As I mentioned last week, this year I finally had the chance to sell my books to librarians at the American Library Association's annual conference at McCormick Place. This has been a dream of mine since I decided to publish A Bitter Pill to Swallow in 2016. The problem was finding a way to afford it. In the meantime, I found more budget-friendly shows to participate in. I started by partnering with the Foreword booth in the May 2016 Book Expo of America trade show at McCormick Place. They're a journal that promotes work by independent authors and publishers, and they offered a place on their shelf and a ticket to the show for a very reasonable price. Since then, I also participated in the very first Chi Teen Lit Fest, the Printers Row Lit Fest, the Soulful Chicago Book Fair, The Chicago Young Adult Book Fest, and The Children's Book Fair, among others. I even had a prior experience selling books at McCormick Place during the Black Women's Expo for a few hours. This was the first year that I didn't need to use my tax refund money for anything else, and with the ALA conference back in Chicago again (it rotates between different cities every year), things were finally aligning.
As details emerged about the literary celebrities who would be in attendance, I felt like I would make a lot of good connections. At the end of the first night, I even happened to see former Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden at the Library of Congress booth when I was on my way out. Unfortunately the foot traffic didn't flow smoothly between the prominent booths in the front of the exhibition hall and the Indie Authors Pavilion. It was yet another reminder of the second-class status bestowed upon those of us who choose to self-publish. I was grateful that at least Lyrasis hosted a very nice reception for independent authors. Their Indie Author Project has helped me get the ebook edition of my novel into more libraries.
What frustrates me most about going the indie route is the amount of money you have to spend to market yourself. That's why it took me a whole decade to get a booth at ALA. Even though I live here and don't need to stay in a hotel (not that it kept spammers from offering to book one for me), this was an expensive enterprise. I was able to save money by taking public transportation to McCormick Place most of the days that I was there, but I still needed to drive when I brought the bulk of my items, and when I took them away. Plus there was the cost of badges for my booth staff, additional business and postcards, and don't get me started on the books! I was advised to bring 100 to 150 copies. Even with Blurb's volume printing discount, that was still a lot of money for me. I was tapped out and couldn't afford to pay to advertise on site. The table would have to be enough.
Many of the attendees who did manage to find me in the hinterland of the back of the exhibit hall arrived overstimulated and exhausted from all the crowds, activity, and long lines at the front of the show. I think that in future shows, something needs to be done to balance out the too much versus not enough disparity.
One of the best things about my experience was the support I received from the Black librarians in attendance.
I am so excited that soon my book will be in libraries in other cities. At the time of writing this, it is currently available in 32 libraries around the world, so there is plenty of room for growth.
I met librarians who worked all over the country in all sorts of libraries, from public libraries to school libraries and even prison libraries. And after the long journey to my latest cover design, it was very validating to receive a positive response from people who stopped by my table.
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| selling books I made while wearing nail polish and a bracelet I made |
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| my last 3 bookmarks, a gift with purchase |
I stayed at my table the same way I stay at my desk at work. I didn't want to miss a single sale. As I do at work, I had someone come to relieve me so I could take a lunch break. My cousin assisted with that. Since I don't have one of those $300 handheld Square terminals, I spent less than a dollar for a 4"x6" print from Walgreen's that I put in my trusty little IKEA picture frame so that people could pay via QR code in my absence, without having to leave my phone behind.
While I was away from my table, I only had time for a cursory glance at the work my fellow exhibitors were selling, but here are a few that intrigued me:
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| Fela: Music is the Weapon by Jibola Fagbamiye and Conor McCreery |
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| Stella's Stellar Hair by Yesenia Moises |
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| Sky View Farm books by Angelina Natale |
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| Quick The Clockwork Knight comics by Thane Benson |
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| wearing a skirt I made while selling a book I made |
Out of all the crowded indoor events I have attended this year, it looks like librarians are more diligent about masking than artists and designers. Maybe they read the same books and articles that I did. I felt at home with them.
In addition to the famous writers at the bigger booths, there were also other celebrities who came to address the attendees, including First Lady Jill Biden, Kimberlé Crenshaw, LeVar Burton, Billy Porter, and Rachel Maddow. The crowds thinned out whenever the keynote speeches happened at the same that the marketplace was open.
Books get heavy, so I can understand why I didn't sell more. Even though the show had its own temporary Post Office and there was a FedEx store downstairs, I'm sure it must be expensive to have to ship all those books back home, not to mention the physical strain of carrying them all day. Still, I considered the possibility that I might sell more on the last day to people who didn't want to be weighed down with books the first 3 days of the conference.
My last day got off to a rough start because I scraped my car on the parking garage wall in an effort to avoid hitting a car that had parked on the ramp. And when I say parked, I mean this car was at a complete standstill because the driver had exited the vehicle! It was only after my mishap that I saw him return to his car and get out of the way! And I had only driven to McCormick Place because I had so many books to bring back. If I had been successful, I wouldn't have needed to drive! This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy. This is what makes me cry.
After I got myself together, I was at my table until they started rolling the carpet away. Then I got my folding laundry cart from my car so I could roll 67.6 pounds of unsold books away from McCormick Place. And I picked up a pizza from Connie's (the one on Archer, not the one at McCormick Place!) that I got at a great discount because of their Monday pizza deal.
When I got home, I decided that I should make sure the Bitter Pill website was up to date. Then I looked at the Zazzle store for it and realized that I hadn't made any products for sale with the newest cover design. The next morning, a shower thought occurred to me that I wish I had come up with earlier: I could have given away tote bags! Some of the money that I spent on books that I didn't even sell could have gone towards that instead. And as someone who spends most of my vacation days attending trade shows, I know how important tote bags are at events. I can't even tell you how many times a pretty tote bag has lured me into some showroom or booth that I wasn't even planning on visiting initially. So that's my free advice to any indie authors participating in an event like this. Bring lots of tote bags. Make sure you have a really good design on them. They will speak for you while you are on the other side of the exhibition hall. People will see someone with a cool tote bag, ask where they got it, and seek you out. I really wish I had just brought 25 copies of my books and 25 tote bags to give away as a gift with purchase. Then I never would have needed to drive to McCormick Place in the first place! I could have rolled up with my rolling suitcase. Oh well. Learn from my mistakes. Having a table wasn't enough.
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| the tote bag I should have brought |
I know there is still the possibility that the librarians who took my postcards (or took pictures of them) will place orders for my books and the event will ultimately pay for itself when my royalties come in, but that will probably take a while to come to fruition. I know I am supposed to be patient, but after the year I've had so far, I don't feel like it anymore.
But in spite of everything, I'm still glad I finally took advantage of this opportunity. I appreciate everyone who took the time to stop by and buy a book, take a postcard, or share opportunities with me.
Now I just need to figure out what to do with 83 unsold books!