How I Successfully Set Up for an Author EventJanuary 21, 2025

Although I have hosted book signings before, my first author event was in April 2024. To be completely honest, I was absolutely frazzled and out of sorts on what to bring, how to decorate my table, how many books to logically bring (and carry), and so on. I ended up selling the most books I’ve ever sold in a month in one sitting!

For my fellow indie authors, new and veterans, I wanted to share some tips on how to set up for an author event and what helped me, along with how I want to do better the next author event I attend.

What to Bring

I’m a big fan of lists because I don’t trust myself to not forget something I will for sure need to be successful on an important day like an author event. When I Googled author events, I went through the search and image results to get an idea of what other authors had at their tables, how they set up, and what they offered potential new readers. With that information, I did more research to see what I could offer my readers at my first author event!

Stickers

I don’t know about you, but I love the artwork and little doodads that personify a book’s special moments, symbols, settings, or characters. It adds so much flavor, giving the book, the story, and the characters more life.

Tools I used to create my products:VistaprintOnline printing service that offers countless options for printable products like bags, cups, bookmarks, stickers, and much more. CanvaGraphic design tool to find cute and cool designs and adjust sizing for printing on Vistaprint. MidjourneyAI tool that can be used to create characters/settings from your book.

*to be clear, I’m not a fan of AI, and I heavily debated using Midjourney, but I did not have the finances at the time to pay hundreds of dollars for an artist to create one design for a bookmark, let alone multiple.

For my stickers, I used a site called Vistaprint to print my products and Canva to find the designs and ideas for my stickers. On Vistaprint, depending on the sticker type and size you choose, you can adjust the sizing of the sticker design on Canva and then print it on Vistaprint.

Ideas and examples for stickers:Side CharactersIn my case, I did the griffin, Knight, in my first book, In The Dark.Symbolic ObjectsKalea’s, the main character of In The Dark, favorite flower is the sunflower, so I used a sunflower design for one batch of stickers. Character RepresentationIn my second book, His Haunted Footsteps, there are various yokai (Japanese monsters/demons) characters, some of which are in humanoid form while others are not. For example, Shingo is a tengu in humanoid form, but I printed out the popular tengu mask commonly seen in festivals.

I did a lot of scouring the internet for ideas on what to display my stickers with, especially since space was limited with the table size. I ended up buying a few different options, like this one and this one.

Bookmarks

Every reader needs a bookmark because all the other ones they have ever owned end up disappearing into thin air!

For my bookmarks, I did end up using Midjourney to create character designs (as close as I could manage with AI). These character designs, which I personally thought ended up looking pretty stinkin’ cool, give readers an opportunity to see what you, as the author, imagine your characters like. Other than character profiles, I also did some setting and background options, too.

On one side of the bookmark, I did a design for the book, and on the other side, I added the book name so readers could never EVER forget where they got it from (*insert maniacal laughter*). Marketing scheme 101 – if a friend or passerby notes the design, likes it, and asks where it’s from, they now know where to look!

Postcard

For my second book, I experimented with Kickstarter for the first time. Many of the products I used for the author event I also used for different backers for my Kickstarter.

One of my ideas was a postcard that also acted as a thank-you card to my backers. At the author event, I gave a postcard for free with any book purchase until I ran out.

Payment Device

If you plan on making any money at an author event, you need to bring a payment device. I’ve seen some authors offer Venmo, Cashapp, Zelle, cash, etc. One of the more popular options now is using a device like Square or Zettle. On these devices, they offer different payment options like Tap to Pay, cash calculations, credit/debit cards, and so on.

Miscellaneous Items

Other times you may need require less of an introduction or explanation like the bookmarks and payment device.

Here are some miscellaneous items that you will need to bring to an author event:

Table:The table size needed will be determined by the regulations provided by the event coordinator. Check the information provided when you sign up for the event to make sure you bring the correct table size. Some events will have tables set up for you, though this is not as common. Table Cover:Bringing a table cover can add some extra flavor to your setup. Table covers are super cheap at Walmart, so you won’t break the bank buying one, and you can match it to the color scheme(s) of your books. Some authors will purchase a designed table cover for these events. It’s not a necessity but it can add an extra flair to your table set-up. *Tip – If your author event is outdoors and wind is an issue, tape the sides of your table cover to the the underside of the table or the legs of the table, depending on how long the cover is. I received this super helpful tip from a fellow author at my first event. The wind was blowing like crazy! With her help, we taped down my table cover so it would stop smacking people’s legs whenever the wind gusted by. Chairs:Don’t forget a chair or two for you and your helper, if you have one, to sit on!Pens:More often than not, when new readers purchase a book, they want their book signed by the author. I always make sure to ask to give them the option, just in case. Bring extra pens as a precaution.Rolling Cart:As most events are hosted too close to the parking lot and you’ll be carrying a boatload of books, I advise purchasing a rolling cart like this one or, if you like more room, this one. How Many Books to Bring

Since this was my first author event, I was really unsure how many books to purchase prior to bring to the event. Also keep in mind, that you’re going to need to purchase hard copies in advance for them to be printed and shipped to you in time. And, hopefully this doesn’t happen to you, but it did happen to me, but to also make sure the quality is good. I ended up getting about ten or so copies that had crinkled or misprinted covers (no bueno).

Surprisingly, I believed I’d sell more paperback copies since they’re cheaper. The opposite happened. I sold more hard cover with dust jacked copies than paperbacks!

I also typically sell more of my In The Dark books than His Haunted Footsteps (I’m guessing because of the cover) but in person I sold more of His Haunted Footsteps than In The Dark!

The motif is don’t assume and prepare to have enough of all your books.

Survey the event and how popular it is to get an idea of how many books to bring. Or, try reaching out to an author that has been to the event before. For my local author event, I believe I brought about 20 books per hard cover and paperback version of each book. By the end of the day, I had run out of hard covers for His Haunted Footsteps.

Final Thoughts

All in all, such a super fun day that rejuvenated my love for writing. Getting to meet all the fellow authors on the same journey as me was inspiring. Having new, interested readers purchase my books, seeing the spark of intrigue in their eyes as I gave them my book marketing spiel, was truly such an experience that I’m thankful to have had.

God truly works in mysterious ways and through this event He helped replenish my downtrodden spirit through people and new and old relationships. Such a fun day! I hope this blog post was helpful for any new or experienced authors setting up for their first author event. Don’t hestiate to reach out if you have any questions or concerns about your first big author event day!

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