Event Recap: Opelika Book Festival/River Region
TRANSPARENCYEVENT RECAP
In February I did two events, one sales based, one not, but I sold books at both so I'm bundling them together.
First, I was invited to speak at the monthly meeting of the River Region Writers Unite, where I spoke about how to start doing/improve in person book selling. I love this group so much, and it was my...3rd? time speaking to them.
Second, I took part in the Opelika Book Festival. I'd heard good things about this event, so I was excited to take part. They changed things up from last year is my understanding. Last year they had a book fair, workshops, and a big name guest all on the same day. This year they split each of those elements onto their own day.
I rode out on Friday and went to the author meetup, which was held at the John Emerald Distillery. It included a drink ticket, which I used to get a tasting flight. Good stuff. Good people too.
The next day was the book fair. This was held in the Opelika Library. It was pretty good. I'd honestly expected more people, based on what I had been told. The consensus seemed to be that by splitting everything up into multiple days it really cut down on the crowd. I can't attest to that, but attendance was pretty kid heavy, which is clearly not my target audience haha.
I had a really great time, and it was well run. Just wish there had been a few more folks, that's all.
I have a few small thoughts.
More events need author meetups in area distilleries.
At the River Region Writers Unite meeting I spoke on selling in person, as I have already said. One day I will turn it into a full blown video/workshop.
The River Region event was not a selling event as I said, it was just education. But I had a few books with me, and I sold three. Opelika had a really great conversion rate on sales, there just weren't a lot of folks there who weren't in the market for either kids books or, seemingly, romance.
Anywho, here are my numbers:
Event Sales Numbers:
River Region: $79.20
Opelika: $224.94
Tales by Bob Sales Numbers By Item:
Bringing Home The Rain: 4
The Depth of the Water: 0
Omnibus 1: 3
Omnibus 2: 0
Southern Saudade: 4
Ultimate Bundle: 0
Create: 1
Bearded Bard Inkworks Sales Numbers By Item:
Zines: 6
Total:
$304.14
Fixed Expenses:
Badge: $0.00
Booth Fee - $0.00
Parking - $0.00
Hotel - $0.00
Other - $0.00
Total - $0.00
Grand Total Profit: $304.14
