Book Signing #3 and #4 - How I Get People Over to my Booth

Riverfest Book Signing #3
I woke up early, loaded the car, and set off to my first outdoor event.  I was very excited and nervous.  I was shocked at how much I was taking for the set up, but knew I would need it all. I am posting the items I took with me so I can help others prepare for their first outdoor event.  Here is a list of what I brought with me: canopy, hammer, chairs, cooler with lunch and drinks, paper towels, 3 tables and table cloths, books, book display holders, pens, cash drawer, money for change, craft items- envelopes, glue, crayons, markers, trash can & liners, table decorations, business cards, bookmarks, push cards, sign with the cost of the books, banner, craft sign, puppet for book reading, watermelon and candy.

My booth set up.



 I knew I would need something to help me get people to come over to my booth.  There would be lots of booths for the people to visit and I needed something unique.  I came across a photo while I was on my fb page.  It was a picture of a watermelon shark.  I googled it, and printed out the directions.  I decided that this would get my booth noticed.  I bought a watermelon and candy.  I carved it and was surprised how cute it turned out.  I surrounded it and filled it with candy to get people to walk over close to my tables.  It worked!!!  People stopped and pointed.  They would come touch it to see if it was real, and some even took pictures of it.  When kids stopped, my helpers would offer them a free bookmark and ask if they would like to make a free shark puppet.  Most of the time the kids said, yes.  The parents would come over with them and stand there.  That is when my helpers would hand them my book and talk about it with them.  The parents would be there waiting for the kids to color and finish the shark so this was a great opportunity to share how the book came to be.  It worked great.  Lots of the parents who did come up, would buy the book after getting a chance to look at it.  Those who didn't, left with a bookmark and business card with my email address and website on it.  I chose a shark watermelon and shark envelope puppet because one of my main characters in the book is a shark. You can see my characters on my official book website. 
http://judichesshir.tateauthor.com/

Watermelon Shark

We did pretty well. I sold enough to cover the cost of my booth, my canopy, my business cards, and still had a profit left over.  So I was happy! 

Market Day Book Signing #4.

I did my first farmers market signing.  I wasn't sure what to expect and I was only going with one helper this time.  I brought along the same items to set up and attract people to my booth. There was a lot less traffic than the festival.  I set a goal of how many book I wanted to sell. I had 6 hours to reach that goal. We did!  I made enough to cover the cost of the booth, the watermelon, candy & had a larger profit left over.  My cost was less since I already bought the materials from my previous book signing. I met some interesting people, passed out some bookmarks and busines cards.  I also had the local librarian stop by and invite me to hold a book signing at the library soon.  So that was a nice surprise.

 My advice to you would be to make sure to bring a helper or two to any event that is more than 3 hours.  You will find yourself needing to go to your car, the bathroom, eat lunch, and walk around for short periods of time to view some other booths.  I only would be gone for 5 minutes at time or less. I always tried to keep my booth in view.  My helper sat in my seat to answer any questions people had while I was gone.  All in all, I would say that both events were very successful!!

                                                   Shark Envelope Puppet





Book Signings Update

My Hastings Book Signing that my publisher booked,went well.  They had the table all set up, right in front by the doors.  I rearranged a few things and got the art table ready.  I had a craft activity to go along with my book.  The kids made sharks out of envelopes. I used that to try and draw them over to the table.  The kids seemed very shy though.  I had two friends come along with me and my parents.  My friends helped with the shark making and my parents passed out bookmarks and talked to the customers in the store about my book.  It helped out a lot!  My goal was to sell out of the books that Hasting purchased.  We did!! So my very first signing was successful!

The following week, I had my 2nd signing in a mall food court.  We set up and had two tables again.  One for the craft and one for the signings.  The craft table was a hit.  Lots of kids came over and made the shark.  But I only had 2 people buy books.  My parents passed out bookmarks as well there.  Hopefully, they lead to some online sells. 

I will be having my 3rd signing at the Bandera Riverfest on June 25th.  This will be interesting as well.  There will be lots of kids there playing in the river.  I am hoping they will take some time out and come look at my book. I plan on doing the craft activity there as well.  It is an added cost for me, but helps me get the kids over to my table.  I will also be passing out the bookmarks too.  I'm hoping this will be my most successful book signing so far!

Getting Ready for 1st Book Signing

I have had so much fun since my books have come in.  Students from school have been buying an autographed copy from me.  I was able to show my class from last year the story projected onto a big screen with the audio.  They laughed at the sharks voice.  I loved it.  Teachers have purchased it and used the book in class.  Students would stop me in the halls and tell me how much they enjoyed my book.  If a heart could smile, mine does each time!  I loved hearing a 6th grade teacher say she used it to help teach reading tools and her middle schoolers loved it. 

Now I am about to have my first book signing at Hastings in Kerville,TX on April 2nd at 2:00.  I'm excited and nervous all at once.  I sure hope people show up.  To get ready for it, I went to the Kerrville school district and asked if I could send home flyers with the students in one of the elementary schools. I left them a copy of the flyer.  They cleared it for all the schools in their district.  So far I am planning on copying the flyer and taking them to one school. Their mascot is a dolphin and my main characters are dolphins.  I may consider inviting one more school as well.  I don't know what the turn out will be from that.  I'm hoping to sell out of the books Hastings has purchased and the ones I bring as back up.  People tell me not to expect a lot, but I'm still going to aim high!  I am also going to purchase a guest book for anyone who comes by to sign.  I need to get a book holder and cash box as well.  I purchased a blue table cloth and a coral reef center piece.  I hear I won't need it for Hastings, but I will for other events.  My second Book Signing will be April 5th at Chick-Fil-A Food Court at South Park Mall in San Antonio, TX at 6:00.  I'm looking forward to both events.

 The title of my book is "My Finny Fin Fin."  It is available from Tate Publishing, Amazon, Barnes and Nobel.  If you are interested in my book, you can learn more about it at http://judichesshir.tateauthor.com/
You can also follow me on twitter and facebook.

My Books Arrived!

Yesterday, my books arrived around 1:00.  I watched the tracking from UPS email while I was at work.  Once it said it was delivered I wanted to leave work to go see them.  But I stayed and the day seemed to slowly creep by.  Eventually I went home and was thrilled to see actually hold them in my hands. I counted each book to make sure that my order was all there.  It was!  I took all the books home and began autographing them.  I was stumped by what to write on the inside.  I gave my sister a call and she gave me some ideas.  I finally went with one of her suggestions.  Then I had to decide where to write it.  I needed room so I wrote on the dedication page. 
 I had two people buy a total of 50 together within the first hour.  It was so exciting. I made sure to give them the autographed ones.  They were going to mail them to friends and family.  I posted a message on facebook telling all my friends and family that the books had arrived.  It was fun to see who all wanted one.  So I spent the rest of the night inboxing each one with my address and where to send the check!
Today, I brought my books to class.  I sat them on the floor and held up the book.  I let the audio play as I shared the book with them.  It was fun to here them giggle at the sharks voice.  Then I used my pdf that was sent to me in email (initial proof) to show the book to them on the big screen while the audio played.  They absolutely loved that.  Last, we used one of my lesson plan ideas on story elements.  The students drew the characters, setting, problem & solution.  I told them I would be choosing some to go on my author website.  They took their time and tried their best.  Once my website is finished, I will get the parent's permission and use the sample work without the students names showing.  I did get an email today saying they are starting  the actual design of my website. 
I am having so much fun with this whole process. I can't wait to discover all the different experiences this path will take me on!

Audio Design & Website

Today I received my audio cover in email.  I liked the way it looked.  Now people can order just the audio version or they can order the book and get the audio download for free.  All of this was part of my contract.  Now I can't wait till I have them both together.  I want to play the audio while showing the book to my students.  I think they would enjoy that more than hearing me read it. 

I also received an email today saying they would begin working on my website.  I need to supply the content and then they will begin putting it all together.  After they are finished, they will update it for one month and then it becomes mine.  I plan on having tabs for: Home & Events, About the Book, About the Author, and Lesson Plan Ideas.  I can have up to 5 pages, but I don't think I will need that many.  I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Audio Book is Finished

A week ago, I received the first proof on my audio version of "My Finny Fin Fin."  I was excited.  I plugged my earphones into my laptop.  I clicked a few buttons and then it was up.  I pushed play and was very surprised to hear echos, lots and lots of echos.  I listened to the whole book a few times like that.  I didn't like it at first.  Then as I listened more. I thought maybe the narrator was trying to make it sound like it was under the ocean.  So it grew on me some.  I unpluged my earphones and left for a few mintues.  When I came back to listen again, I noticed when I plugged in my earphones, there was a check mark in the "Arena" sound box.  I unchecked that and then listened again.  The real recording was there.  LOL  I realized that I was the one who created the echos. 

After I listened to the recording the way it was suppose to be, I went and picked up my printed copy of my book.  I checked the words as the narrator read it.  I listened for page pauses.  I found a few mistakes.  One word was left out and another inserted where it shouldn't be.  I also noticed that their weren't pauses for the page turns on some of the pages.  So I sent my correction form back to the multimedia producer to fix the mistakes.

I received the final proof email today.  My producer congratulated me on the completion of the audio book.   He sent the final copy to be reviewed as well as all the forms.  So I eagerly played the story.  I liked it.  He had made one of my character's voice deeper, which was a change I wasn't expecting.  I pulled out my paper copy of my story and listened to the audio version while looking at the pages.  The voice went well with that character.  There were no mistakes this time.  So I printed out the Audio Content form and will be sending it off today.

I went on line to Barnes and Nobel just to see if my book was listed.  It was!!!  I was thrilled.  It doesn't have a picture with it yet, but they are taking preorders already.  They discounted it down a little as well.  Next, I went to Amazon.com, but no luck.  My official release date is Feb. 15th!  That is when it will be completely ready on both sites. 

I'm still waiting for my shipment of books to come in.  It has been two weeks since I ordered them.  My marketing director told me it would take 2 to 3 weeks before I would get them.  They should be coming anytime.  I can't wait! 

What to do While Waiting for Books

I am hoping my books do not take 3 weeks to come in.  I can't wait to get them.  It has only been 3 days since I ordered , so it will probably be awhile still.  In the meantime, I have been researching author social sites to join.  I want to learn from those who have been around for awhile.  I joined "AuthorsDen.com", "AutorNation.com"and "The Book Marketing Network."  I read lots of good ideas on the forum of AuthorsDen and their or many groups to join on The Book Marketing Network.  I recommend these sites for all authors. I also found this site that has a list of social networks to try out.  I plan to check out more of them.  http://www.bookmarket.com/socialnetworks.htm

I have also been working on getting author's fan page members up.  I have posted my goal of being in the 3 digits and asked for my friends and families help.  I told them that if I get my numbers up, then people who do not know me will be more likely to join and take a look at my book.  I went from 44 to 91 in one day.  I am almost at my goal.  Then I will make a new goal. Some who joined even "Shared" my page with their friends on facebook.  So that was an added benefit.  I do plan to ask my members to "Share" the page with their friends and family soon.  I just want to finish concentrating on getting new members quickly though for now. 

I have also been researching marketing ideas.  This link has many ideas. http://www.bookmarket.com/
It had links to awards, podcasting, book trailers, and lots more.  I found this link on how to make your own book trailer.  I may try that or get my creative son to make it for me.  My publisher does offer this service at a price.  I have seen their  work and know they would make a wonderful book trailer for me.  I would need to save up some money for it.  Right now, I would like to use any extra money to order more books.  So I am thinking of making my own for now using this link: http://hubpages.com/hub/Create-Your-Own-Book-Trailer-Free

Another idea I want to work on is to create a page with lesson plans on it for teachers to use after reading my book to their class.  I would pass this page out as they buy the book.  I plan to attach it to my soon to be website that the publisher is making for me.  I thought I could blog some lesson ideas or put them on my facebook status. 

I have lots to do before my vacation is over.  I guess I'd better get started!