Behind-the-Scenes at a Book Conference

Have you ever been in a group setting and looked around with a giddy grin and thought, “These are my people?” That’s what it was like going to the American Library Association conference.

I know. I’m a geek girl. And it was AWESOME to be surrounded by so many people who also love reading (and writing) books. I was there as a Next Generation Indie Book Award finalist to do an author signing for “To Rescue a Witch” and it was a team effort to try to get my little book in front of the larger world.

Excitement of Being an Indie Book Award Finalist

Like many writers (and, let’s face it, like many people) I tend to be a little neurotic. Did you…like my writing? (Gulp, hold breath, say a silent prayer in the silence before you answer.) For this reason, it gave me validation that someone other than my best friend liked the book. Now when people ask me about my book, I can hide behind the shiny gold star on my book cover and say, “They liked it, too!”

Back in January, I applied and crossed my fingers. Once I was notified in May (on my daughter’s graduation day) it really helped me feel like I was on the correct path to follow my creative passions and go for it. There aren’t too many awards open to indie authors, so it helps establish to readers that the story is worth reading. It also helps professionally because it demonstrates to book stores, libraries and book clubs that I take the craft seriously.

Preparing for the ALA Conference

Headline Books reached out to me for the book signing opportunity and Cathy Teets did an amazing job of guiding me through the process of going to my first library conference. The event had over 13,000 people and was held at the San Diego Convention Center.

We had to bring 15-20 books (I brought 20 plus 2 extra just to have on hand) and any marketing materials we had. Ask me what marketing materials I had.

None.

My daughter designed bookmarks with the cover and a QR code linking to my Amazon order page and I ordered 500. I also ordered about 250 business cards and made up a one page summary of my talk “Spells, Secrets and History – The World of “To Rescue a Witch,” for anyone looking for an interesting Halloween event for teens and adults.

Packing was a little nerve wracking. Everything had to fit in a carry on, because if my luggage got lost I’d be in deep trouble. My goals for the conference were:

Sell out all 20 books
Spread the word to potential readers
Network with authors and librarians to learn more about the publishing process

My Secret Weapon

The ALA conference had all the BIG publishers – Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Harper Collins, Macmillan and Hachette. They control over 80% of the trade book market in the US. They’re authors were doing book signings too… and they were GIVING THE BOOKS AWAY FOR FREE.

How do I compete with that? I’m self-published and the marketing department is me, myself and I. But I had something they didn’t have… The Henrys.

My husband, Henri and my son, Henry, were wranglers. Holding a book (cover out) in one hand and a stack of bookmarks in the other, they greeted anyone who looked like they might enjoy my book, gave them the one sentence elevator pitch (It’s 1739. “To Rescue a Witch” is about an abused girl accused of witchcraft who must be rescued by a man married to…an actual witch,”) and then walked them over to my section of the table.

Y’all, I sold out in less than three hours! Plus we sold an additional 30 books online with the QR code Rylee made. This has the making of an excellent family business.

Authors Helping Authors

The other people at the table were finalists or winners and we swapped info. Hopefully, I will post some interviews about their books in future posts. I also got interviewed for a podcast, which was really cool. When I get the link I will share it on social media.

While walking the exhibit center the other days I wasn’t doing the book signing, I tried to seek out other authors and ask them for their advice. One person I met, Wallace Martin, had a table to sell his book, “The Goatman,” a post WWII coming-of-age story about a boy dealing with his cantankerous, workaholic surgeon father in the backwoods of George while having to piece together clues about a murder. We traded books and advice and guess what? He had to leave early so he let me take over his table the rest of the day (a $1,200 cost – free to me!) How cool was that??? By that time, I had sold out of my physical books but I was able to put the rest of my bookmarks on the table to keep selling.

Meeting Readers!

There were so many incredible people at the conference. If you ever want to know anything about any subject – ask a librarian. And you’d be surprised how many people are into witches. One person had a ‘witch’ in her family tree. Another wrote a college paper on witches in fiction. Another told me about witchcraft in Asia. I wish I had taken more pictures but, honestly, I forgot that I should have been doing that! (Remind me to fire my PR person… oh. wait.)

Friends Helping Friends

One of the best parts about going to the conference was that we got to stay with our friends Dave and Katie, who live in San Diego. They are outstanding culinary wizards and I hope they open a bed and breakfast one day. Dave’s mom celebrated her 90th birthday the same week, so we had a chance to meet his extended family and celebrate too.

Lessons Learned

Put my family in charge of marketing. Seriously, they are way better at it than I.
Bring more than 20 books. Maybe I should have brought 50 and kept the extra 25 in the rental car.
Bookmarks with QR codes are a great marketing tool. I didn’t see any on the floor or in trash cans, which is encouraging.
Figure out a way to organize and follow up with all the people I met.
Apply to every indie award out there when I release “To Reclaim a Witch” next year!

Overall, the ALA conference was a great experience. I’m grateful to the readers who bought my book and followed me on Instagram and everyone who encouraged me along the way. Fingers crossed I’ll do more events when the next book comes out.

Lisa 😉

Here’s my book: