Book festivals: Is it worth it for "indie" authors?

My "Indie Author Experience" at the Tucson Festival of Books

I’m posting this for anyone who’s thinking about selling their books at book festivals, and I’d love to hear from those who’ve been there, done that.

I had a hard time finding information on the internet about whether authors who aren’t doing presentations or panel discussions are actually able to sell books at book festivals. I had suspected not. It’s hard enough selling books to people who might actually be interested in your book, but try competing for attention with famous TV stars and “big 5” authors who are giving presentations and doing signings.

Truth be told, if it weren’t for the remote possibility of participating in some sort of workshop or discussion, and the fact that I could only apply within a year from publication, I wouldn’t have submitted my novel to the “Indie Author Experience” (especially since they charged a $45 reading fee, and I’m fee’d to death!) I wasn’t surprised to hear that my not-exactly-towing-the-party-line-literary campus novel was not selected. The winners included 3 children’s/YA authors, one adult romance author, and one poet—hip, hip hooray for the poet!

Given that I wouldn’t be presenting anything, I wasn’t sure what to do with my alloted time under the indie author tent. I ended up bringing 5 copies of my novel and a similar number of copies of my husband’s philosophy book, Truth and Generosity.

But the idea of hovering over my sad little pile of books did not appeal to me, so I decided to give away my audiobook in the hopes that someone out there might leave a review. I discounted my audiobook down to zero on several retailers and passed out business cards with qr codes so people could easily download my book. I also brought a Substack sign up sheet—but I forgot to ask people to sign up.

But that’s not all! Oh no! I knew, I just knew, a business card would not be enough to get people to stop, not even if it contained information on downloading a free audiobook. (Yeah, that’s right, free isn’t enough.) So I attached little crocheted flower (cherry blossoms, supposedly) clip-bookmark-thingies (thematic!) to my business cards. I also made origami turtles (also thematic!):

The results are in:

I was able to give away all of the business cards that were attached to something interesting. I witnessed authors passing out normal business cards, or even bookmarks, but people didn’t seem to want to stop for those. It was just as I guessed.

People did stop for the crochet flowers or origami turtles—sometimes I could practically hear the brakes screeching as they did a double take, crab-crept over, snatched one out of my hand, then absconded into the crowd—but they did not want the free audiobook:

The grand total of copies “sold” = 3

2 free copies, 1 for 99 cents.

And I suspect those came from my announcement on here on Substack, not from the book festival.

Here’s what I’ve learned:

People don’t like free books. They like cheap books.

I should’ve known better. I tried giving away promotional codes once, but I actually sold more audiobooks using Bookbub ads than I was able to give away. If I were to do it again, I would sell my audiobook for dirt cheap instead.

But I don’t think I will do another book festival without a presenting opportunity. (Actually, I didn’t initially realize I was signing up to sell books at the Indie Author tent. It came as a surprise to me when I got a letter which sounded like a rejection of some sort, followed by “congratulations”. I had no idea what was going on, but I just went with it to see what happened. It turned out “congratulations” meant: Congratulations, your book is not overly offensive.)

---

3 good things about the “Indie Author Experience”:

1. I did manage to sell a physical copy of my novel AND a copy of my husband’s philosophy book. A philosophy book! IT’S A MIRACLE. And he sold one of my crocheted bags. (I gave those away to anyone who bought a paperback, but also sold them by themselves for ten bucks).

   Which brought us to a grand total of—you guessed it—$45.

2. I got to meet someone who had reached out to me by email before the festival to say he had read my novel, which he picked up at a bookstore in Patagonia, AZ. (“Wait,” I replied. “My book is in a bookstore?”) He brought his copy for me to sign: my first book signing experience!

3. It was nice chatting with the other authors and finding out about their publishing journeys. It was also nice seeing their creativity, like this brilliant idea:

Jelly Belly dispenser! I had completely forgotten about Jelly Bellies. They’re so tasty.

Here’s where my book is apparently being sold! I still haven’t made the trip to see my book there, assuming it still is; this photo was taken before my book came out.

I enjoyed Moses Ose Utomi’s workshop on creating tension in speculative fiction…he has agreed to do a Q&A for After Dinner Conversation’s Substack!

Other news:

I’ve created a section called “Philosophy: Hardcore” for those of you who like it, you know, hardcore. Those of you who would rather not hear about things like noumena and the transcendental unity of apperception can simply opt out from that section and you’ll still get my other posts. (Supposedly.)

What about you? Have you attended a book festival? Or sold books at a book festival? What did you think of the experience?