Good Morning everyone!!
I’m glad to be back to posting and am going to strive to be much more regular in posting to my blog again! It’s amazing how busy the summer months can get!
This past weekend I was able to have a vendor booth at the 2014 NAIBA Conference (North Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association). I highly recommend other indie authors look into connecting with this group as well! The conference was for bookstore owners and managers to come connect with publishing houses -and a few authors like me- to promote the sale of their books in the bookstores. I had a wonderful time and found the sessions that I was able to attend very informative. I also made some wonderful connections with bookstores and publishing houses, and was able to hand out 10 press kits to publishers!!
This conference wasn’t about selling books like a normal author event – this was all about trying to make those vital connections that help get our books into new bookstores and possibly connect with a publishing house to be able to sign with them. I met bookstore owners and managers from as far north as New York, and as far south as North Carolina, and I was able to donate free copies of my books to 20 different bookstores and get their information so I can connect with them about carrying my book in their stores!
Sometimes, I know it’s tough to pay the booth fee for an event when you know you aren’t going to be making money, and even more than that you’re going to be giving copies of your book away for free. But I really feel that this conference was completely worth it because of the contacts that I made and the potential for greater sales in a farther reach than I would’ve been able to do on my own. I hope other authors will look into joining this group and attending the vendor conference next year – I am excited to be a part of it again!
