Why going to events matter

Events matter to an author and I'll tell you why. Since the evolution of self-publishing more and more you will see independent authors like myself, and some traditionally published, at all kinds of events. I'll basically go anywhere they will have me from a church fete to a large book fair.
​      The big traditional publishers do very little to promote an author's book. A friends of mine I travel with occasionally is traditionally published and he is working his butt off to get noticed and find readers to buy his books.
​      Recently I went to two that I did really well at. I went to the S.W. Heritage Festival in Sarasota in February and Pioneer Days in Arcadia this past weekend. I love these events. I meet some wonderful people and have a great time.
​     I did well at these two because two of my adult mysteries. They are set in the area of Myakka and Arcadia. But my children's books also sold well there too.
​      You do have to think of your customer base when choosing which events to go to. I'm lucky down here as I get visitors from up north as well. I have a paranormal mystery series set in Salem Ma. that attracts the northern Snow Birds. The Green Lady Inn series now has three books and I'm working on the fourth. The first book in the series won an award in the Fall of 2017.
​     After the event you would be surprised at how many eBooks I sell. For a couple weeks I'll have a few sales here and there which is great. 
​     Since I go to so many events I meet the same readers at the next event. Quite often if they have bought one and enjoyed it they will buy the next one.
​     I have used Vista print to make post cards the readers can take away with them. The cards have the front cover of the book and the back has the synopsis and where they can buy the book. I also include my website and a call to action. What is a call to action? I ask the reader to ask for my book at the local library. Some people would prefer to get a book for free from the library and will ask me "Is the book in the library". I do have my books in a couple library systems. 
​       One of my children's books, Sailing Away to Nod, has been bought by the Sarasota Library System. If a requested book is not in their system the library will try and get it for the customer. It's still a sale for me.
​         I'm off to Venice FL on March 24 for the Venice Reading Festival. So far the weather looks perfect. There will be about seventy tents down there full of authors with books of all genre. Just being with that many authors is exciting.
​Please leave a comment or ask a question. I'd love to hear from you.