This blog post is for authors and writers who want to know more about selling books in person, specifically at a really big event. Everyone else, take the rest of the day off, and if your boss asks why you’re leaving work early, tell him or her that I said you could.
Two years ago, I participated in my very first large-scale bookselling venture at Awesome Con, Washington DC’s version of the famous San Diego Comic Con. Due to a registration error, I missed out on 2023, but I was stoked to be accepted for 2024.
I was particularly keen on attending because my in-person sales in 2023 had been uneven. I had participated in 24 events, selling over 560 copies and over $9500 in gross sales, but 7 of those events had been downright dogs (not the good kind), and 8 had been mediocre. I really wanted a hit.
The Warm-Up: Galaxy Con Richmond
In lieu of Awesome Con 2023, I had done Galaxy Con Richmond in March 2023. It was a great time: over three days, I had over $1500 in gross sales, I caught up with an old friend from college, I hung out with my pal Andy, and I met John Rhys-Davies (“Gimli” from the Lord of the Rings films; “Sallah” from Indiana Jones).
But Richmond is a hike from where I live (3+ hours each way), and it was a long time to be away from home. After I got burned at Virginia Comic Con later that year, I decided to stick to closer venues.
Still, Galaxy Con Richmond was good practice, and I applied what I learned there to Awesome Con 2024, which was scheduled for Friday, March 8; Saturday, March 9; and Sunday, March 10.
Getting Awesome Again
At Awesome Con 2022, I had sold 80 books; at Galaxy Con Richmond, I had sold 86. For this year, I was determined to take a big step and sell at least 100. But how to do that?
I brought more titles. In 2022, I had only tried to sell my four YA sci-fi/fantasy novels: Dragontamer’s Daughters; Lost Dogs; Stray Cats; and This Wasted Land. At that time, I only had published one kids book (Our Wild Place), so I didn’t bother packing it.
By the time Galaxy Con Richmond rolled around, though, I had more kids books out (Pimmi Makes A Friend, and How The Kangal Got Her Mask), so I put them up for sale, moving a respectable number of those. I brought them along for Awesome Con, adding the standalone comic book Alley Kat & PIMMI to the mix.
I upped my display game. Taking a suggestion from my wife, I purchased some pieces off Amazon to put on my table in the hopes of attracting people’s attention. Each ties into one of my novels: a German Shepherd figurine; a saucy black cat; a small, grumpy green dragon; and a spooky tree (which I added skulls to, later).
All the decorations helped, because I wound up with more table space than I had asked for.
My “corner office.” The good news was that the Powers That Be at Awesome Con had not only approved my application*, but had granted me a corner booth, at the end of the row in a section near the main entrance, where I was sure to have lots of traffic.
*Just because you apply to be a vendor or exhibiting artist/author for a convention does not mean you’ll get a spot, because many conventions (including Awesome Con) vet their applicants to ensure that they’re a good fit. I’ve been turned down for conventions before and since Awesome Con 2024, so I consider myself very lucky to have made the cut.
The bad news was that the vendor fee for the corner booth was about $100 more than the regular tables. I asked if there was a less expensive option, but there was not: I could take the corner, or not be at Awesome Con at all. I took it, joking that I finally had a “corner office” at work.
So, how did I do?
The Numbers
Over the three days of Awesome Con 2024, I sold 109 books, with over $2000 in gross sales. I sold 19 books on Friday, March 8; 64 books on Saturday, March 9; and 26 books on Sunday, March 10.
Sales figures for each book were:
- Stray Cats
- Copies sold: 42
- Gross profit: $840
- Lost Dogs
- Copies sold: 25
- Gross profit: $435
- Dragontamer’s Daughters
- Copies sold: 19
- Gross profit: $380
- This Wasted Land
- Copies sold: 19
- Gross profit: $375
- Pimmi Makes A Friend
- Copies sold: 2
- Gross profit: $20
- How The Kangal Got Her Mask
- Copies sold: 1
- Gross profit: $10
- Alley Kat & PIMMI
- Copies sold: 1
- Gross profit: $10
Total gross profit: $2070.00
Costs were:
- Awesome Con table rental: $475
- Mandatory liability insurance: $49
- Printed copies, Stray Cats: $234 (42 copies @ $5.57 each)
- Printed copies, Lost Dogs: $153 (25 copies @ $6.13 each)
- Printed copies, Dragontamer’s Daughters: $162 (19 copies @ $8.52)
- Printed copies, This Wasted Land: $128 (19 copies @ $6.75 each)
- Printed copies, Pimmi Makes A Friend: $9 (2 copies @ $4.36 each)
- Printed copies, How The Kangal Got Her Mask: $4 (1 copy @ $4.36 each)
- Printed copies, Alley Kat & PIMMI: $4 (1 copy @ $3.70 each)
Total costs: $1214
Total net profit: $856
Lessons Learned
Here are my take-aways from Awesome Con 2024.
Cats continue to crush at cons. Con people are cat people: starting with its debut at Awesome Con 2022, and running through every sci-fi/ fantasy/ comic convention I’ve been to since, Stray Cats has outsold any of my other titles by a significant margin at these venues.
At any other type of event, Lost Dogs is almost always my best seller, but not so at comic cons. I sold 38 copies of Cats at Awesome Con 2022, as opposed to 25 Dogs; 34 Cats at Galaxy Con Richmond, as opposed to 18 Dogs; and 42 and 25 this year. I chalk that up to the clientele.
The “unloved stepchildren” finally get their due. Though I think (and reviewers agree) that my novels Dragontamer’s Daughters and This Wasted Land are really good, they often get overshadowed by Lost Dogs and Stray Cats. Consequently, DTD and TWL usually don’t sell nearly as well as the “pet books,” and I kid that they’re the “unloved stepchildren” of my literary family.
However, this year at Awesome Con, they managed to click with many of the people who stopped by my table, with each selling 19 copies, the most they’ve ever sold at a venue. Though the other two still sold more copies, the “unloved stepchildren” finally got their moment in the sun, not far behind Lost Dogs.
Location, location, location. It may be a cliche, but it continues to be true. The “corner office” really paid off for me. I had plenty of traffic all weekend, and I was very noticeable. It was well worth the extra money, and I’d take that option again in a heartbeat.
Decoration, decoration, decoration. The new table decorations were a big hit. The figurines were very eye-catching, and people glommed on to them (a few people asked me if they were for sale).
On Saturday, I hung some plastic skulls from the tree (as in the photo above, from Annapolis Comic Con in April 2024), and whenever someone bought a copy of This Wasted Land, I took one off and gave it to them as a keepsake.
The skulls had been part of the original order of decorations that I had placed, but didn’t arrive until after I had left for Awesome Con on Friday. No matter. It all worked out, and it all looked great. The decorations will be part of my regular table display from now on.
You gotta put in the work. A three-day event like Awesome Con is a grind. All vendors were required to be in their spaces and at least starting to get set up by 11:00 am on Friday, which meant that I left my house at 9:00 and was parked, unpacked, and checking in by about 10:00.
Awesome Con ran on Friday from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm; on Saturday from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm (oooof); and on Sunday from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. I live an hour’s drive from DC, so tack on two hours there and back again each day. All those made for really long days, and I especially felt it during slow times (early Friday and Sunday) when there weren’t yet a lot of people.
Nevertheless, as an exhibiting author, you have to show up on time, be at your table, and do your job to your utmost ability. Because that’s what it is: your job.
For the most part, that’s what I saw out of the other authors there, but there were some exceptions. One person in particular (who shall go nameless) apparently thought that they were there to have just as good a time as the other attendees.
This person was frequently away from their table for long stretches of time, half an hour or more, walking around the convention hall. They made half-hearted attempts at engaging people going by. Worst of all, they showed up 45 minutes after opening time on Saturday, the busiest day.
So, as I was busting my hump all day every day, this person was slacking off–and they got what they put in. I estimate that they sold about 20 books all weekend. When you’re spending $375 just for a basic table (which they had), you can’t jerk around. Any minute you’re away from your table is a minute where a potential customer could be buying one or more of your books.
Selling books is a job, so, do your job!
Kids books were not a factor. Novels are my bread and butter: kids books are side projects I do for fun. While I usually don’t expect much of anything from them in the way of sales, I was nevertheless surprised to only sell four copies all weekend. Typically, they do better than that (I had sold 12 at Galaxy Con Richmond). Oh, well.
Kaizen is key. “Kaizen” is a Japanese concept embodying continuous improvement in every facet of doing business. In addition to trying to write better books, I’m always working to improve my in-person selling techniques. The table decorations were one aspect of that; another was developing my “very short pitch.” What’s that?
My “very short pitch” is a series of one-line catchphrases I use to quickly describe to potential customers what each of my books is about:
- Dragontamer’s Daughters: “Dragons in the Old West”
- Stray Cats: “Cats across the multiverse”
- Lost Dogs: “Post-apocalypse with dogs”
- This Wasted Land: “Modern-day dark fantasy/horror”
In less than 10 seconds, I can give someone a summation of all four of my novels. If they seem interested in a particular title, I can focus on that one and provide more information. The “very short pitch” works like a charm, because it quickly piques people’s curiosity.
Be Careful With Comparisons
As Sunday was winding down and I was tallying up my sales, I was feeling great, because 109 books was, by far, the most I had ever sold at any event. And then I was struck by a moment of profound doubt, even dismay. “Imposter Syndrome” hit me hard.
Oh, sure, I thought that selling 109 books over a three-day weekend was good, but what if it actually wasn’t? What if most of the other authors around me had been selling many more copies than that? What if I had deluded myself into thinking I was Tiger Woods, when all I was doing was shooting 2 over par at mini golf?
What if anyone who had enough sense to stay at their table and put in the work could easily sell at least 109 books, if not many more?
I don’t know where all this came from: it’s not like I had been tracking other author’s sales, or had asked them for figures. But still, it was there.
I let this bout of doubt slap me around for a little while before I realized that when it comes to selling books, comparisons to anyone other than yourself aren’t valid. In fact, they’re not fair.
Why not? Because you and the other authors around you are not selling the same book. Yes, it’s true that some books have better covers than others. It’s true that some authors are better salespeople than others. But it’s also true that some books are more appealing than others just by virtue of their genre, or their premise, or their target audience, or name recognition, or any of a number of other factors.
And it often has nothing to do with quality. The fact that at Awesome Con, Stray Cats sold more than twice as many copies as This Wasted Land does not mean that it’s more than twice as good. Don’t get me wrong: I’m proud of Stray Cats, but as I’ve said before, This Wasted Land blows it out of the water (and reviewers on Amazon agree).
I’m a part-time, self-published, no-name sci-fi/fantasy writer from Maryland’s Eastern Shore. My books aren’t trending on Tik Tok. I don’t have famous author friends, or celebrities or influencers being seen reading my stuff. I don’t have a huge fanbase, like Timothy Zahn, who was signing books a few tables down from me at Awesome Con 2022. I’m doing the best I can do with what I have.
I’m sure that Timothy Zahn sold more than 109 books that weekend. I’m sure that someone who writes “spicy” fantasy romance would sell more than 109 books. But I’m not them, and I don’t write that.
So, it wasn’t fair to myself–and it wouldn’t be fair to you–to feel like an imposter because someone else in the building might have sold more books that weekend.
The only valid comparison one can make is how one does at events of similar size and type. This was the third really big comic con that I had done, and I’ve sold more books each time. Maybe next year, at Awesome Con 2025, I’ll sell 120, and if I do, I can feel good about myself. I’ll make it my goal, and I’ll let you know if I made it.
If you’d like more tips on selling books at events, even really big ones like Awesome Con, take a look at Selling Books In Person: An Author’s Guide To Winning Fans & Making Money. You can find it on Amazon in softcover and for Kindle.
Kenton Kilgore writes books for kids, young adults, and adults who are still young. Follow Kenton on Facebook for frequent posts on sci-fi, fantasy, and other speculative fiction. You can also catch him on Instagram.
Great job. Congratulations on the sales. It is a lot of work. Thanks for taking the time to let us know. I have been sticking close to home and doing more free and less expensive events this year. I just hate lugging the stuff around, paying all that money, sitting all day, and only sell 30 books.