Amazing Things Can Happen When Selling Your Books!

In this guest author post, author Jean Huxtable-Hamersky shares her experiences selling her book Parker’s Pumpkin at farmer’s markets and similar fairs. 

Not everyone likes selling their books face to face, but I enjoy the personal interaction much more than online selling. This comes somewhat from my 35 years as a speech-language pathologist working with kids individually and in classroom settings. I have frequently been in front of people teaching and presenting for years. However, person-to-person selling is a bit different, and I’d like to share a few insights I’ve learned that I hope will be helpful as you go on the road to sell your book.

The theme of my picture book, “Parker’s Pumpkin”, is obviously pumpkins and gardening, so finding festivals with that theme starts in the summer, perusing the internet and finding the festivals that would have many customers, that didn’t cost an arm and a leg, and that were within about 50 miles of my house. Every festival has different requirements for vendors, so read carefully and send emails so you are clear about expectations. Know ahead of time the set-up for vendors and request, if possible, to be in a high traffic area. Be sure to announce on social media about two weeks before each event that you will be there.

The table I set up is covered in a pumpkin print table cloth and has an author sign hanging off the front. On the table are pumpkins, a sign showing the costs of the books, a basket of bookmarks with my contact information on them, stacks of 4–5 paperback and 4–5 hardcover books. I also offer mini-pumpkin muffins and pumpkin seeds donated from the Brown County Seed Library. All things pumpkin!

I have found that people are more responsive to me standing and not sitting behind the table. I always stand and greet anyone walking by, say hello, and ask them if they would like to hear my story about Parker and the pumpkin he grew. Sometimes they say “no” or “I’ll come back,” and I know those people (probably) won’t. But most people will stop, and then I open the book, showing some of the illustrations as I quickly summarize the story. At the end, I say, “If you’d like to buy a copy today, the paperback costs $X and the hardcover is $X. If you buy a book today, I can sign it for you.”

You never know the connections a customer might have for selling future books, like a principal of a school who wants you to come visit or a librarian who would set up a children’s time for you at the library. All these serendipitous connections come about when you have the chance to tell people about your book!

My grandson Parker joined me at two festivals last fall and actively took part in talking with people. They loved it when he said he would sign their book for them. At one festival, a young couple showed up and were so excited about meeting Parker and reading the book. They asked to video tape Parker and post the video to their social media followers on TikTok. Amazingly, the book went viral overnight with hundreds of sales! Of course, this was a highly unusual one-of-a-kind encounter, but it just emphasizes that you never know who you might be talking with and where that may lead you in book sales.

Have you tried selling your book at a booth like this? How was it for you? Any tips or tricks to share with fellow authors? Leave your thoughts in the comments!