I’ve just come from a book fair. This was my first experience with sitting in the middle of the street, surrounded by tents and tables, pitching something to passers-by. Vendor events have been around for a long time, but until you’ve been on the selling end of one, you can’t appreciate the full experience.
We had to be at the location between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. The main street would be closed at 8:30, so we did some initial setting up at curbside while our cars were still permitted in the area for unloading. One of our trio of participants brought the chairs, and the other packed the folding table, so it was vital for both of them to be there. I was the first to show up, carrying the non-setup ephemera, so I found our spot on the street–identified by a painted number against the median strip–and after a short wait both of the other team members pulled in and unloaded our meager setup items. We didn’t have a big poster like the vendor next to us. He had a seven foot airbrushed cover blow-up in a heavy pipe frame that drew the eye for blocks. we got a standard 8 x 11 sign with our name and vendor number on it. Unfortunately for the big poster, the breezes blew it over a few times, so the two vendors took turns sitting on guard duty keeping their main drawing card up and visible.
We brought a decent supply of products, our receipt book (yes, cash only) and brochures. We did manage to forget that, if customers were paying cash, we might need to give out change. However, we were happy to give out our last dollar bills and scrounge in our change purses to accommodate them. The customers didn’t seem to mind because it was, after all, a local event. The folks on both sides of the display tables work at other jobs, so we don’t carry petty cash.
The event was a success, and we did well for our first try. We checked out the other vendors, many of whom were authors in the early stages of post-publishing bliss and anxious, as we were, for good sales. Some did better than others, but I think most of the people there experienced some positive results. At least we have proof that real authors, and real books, still exist, and people want to buy them. We haven’t discussed the idea of attending other events, but if the wind is right and I have some spare ones for change, I wouldn’t shy away from another shot at being on the selling side.
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