?q=node/645 http://116.50.242.167:81/web/BSD/NLP-048.pdf http://116.50.242.167:81/web/BSD/NLP-049.pdf

Find printer, better if they also help with ISBNs.

Negotiate with printer over costs.

Finalize layout (printer might have specific needs) and send to printer.

Pay. Some printers charge Php 35K for 100 copies and others P28k for 200 copies depending on your size, paper and color options.

See proof, send in edits if any.

Get your stacks of books.

Set up launch plans.

Scream and die.

If you're in Singapore, you can buy a copy of "Deskaril: 5 Stations in Verse" from Books Actually. If you're in Metro Manila, you can get it from Studio Soup Zine Library in Cubao.

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Kids, sometimes life forces us to be someone we didn't want to be. When that happens, we often try to hold on to a little piece of who we were. Maybe a tattoo. Or a piece of jewelry. A tiny souvenir that reminds us, "This is who I really am. " Marshall's souvenir was not so tiny, but the more he found himself being pushed toward the corporate world and away from his dream of saving the environment, the tighter he held on to that Fiero.

- How I Met Your Mother, "Arrivederci, Fiero" by Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Chris Harris & Gloria Calderon Kellett

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March 16, 2019 at the CCP Silangan Hall

Me, sharing a table with Hulyen, selling my book of poems “Deskaril” at the Gandang-ganda sa Sariling Gawa fair featuring women creators.

Thanks to the CCP Intertextual Division, Gantala Press, my dad and Tita Luisa and Arthur!

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It is finally happening! 

My chap book of poetry is with the printers and I'm going to launch at the Gandang Gandang Sa Sariling Gawa Zine Fair at the CCP on March 16, 2019.

Thank you to Arthur, Juju, Sheena, Ders, sir Paolo, Rae, my coach in EO Heroes, people at work, Gantala Press, siblings, mom and dad!

See you at the CCP and at another zine fair in May!

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What came in the mail last weekend: E is ForEpal, Velocirupture and stickers!

Thank you, Michael Balili and Paolo Manalo.

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I’ve been cooking something up with a friend for the past 6 months or so. 

Pro-tip: To visualize your book size, grab a ruler and used paper and measure and fold.

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On Jelly: Aeroplane & Agar-agar

Last weekend, my boyfriend and I stumbled across Aeroplane Jelly on sale at Rustan’s. It was a relic from my childhood in Melbourne in the early 1990′s, so I said why not. My boyfriend prepared the jelly over the work week and added apples. It was good and different - the texture was thick and viscous.

Reading the label, we learned that it’s derived from beef. And this explained a lot about the texture. So I guess vegans should steer clear of this.

Here's the ad that my brothers and sister and I used to see in Australia. Apparently, the plane is named Bertie The Jet, after the company's founder Bert Appleroth. His co-founder Albert Francis Lenertz wrote the iconic song in 1937 and the song is what was used in that ad.

This got me into a discussion with my boyfriend about the agar-agar, an Asian jelly ingredient made from algae and seaweed. Why isn't it marketed towards vegans? 

Image source: Amazon 

While I’ve found some vegan blog posts talking about agar-agar (See Not Enough Cinnamon, PETA, and One Green Planet), I don’t seem to see it as a main selling point from sellers. Then again, marketing it like this might drive prices up and alienate the locals who use it like it’s nothing special really.

More on my adventures and questions on food here.

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A P-38 can opener from an MRE given by my uncle (Thank you, Tito Arnel!). 

He got this from the military supplies complex in Dau near the bus terminal.

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Peach drink

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Thanks to Valerie for delivering my My Little Pony palette by ColourPop.

Now to look for blogs on how to use this.

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(Image source: Anouk Natural SkinCare)

My sisters - even the one in New Jersey - and I are currently obsessing over Anouk Natural Skin Care’s Burning Rose lip and cheek tint. It's kind of perfect as as a cheek tint for light brown Asian skin. And it's made of beet root.

I found them at a craft bazaar while having coffee with my boyfriend and a college friend and that was it.

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Current obsession: Cantata Iced Americano. This time with a salmon pie for breakfast.

I actually got about 10 pcs. on sale from the Korean convenience store near my dad’s apartment.

More on food here.

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Another Christmas 2017 find that I packed in my sister's zip-locked gift via her friend who's flying to New Jersey: a pair of tassel earrings by Tejo Threads. 

Their customer service and sales processes are great, by the way. I messaged them on Facebook saying I'm interested but am running on a tight deadline. They were very friendly, efficient, and responsive.

Did I mention that they provide livelihood and fair income for empowered Filipino women? Check out their products here.

More fashion finds here.

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Posting some finds for Christmas 2017. I got myself, my sister, and my sister in-law Forever 21 pajama bottoms. Mine are unicorn jammies and coffee (not in the photo). They’re really comfortable and cozy in this chilly, rainy weather.

More on unicorns here.