Thoughts on attending my first book fair as a vendor
Also: Parallels is officially published! I'm a three-time author! A thrauthor!
NEWS:
First things first - Parallels is out now! But don’t think I’m going to stop reminding you about it just yet. It’s available to order from all good book shops or you can get it direct from my publisher, the mighty Deixis Press.
Last week’s Independent Book Fair was, for me, a great success. More on that below.
I’ve started work on my next book…
ON WRITING:
I sold some books! And not just to people I know1! Actual strangers, coming up and taking a look at my books, then deciding to pay me money for one or more of them! I know technically I’ve been doing this for a few years, but this was in its own way, sort of a revelation.
Obviously, being first time out, there’s some things we2 learned.
It’s really good fun. Even the vibe around getting up early, lugging boxes of books into the Forum before it opens and setting up our little spot was a novelty. Meeting other writers, checking out each other’s pitches, meeting readers, talking about my books with people - all really good fun. And the buzz of having someone you don’t know pick up something you’ve created and want to buy it. It’s intoxicating. Frankly, I should have done this years ago - although waiting until I had a decent catalogue of wares was no bad thing.
People can be funny about picking up books. I don’t know if it’s having the vendor sat right there, but a fair proportion of people had to be invited to actually handle the books. Presumably, there’s some concern about cracking the spine or not having clean hands3. Will definitely be designating a couple of copies of each as a ‘DISPLAY COPY’ next time.
A bit more info on the signage wouldn’t hurt. We went down the path of putting quotes from reviews for each books on the signs, but we ended up having to explain to punters things like what genre the various books were. I think next time I’d forgo the shared displays and give each book its own sign so we can include some actual information.
There’s a variety of approaches you can take when it comes to talking to people. S. thought I could be a bit quicker to engage when people looked interested, but overall I think we got it largely right. A quick smile and ‘hello’ when you catch people’s eyes, and then a bit of a talk about the books if they stop to look, without interrupting them if they’ve picked one up to read the back. Some vendors had more of a rehearsed spiel, and some would launch into that as soon as anyone came into what they saw as their catchment area, but I’m not convinced that was as enticing to customers as they were hoping. I wonder if it also does their neighbours a disservice if punters are then eager to distance themselves from a pushy pitch. But I’m new to the game, so I probably need more experience to judge that.
There’s a fair bit we did get right. I was overjoyed to get more than one compliment on the covers of my self-published books. It’s something I’ve agonised over since I first started this lark - you can’t ask people, or you’ll never know if they’re being polite, but when someone mentions it to you apropos of nothing, that’s a huge boost. Our pricing4 also seemed reasonable. And having cards seems to potentially be a good idea, as several people picked one up and that could be a potential future reader/subscriber. I think we struck a good balance with the set-up of our table as well - not too busy, but with a certain polish to the vibe.
So all in all, it was a really positive experience, and one I’ll definitely be looking to repeat. Not least of all because I now have a fairly sizeable pile of books sitting on my dining room table…
Big love to guys at Salò Press who organised the event. And a shout out to Gene Rowe at the Ministry of Lies - good to see you again, chap.
And thank you to you if you came along.
I have enjoyed:
Skeleton Crew - Star Wars TV shows have had a mixed reaction, it’s fair to say, though I’ve personally enjoyed most of what I’ve seen. Skeleton Crew is a fun little kid-centric pirate story that I found rather endearing. Jude Law’s great in the adult lead and the four children do a decent job. The ending’s a little odd, if it’s true that this will be a standalone, as it feels as if at least one plot point would actually have significant ramifications for the wider SW universe. But on its own terms, this is a blast.
Nobody wanted to address the elephant in the room… The Crowded Day - This 1954 movie follows a group of shopworkers in a department store in the run-up to Christmas, with all their various trials and tribulations, some serious, some not so serious. Tonally it jumps about a bit, but where it has had criticism for this, the truth is sometimes people experience great trauma or upheaval and their work-colleagues, while sympathetic, are just getting on with their own lives. The contrast is authentic.
Oh, and all the shop-girls live together. The 1950s were odd. It’s a great film for face-spotting. Popping up in smaller roles are the likes of Sid James, Dandy Nichols, Joan Hickson, Prunella Scales and Thora Hird. John Gregson is enjoyable in a supporting role as a disappointing fiancé. Vera Day, Joan Rice and Josephine Griffin do sterling work as the leads.
Norwich Brick Show - As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge LEGO fan, so had a great time today looking around the Norwich Brick Show at Open Academy. More of a focus on models than traders, compared to the (equally enjoyable) event held at the Sportspark back in Jan, and in this instance for a good cause - well, two good causes, EACH and Fairy Bricks. Some absolutely astonishing models on show - made me more keen than ever to get more into my bricks. It’s on again tomorrow, so if you’re Norwich-based and reading this Saturday, go have a look!
This is SO COOL.
This is the last of the pre-Parallels weekly posts, we’ll be back in a fortnight.
You can purchase Parallels (Deixis Press), Greyskin (Deixis Press) and Playtime’s Over (Propolis) direct from my publishers, as well as from all the usual places, online and off.
Pre-order my upcoming novella It’s Hard to Tell You This (Deixis Press).
Ray Adams’ self-published books are available online, or out of my garage.
I also review books on my website, most of which are available through my affiliate book shop on uk.bookshop.org - it’s a great alternative to certain online leviathans owned by Trump-supporting billionaires, and supports independent bookshops. Affiliates also get a % of books sold through them, so go have a look.
I sold a fair proportion to people I know.
By ‘we’, I mean myself and my amazing wife, who gave up her whole day to be my assistant, as well as helping me with signage, proofreading my self-published books, thinking of all those little details I’d otherwise overlook and generally being a first-class PA and total legend.
And probably also not wanting to look too keen and thus obligated to buy something.
So far as the self-published stuff goes. I stuck to the RRP for Playtime and Greyskin, as it seemed to be the respectful choice to my publishers.