12/10/17- Every Once in a While, I Like My Job (Part 2)

Not that long ago, I talked about how much I enjoyed attending and presenting at a conference. That I actually liked my job.  Not more than a week later I found myself again enjoying my job.  But this time it was my writing job (which I like 98% of the time anyway, so no surprise there).

I was selling copies of my book at the Tempe Book Festival.  I needed some help; someone to accept payment while I signed books.  This setup is optimal for any author working a festival, fair or any other place where you're selling directly to patrons. I enlisted the help of my friend and fellow engineer Sara (hi Sara, thanks again for your help!).  We've done multiple science fairs together, and she's great at getting kids and adults interested in our (science and engineering) booth.

Since the Tempe Book Festival was outside, and you have to bring your own gear, I decided that a tent canopy, in addition to the standard table and chairs, was a good idea for a festival in the Valley of the Sun.  It's a rather large canopy, so Bobby volunteered to help Sara and I set it up. Set up was faster with 3 people, but only 2 people need to work a table/booth at a book festival.  Having Bobby there for set up also meant that Jack would be there.

Jack is at the age where I have no idea if he'll be sitting still while watching Mickey Mouse, running all over the festival grounds, or begging us to go home.  To my pleasant surprise, he was really into the book festival, yay!  While we set up, he played an ABC game on a tablet.  And when we finished set up, he took Mommy around to all the booths, then Sara around to all the booths, and finally Daddy around to all the booths.

Next, he sat at my booth, telling people about Annie Aardvark, handing out candy to other kids (it was more of a mandate: "you don't want that, you want Starburst"), and also enjoying some of this candy himself.  He stayed the entire 6 hours of the festival and seemed to enjoy all 6 hours.  He was a little tired after we packed it in and feel asleep on the ride home.

Jack visiting an author's book at the Tempe Book Festival

On a parenting note, remember when I said I had no idea how Jack would act?  When I'm not sure how he'll act someplace new, I hesitate (big time) on bringing him with me.  I don't think I'm alone on that hesitation--running a book festival booth goes a little smoother if there's not a cranky toddler sitting at it.  Shark, doing anything without a toddler present usually goes smoother.

However looking back, I think about how Jack and I might have both missed out on this experience had I let that hesitation rule my decision. It was awesome for me to have him be a part of my work--for him to see me work.  It's that thought, of him seeing me work and being a part of my work, that has changed my mindset. I definitely plan to bring him to more events like this (like when Sara and I volunteer for another science fair). It's just making sure to have a contingency plan, like having daddy or a friend on hand to help out, since I am an engineer after all (got to worse case it, ya know?).

As I hinted in the paragraph above, it meant the world to me that I got to share my work (my writing work) with my son.  And that he liked it!  I'm convinced that he thinks I don't work, as all of my work, both engineering and writing, is performed on my laptop. I'm pretty sure Jack thinks the laptop is a toy, and toys equal play, not work (although play in a sense is work for kids, just don't tell them that).  Therefore, mommy plays, not works, on the laptop (okay, sometimes work feels like play to me, which circles back to every once in a while, I like my job).

As a female engineer (and writer) who wants to raise a feminist son, it's very important to me that Jack not only understands that I work, but that he sees me do it.  Sharing the book festival with him, not only is a precious memory, but a demonstration of my ideals to my child.  So yeah, every once in a while, I like my job. Might I say, I even love it?  Na, let's not get too carried away!  😃

Hey friends and family-- what do you like about your job?  Let me know in the comments.  I guess you can also tell me what you don't like about your job, although hoping to have some positive comments too. 😃

8/1/17- The Book Festival

About a week ago I attended the Payson Book Festival.  This public and free event is a way for adults and kids to meet and greet dozen's of book creators from all over Arizona (and a few other states). Like other book festivals, authors sit at tables and spend the day chatting with readers and signing books. The Payson Book Festival was my first book festival as an author, and I want to share some of the things I learned as an author attending a book festival.

First, if you are indie/self-published, then you will have to register yourself for the festival you want to attend.  The registration process for the Payson Book Festival was relatively simple: I filled out their form, emailed it to the organizer, and then paid the fee through PayPal (most festivals have a registration fee for authors to have booths at their festival).  If you are a traditionally published author, your publisher may be setting everything up, including registering and paying fees.  However, if you're a traditionally published author attending a festival outside of what your publisher has scheduled for you (aka, you're going on your own), then you're going to have to register yourself and pay any fees yourself.

Second, you'll want to find out all the details about the event.  Like, are you getting a full booth, partial booth (sharing with an other author), do you get the whole day or just a time slot (2 hours, 3 hours, etc), is table and chairs provided or do you bring your own equipment, are you responsible for sales or will there be a bookstore or other 3rd party that will sell books for you, do you need to have a state and city vendor's license (in most cases, yes), are you responsible for tax remittance, is any food or beverages provided, how many people attended the event in the past and so on.

If your publisher is setting everything up, that's great.  If not, then it's really important to know how you'll be selling your books and what the set up is like and what you'll need to bring.  Tables and chairs were provided for the authors, and there was an independent bookstore that was willing to sell authors' books at the Payson Book Festival, so technically all I had to bring was copies of my book, many Sharpies (so important to have multiple writing tools), and myself (and Bobby; it is always nice to have a person helping you who is familiar with the book).

Third, sales expectations.  This information is probably some of the hardest information to find on the Internet (Bobby and I spent a couple of hours looking for what should I expect in sales). My guess as to why this information is hard to find is because sales are not high at book festivals.  Most people (readers) are there because it's a free event, and they have specific authors or books they're looking for, or they already have the book and are going to the event just to get the book signed.

From what I've read from other authors who have willingly shared this information (and from my own experience) is that you're doing really well if you are selling 1 (that's ONE) book per hour.  I sold 10 books over the 6 hours of the Payson Book Festival and that was considered really good (the Payson Book Festival has a couple hundred attendees).   I read another blog post from an author who attended the Brooklyn Book Festival, which has 10,000 people attend, and he sold only 4 novels.  Managing your own expectations regarding book sales is key to determining if the event was successful by your own measures.

And that sentence brings me to my final thought/lesson learned.  To me, the point of the book festival is to get your name out there and to connect with your readers.  People may not buy your book, but if you have a card or sticker with your name and book on it, when they go to the library or bookstore next, then they may want to ask the librarian or bookstore owner for your book.  Or they may want to look you up and find out that you do classroom visits/other speaker engagement events and ask you to come speak to their class. That is why it is a good idea to have free swag.

The Payson Book Festival was my first time as an author at a festival, but it was not my first festival. I've been doing science festivals and other such events for an non-profit engineering professional organization since 2004.  From those science festivals and outreach events, I've learned that people love free stuff.  I personally have too much shwag from conferences that I've stopped collecting it from booths, but people want free pencils, stickers, bookmarks, chapstick, pens, etc. for whatever reason.  I had some bookmarks (with my name and book on them) that I offered to people.  I didn't try to sell people on my book; I just said, hi, please have a free bookmark.  About 50% of the time, they'd ask me questions about the book and 5% of the time, they'd buy a book.  Another author at the event was handing out bags of dried basil and bay leaves, as her book was about holistic health. She got a lot of traffic at her booth.

Offering something for free draws people to your booth (of course so does a good looking book cover, but you'll have to Google to find posts on how to design a good looking cover). Kids especially love picking up stickers and bookmarks each booth, so it was a success to me that I only had 25 out of 100 bookmarks left. Potentially 75 kids now know who Annie Aardvark is!

If you're an illustrator, you can also consider selling some of your art or giving out small postcards with your art.  If you're the author, you can consider selling some other product that is associated with your book.  For example, the author I shared a booth with, she sold stuff animals that related to the animal characters in her books.  Just be aware that children (and their parents) might not understand the product or art is for sell, so it's a good idea to have a sign clearly stating a price.  If you're an author/illustration, you can consider selling both art and products. Make sure to check with the festival about selling things other than books (and also if you'll need a vendor's license).

Another idea that may sell books, is to offer a special festival only price.  Aka, a discount.  I offered a 25% discount on my book just for the festival (it could only be done at the festival, not online; although an all day online discount that correlates to the festival could also be considered).  I think the free stuff had a bigger impact on sales than the discount, but it's worth exploring if you're selling the book yourself (or can price it at a discount with the third party who's going to sell your book that day).

Finally, if you are handling sales at your booth/table, be prepared to accept as many forms of payment as possible. Square is one of many providers that makes it incredibly convenient to accept credit/debit cards.  All you need is a smartphone and the app, but if you plan ahead, you can get swipe readers for free from Square or you can pay for readers that can even accept Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and other contactless forms (know your customer).  But don't forget cash is still the preferred payment method for many customers as well.

In summary, I had a good time at the Payson Book Festival.  I always enjoy interacting with children and their parents at events, and the Payson Book Festival was the same. It's important to remember that the goal of the festival is the interaction with readers.  You are there to connect with your readers. It's also a good opportunity to network with other authors and illustrators.  I now have another author friend that I can ask questions and seek guidance from.  I highly recommend that any author (or illustrator), whether self-published or traditionally published, attend at least one book festival (or fair) in their writing career. The experiences and connections will at least make for some good writing fodder, but will also hopefully get your name out to the public.  Plus, it's fun!

If you have any further questions for me about book festivals (like what is this vendor's license thing I keep mentioning), please leave me a comment or reach out to me on social media (Twitter or Facebook).  Happy reading everyone!