Free Education Resources

I have been helped by countless other creatives and authors along my journey. So anything I can do to pay that help forward, I do. That's why as much as possible I try to keep a host of free resources here for folks to learn from. Some of these are workshops I have given I have given at conventions, a few are panels I have been on or moderated, and others are blog posts on specific topics I think may be valuable to people. You should also check out my page on Transparency, where I provide links to all my blog posts that break down my monthly sales, social growth, success tracking, book launches, and convention recaps.

Take what you like, share it around, make it work for you. And never hesitate to reach out and ask me a question. That's what the contact box is for!

The picture here? The one with the guy with incredible, jealousy inducing hair, and even more jealousy inducing book covers standing beside me? That's Alexander Nader, and this was his first event doing in person sales (it was Chattacon, if you are curious how it went in detail, read HERE).

Alex and I have been friends for a couple of years now, and when I saw I was doing an event somewhat near him in Tennessee I reached out to see if he would want to share a table with me. He was all in, but made it clear he was going to have some questions ahead of time. I made it clear that I would absolutely love to answer his questions. He asked me stuff like how many books to order, what he needed to bring, that sort of stuff. We then spent a weekend hanging out and slinging books.

I followed up a couple weeks after, and asked if he thought he'd be doing anymore in person events. He rattled off a list of things he had/was applying to be in. My fat little heart grew three times that day.

Are you like Alex was? An author/creative who has never done in person sales before, but want to? Or maybe you've done it on a small scale, but aren't sure how to take it to the next level? I would LOVE to help!

If you would like to come shadow me for a weekend, be my intern as it were, I would be happy to show you the ropes. Just look at my upcoming events. Is there one near enough to you that you could easily come out? Then just shoot me a message on social media, or on my contact form on this site. We'll coordinate the details, and then you can come learn from the...well not the best. The mid? The pretty decent? 

Look, this is free, moderate expectations.

If you think you are ready to actually sell in person, got your table laid out and such, then this offer isn't really for you. In that case, just see if I am looking to share a booth, or if I know someone who is, and we will get you set up if possible. This offer is for folks who are just starting to dip their toes in the water as it were. I'm happy to help drown you.

What you will learn things like:

- How to lure people to your booth without being super annoying.

- Why I set things on the table the way that I do.

- What mistakes I have made, and how I fixed them.

- Why coke zero tastes better than diet coke.

- General best practices around selling in person.

- You can also pick my brain about anything really. You have a captive audience, as long as I am not in the middle of a sale, you can ask me anything.

Things to consider before messaging me:

- If this is an event with an entry fee, you will have to cover that for yourself (unless my booth has a spare badge I can let you use (which is not often)). Same goes for parking. Unless we are able to coordinate riding together in some way. Spoiler: I kinda hate coordinating ride sharing when I am trying to get to/get set up at a con.

- I can't cover any sort of food or lodging. I mean, I will ensure you are properly hydrated, but food at these events is expensive, and margins are tight.

- Are you a student of some sort? Or someone for whom a letter of recommendation as an 'intern' would help? If you help out, I will write you one, no problem.

- I'm not going to make you work hard. If you are there and want to help load in/set up, cool. If not, the rest of this 'job' is standing around talking to folks. It's not super taxing physically, so long as you are good with standing for a few hours. Feel free to bring a chair if not.

- You will probably be left to watch the booth while I run to the bathroom/a panel at some point. Unless I know you really well, you won't be handling money during those times, unless Ben or someone is around and you are cool with it. You may end up making a food run to whatever food source they have on site. That's about it.

- If I am sharing a booth space with another author(s), I will get their permission before I agree to let you come hang. They may work you harder than me. Ben likes his steak medium, with a nice house made aioli. Venessa likes her tea served at precisely 143 degrees. Paige is going to pistol whip the next intern who brings her coffee without a splash of vanilla cream.

- I kid of course. We're authors: we're all pretty easy (like your mom.)

- A sense of humor is required. You don't have to have one yourself, but you have to be ok with us having one. And be ready for all manner of bad/great puns.

- You aren't locked into hanging at the booth. Go check out other stuff, have fun, go to panels. Treat my table as a home base where you can ask a million questions, but you don't have to stay there. I'm not your parent.

- I want this to be accessible to as many folks as possible. If you have a financial hardship that the above would absolutely preclude you from taking part, reach out, maybe we can work something out. Same goes for if you have a disability, visible or not. Just loop me in as much as I need to be, and I will work with you.

So yeah, there it is, my offer to you! Come hang, and lets get you started down the path to in person sales!

"This was my second ever con and I had an absolute blast hanging out with Ben (Meeks) and Bob for the weekend. As someone who had largely stuck to online sales until recently, sharing space with other authors who knew what they were doing took a lot of the pressure off. Ben has all the confidence I aspire to, and he knows how to engage with people and get them to the booth to begin with. Both of these guys are masters of the short pitch. It's hard to beat "a redneck wizard with a crippling meth addiction". That line always got a response. While this isn't the fun part, Bob is also incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to the business portion of things, including taxes. No one likes taxes, but he cleared up for me in ten minutes what multiple calls to state offices hadn't gotten answered. It's not the most interesting part of being an author, but at least now I know how to get my tax paperwork together and avoid angering the IRS. These two, along with the other authors at the con, were friendly and welcoming. I'd absolutely share a space with either of them again. That may also be because I'm not quite ready to do a solo booth yet!"  - Author Silas Reames