Convention Recap: Fandemic 2022

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of peddling my books at the merged Fandemic/Atlanta Comic Con. I thought I would share how it went, what worked well, and ideas that come from it.

So the booth I was a part of was actually 4 indie authors going in on the booth together, to help bring down the costs. It was me (duh), as well as Ben Meeks (Shifter Urban Fantasy), Michelle Tompkins (Dystopian Sci-Fi), and Shanna Bosarge (High Fantasy). We each got half of an eight foot table to set up our wares upon, which honestly was plenty of room for my three books and a deer skull.

What Worked:

- Instead of just nodding at or saying hi to passersby we usually would ask folks if they liked to read. A lot of folks ignored it of course, or said they didn't. But there were a large number of times that just getting someone to interact like that lured them in, when before they were just walking by and not even looking at our booth. There was one time that a woman not even looking at us, lost in her own world, that when we asked her that she honed in on us and bought at least one book from each and every one of us.

- Having 4 authors writing all different things worked really well. Asking someone what they liked to read as they were passing, and to them have them say 'uh...sc-fi' let us excitedly point to Michelle and let them know that she writes exactly that. And more often than not, getting someone to come look at one author would mean they would check out all of our works.

- Having a crew there worked well so that there if you had to dash off to get food, or go to the bathroom, someone was there who could pitch your book. I went to go get food one time and came back to find that Ben had sold two copies of my books. How great is that?

- John Barrowman shopped at a booth two booths over from ours, so basically we're famous now. I think that's how it works.

What Didn't Work:

- At the end of the day, this was basically just a Walking Dead Fan convention. I have never been apart of a convention with such a narrow focus before, and to be honest, I don't know that I ever will again (unless that focus is actually book related (looking at you Jordan Con who turned down my panelist application)). My stuff isn't the Walking Dead, doesn't have zombies, and isn't a tv show. I am also not a movie star, even though I may be as stunningly handsome as one. As such, I was not what the VAAAAST majority of people were there for. I signed up to be part of Atlanta Comic Con, not Fandemic, but when the two merged it really just became Fandemic, and the comic con all but vanished. This was not the best crowd for us, and it showed.

- We were tucked in the back ass of nowhere. The fact we sold as much as we did was a testament to the above section, but had we been at a different con, in a better space, I think we could have sold double or more of what we did. People frankly didn't really come out in numbers to our area, and most of those who did were power walking to get in line for a photo with Jeffery Dean Morgan, and had not a second to spare for four humble authors.

Ideas To Make Next Time Better:

- Author 'cheat sheets' for each writers books. Basically a little guide to what each other writer writes, so that each person can give the elevator pitch for every other author in the booth as needed. By the time the weekend was up we of course could pitch each others books, but having that little cheat sheet to start it out would have been helpful.

- Business card holders for each table, featuring cards from all four authors. That way it's easier to get all of our cards into someone's hands in one go.

- We talked about having a 'mentor' signup sheet. Basically have some time set aside for one or two of us at a time to be advising would be authors at set times. Partly to pay forward some of the help we've gotten along the way, but also...writers love books, and frequently buy them. The more times they stop by the booth, the more our chances of selling them one increases.

- We thought that it would be awesome if we could get multiple groups of authors to do this. Basically make our own 'authors alley' by having a group of four like ours across from us, or beside us, or both!

- We dreamed nefarious plans of fake wet floor signs to make folks have to pass near our booth, but we were only dreaming. Because that's probably illegal. Even if it shouldn't be, if the cause is just, like making powerwalking Jeffery Dean Morgan fans pass near enough to us to that they are forced to look at our poor, pitiful puppy dog eyes and buy a book.

How My Sales Went:

So I had my books for 15 dollars each, or you could get all three bundled for 35. In my head, on the way there, I set a goal of 20 sales in my head. If I hit that number, I felt like I would have done well. Between gas, hotel, and booth fee I needed to sell 28 to break even, but honestly I don't (at this point) do these events to make money. As long as I don't loose toooo much, I treat this kind of event as more of a networking/promotional thing. That said, lets see how I did:

Total books sold: 27! I came within a whisker of breaking even!

All in all it was a great weekend! I made some friends, made some sales, and what more can you really ask for?!