But I’ve never gone to GenCon as a participant. I’ve always gone as a member of the Board Game Rundown crew. The first year, we were mobile, going around interviewing as many people as we could. The second year, we helped out with a booth giving demos between all the camera work. The then we got a booth! We would run demos, have interviews, all sorts of things. It was a blast! Last year, we did a massive giveaway in an attempt to get more subscribers (which did not have the impact we were hoping).
This is the first year where I have my own booth selling my own product… more or less. My boss graciously offered to give me a 4-foot section of the table to sell my novel at. And let me tell you, I learned a lot.
First off, people do not go to GenCon looking for books. They want games. So I quickly learned that no one was going to approach me—I had to fish for them. There’s a certain look where you *know* that person is a reader, but there are a lot of people who will surprise you. The key, I found, was twofold.
Eye Contact
Greeting
By watching everyone go by, I could see them quickly glance away, a not-so-subtle way of conveying that they don’t want to look at a book and have more important things to be doing. Most of those people were too fast or just smiled and kept walking if I tried greeting them.
But some people would look me in the eyes, and then I had a much better chance of getting them to come over. The best one, I found, was when someone’s eyes were lingering just a little too long on my books/amulets. A quick “Hey there! Do you like to read? Know someone who does?” usually got them talking. Sometimes it didn’t go anywhere, but more often than not, I at least got to hand them my business card/bookmark.
Following up the greeting with something else, either something personal (I see you’re a fan of Hazbin Hotel) or generic (What types of novels do you read?) was key. If I didn’t take that initiative, I would have made exactly 0 sales.
What I learned is that all those people passing by who think they aren’t interested in you or your book just don’t know that they are yet. I had my pitch down... a few of them in fact. When I put the book in their hands and told them my pitch, their body language changed and I could tell if they just went from considering me some annoying salesman to someone offering them a good time (15 bucks is cheap ifyouknowwhatImean). What I found even more fascinating was when I gave them the pitch for my second novel. Every single time, when I got to the very end, their eyes lit up and they said something along the lines of “woah!”
It was very reaffirming.
I thought my sales were lackluster until I talked to the other authors, who seemed impressed that I got the numbers I did with a single book to offer. That told me that maybe I really *am* where I’m meant to be. One reader came back a day later and told me she loved the book and couldn’t put it down and that my main character is her new favorite female protagonist. That was the best birthday present. Later, she’d shared it with friends and they were planning on starting a book club for it!
But it was hard work. Moving around the place is difficult. Food is expensive. Standing (if I sat I would miss out on sales) for 8 hours straight hurts. I figured out that bringing food is the way to go, but with it that crowded, I had to take bites when I could.
I also learned the art of the upsell. Whenever I was handing them the book, I would then bring up the Surli bookmarks that were covered in puns and mention that they’re a dollar off if you buy the book. Sometimes, that was enough to convince them to buy the book as well!
I’m sure there’s going to be a whole lot more I’ll learn at FanExpo in Chicago in a couple of weekends. One of the best things I do at conventions is talk with the other authors. They almost always have friendly and useful advice and they’ve not steered me wrong yet! Plus, I get to see how they do it, and each one does it differently. Making these connections is unbelievably important.
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