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Please know that this thread represents my opinion, and isn't necessarily the opinion of everybody in attendance at the event.
Let's unpack it this way. We're fond around here of saying "fail faster" and for me, this show was an opportunity to accelerate directly into the market and let the market respond. To that end, I wouldn't have done it any differently. I got to spend a bit of money to accelerate the curve, and measure the market, and the market responded with a vote of no confidence. I will unpack it here a bit so that you can learn some things about the (failed) strategy. All in all, I call it a win. I got out of it what I needed to, which was market validation (or in this case, lack thereof). However, I also got fleeced by the promoters of the event who didn't deliver what they promised in exchange for the cash. They didn't deliver the buyers, the traffic, or the results they promised.
The show is billed as the largest book industry convention in the country. It has two components... a two day, private industry show, and a two day consumer book fair similar to ComicCon and run by the same people.
From their marketing materials :
"BookExpo is a premium trade event featuring a Show Floor comprised of the world’s most influential publishers and distributors and an attendee base hand-selected from bookstores, retailers, libraries and museums. The Show Floor emphasizes meetings and author interaction with the trade that will deliver tangible results for your business." (emphasis mine)
They promised that some of the largest buyers in the industry would be attending the private show, and that tens of thousands of consumers would attend the book fair.
Here are some facts :
The reality is this is NOT a platform for independent authors. There were a few that did a marginal amount of business, but there wasn't anyone who likely came even close to recouping costs. It was a blood bath, to benefit the vendors and promoters at the expense of the hopeful and aspiring authors.
We didn't even go back for the last day of the BookCon. We cut our losses, enjoyed some down time in the city that never sleeps, and paid the onsite Fedex a premium to return our stuff to our home office.
There were a lot of aspiring authors that went all in on making their dreams a reality at the show, and mostly what they received was exorbitant expenses with nominal traffic, nominal interest, and nearly nothing that was promised other than a rented space in the midst of an event that exists despite their attendance, not because of it.
The show is NOT the venue for a self published author. They would take a copy of your book and stick it on a shelf with several hundred other books for $400. You are just hoping someone walks past, picks it up, and happens to be the buyer for Barnes and Noble. You've now paid them $400 for almost nothing.
This show is for big publishers, by big publishers, and catering to big buyers who don't give a shit if you are there. They're not there to see you, not looking for you, and not going to stumble upon your several thousand dollar expenditure. If you took HALF of that money and did Amazon/Keyword/Facebook advertising with it you would have a much better chance at reaching and creating a market than you would paying $10 for a hot dog while you sit in your booth on the periphery of the event hoping that the Walmart buyer makes her rounds and discovers your masterpiece.
Should independent authors invest in BookExpo or BookCon? Absolutely, unequivocally NO in my opinion.
Let's unpack it this way. We're fond around here of saying "fail faster" and for me, this show was an opportunity to accelerate directly into the market and let the market respond. To that end, I wouldn't have done it any differently. I got to spend a bit of money to accelerate the curve, and measure the market, and the market responded with a vote of no confidence. I will unpack it here a bit so that you can learn some things about the (failed) strategy. All in all, I call it a win. I got out of it what I needed to, which was market validation (or in this case, lack thereof). However, I also got fleeced by the promoters of the event who didn't deliver what they promised in exchange for the cash. They didn't deliver the buyers, the traffic, or the results they promised.
The show is billed as the largest book industry convention in the country. It has two components... a two day, private industry show, and a two day consumer book fair similar to ComicCon and run by the same people.
From their marketing materials :
"BookExpo is a premium trade event featuring a Show Floor comprised of the world’s most influential publishers and distributors and an attendee base hand-selected from bookstores, retailers, libraries and museums. The Show Floor emphasizes meetings and author interaction with the trade that will deliver tangible results for your business." (emphasis mine)
They promised that some of the largest buyers in the industry would be attending the private show, and that tens of thousands of consumers would attend the book fair.
Here are some facts :
- No significant buyer came by our booth in the 4 days of the events. Not one buyer that bought for multiple locations. Mostly was just people looking for free shit, teachers who had no budget, librarians who were there to see the big companies, and other vendors trying to sell publishing services and other shit you literally don't want to hear about as they stop by your booth to peddle their wares.
- They encouraged PR and press releases ahead of time. We offered a $15 giveaway FREE to the first 100 attendees every day. Know how many people asked for them? Zero. Their whole advance PR pitch is a scam. Nobody cares. We were holding the giveaways only for people who asked for them, to know that they were responding to the advertising. Nobody did.
- Of the people that did come during the industry portion of the show, most were treasure hunters looking for freebies. If you didn't give them mini sized crunch chocolate bars, they moved on with their trash bags to the next booth. They weren't there for the books.
- During the BookCon show, exhibitors thought there would be dozens of thousands of people in attendance. The reality is attendance was a small fraction of what they "sold" it to be, and of those only a small fraction passed through the aisle we were in. Of those, only a small fraction was interested in any given booth, and of those only a small fraction were "buyers" within the subset of the book or books offered.
The reality is this is NOT a platform for independent authors. There were a few that did a marginal amount of business, but there wasn't anyone who likely came even close to recouping costs. It was a blood bath, to benefit the vendors and promoters at the expense of the hopeful and aspiring authors.
We didn't even go back for the last day of the BookCon. We cut our losses, enjoyed some down time in the city that never sleeps, and paid the onsite Fedex a premium to return our stuff to our home office.
There were a lot of aspiring authors that went all in on making their dreams a reality at the show, and mostly what they received was exorbitant expenses with nominal traffic, nominal interest, and nearly nothing that was promised other than a rented space in the midst of an event that exists despite their attendance, not because of it.
The show is NOT the venue for a self published author. They would take a copy of your book and stick it on a shelf with several hundred other books for $400. You are just hoping someone walks past, picks it up, and happens to be the buyer for Barnes and Noble. You've now paid them $400 for almost nothing.
This show is for big publishers, by big publishers, and catering to big buyers who don't give a shit if you are there. They're not there to see you, not looking for you, and not going to stumble upon your several thousand dollar expenditure. If you took HALF of that money and did Amazon/Keyword/Facebook advertising with it you would have a much better chance at reaching and creating a market than you would paying $10 for a hot dog while you sit in your booth on the periphery of the event hoping that the Walmart buyer makes her rounds and discovers your masterpiece.
Should independent authors invest in BookExpo or BookCon? Absolutely, unequivocally NO in my opinion.
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