The Christmas season is heating up, and with it my market schedule. This month, I’ve got a stand at three markets, the first coming up this Sunday in Hokitika. My husband and I are taking the market as an excuse to spend the long weekend enjoying the West Coast, so my office floor is currently piled with books and market swag to be loaded in the car tomorrow morning. I’m very excited to be selling my latest book (set largely on the West Coast) in Hokitika!
Next weekend I’ll be selling books at my stall at the Ōtautahi Crafter’s Market. It’s the first market of what I consider my Christmas market season. I know, I know, Christmas is AGES away, and I won’t start thinking about my own Christmas shopping until at least late November. But thankfully, lots of people start turning their thoughts to gift buying as early as September. Especially, the aunties and grandmas who buy books for their nieces, nephews and grandkids.
So I’ve booked in for a number of markets over the next few months, and I’ve come to realise that, in spite of being a socially awkward introvert who hates crowds and noise, I love selling at markets.
It’s EXHAUSTING, for sure. And it can be really depressing when you have a bad day and don’t even sell enough to cover the cost of your stall. But there’s so much to love about selling at markets.
I love to meet my readers, or the parents/grandparents/aunties of my readers. Anyone who is browsing books at a market where they could instead spend their money on ice cream, hot chips, or cute garden gnomes is serious about books. They’re my kind of people. (Not that I don’t like ice cream, hot chips and garden gnomes, of course). I enjoy hearing what they like to read, who their favourite authors are, and why reading is important to them.
Despite the crowds and noise, I appreciate the festival atmosphere of a market. Aside from the occasional spouse or young child who’s being dragged along against their will, people are there to have a good time. They’re happy. Shopping at a market isn’t like shopping for your groceries, that has to be done whether you want to or not. Market goers are willing victims—er, I mean—customers. And because they’re having fun, it’s easy for me to have fun.
I love the excuse to browse other people’s stalls. I mostly frequent craft markets, and as an avid crafter myself, I love to see what other folks are creating. It’s a great way for me to get my Christmas shopping done, too.
I enjoy the community of market goers. Go to enough markets, and you start to see the same vendors over and over. You say hello, ask how their day is going, whether they’ll be at the next market. For the vendors on either side of your stall, you practically become staff by the end of the day—looking after their stalls while they’re at the loo (and of course they do the same for you), and coming up with clever ways to hawk your own items and theirs together (Look! You can read my great books by the light of those beautiful handmade candles.)
There’s nothing more satisfying than personally sending a copy of one of your books out into the world. Digital sales are fine, but there’s not the same feeling of success as when you actually hand your book to a reader yourself.
I enjoy the creativity involved in creating my stall. Like many authors, I dabble in lots of other creative pursuits. A market stall gives me an opportunity to make use of my sewing, paper crafts, and other creative output to titivate my stall.
In spite of these positive things, I can’t deny that selling at markets can be exhausting and overwhelming. I’ve developed a few techniques to manage the stress that a day among so many people can induce.
The story ball vending machine adds to my market day fun.
Bring a healthy lunch. It’s so easy to think, “Oh, I’ll treat myself to something from a vendor for lunch.” But sugary, salty, greasy food leads to feeling depleted and icky by the end of the day. I take carrot sticks, fruit, and a sandwich—all prepared in bite-sized pieces so I can snatch a bite between customers throughout the day.
Get there early, but not too early. I know how long it takes me to set up. To avoid being stressed about not being ready, and to avoid awkward standing around before the market starts, I time my arrival with just enough time to set up and use the toilet.
Rehearse my spiel. I know what I want to say about each of my books, making it short and snappy. By thinking in advance, I don’t flounder awkwardly for the right words with a customer.
Remember, books don’t sell themselves. I use this truth to my advantage when I need a social break. When I’m overwhelmed and don’t want to engage with anyone, I simply take a step back and stop talking to people. I smile politely, but if I don’t attempt to engage, most people won’t engage with me, and I get to take a break.
I’m looking forward to the coming months, hawking my books to readers. Come visit me at these upcoming markets!
Ōtautahi Crafters Market—20 September, 10am – 5pm at South City Mall
Hokitika Christmas Market—16 November, 10am – 2pm at Seaview Lodge
Lincoln Twilight Market—28 November, 5 – 9pm at Lincoln Event Centre
The Goode Christmas Market—30 November, 10am – 3-pm at Pioneer Stadium, Christchurch
Ōtautahi Crafters Market—20 December, 10am – 4pm at the Air Force Museum of NZ, Wigram
Just one more sleep until the Goode Market (Saturday 29 March, 10-3 at Pioneer Stadium), and then a week until Christchurch Armageddon (Saturday and Sunday, 5-6 April at Te Pae)!
To say I’m excited and nervous about these events is an understatement.
Not that I haven’t had stalls at these events before—I know the drill.
But this year, I have something new. Something I’ve been having fun with for the past couple of months.
For some reason (I’ll never understand the strange workings of my brain) I decided I wanted to have a coin-operated story vending machine. After investigating the commercially available gumball machines, I decided I’d have to make what I wanted.
I roped my husband into the project, and he sorted out the inner workings and the fiendish physics of funnelling balls into a hole (Who would have thought it was so complex?).
Then I spent some fun and sometimes frustrating hours decoupaging and painting (my first-ever decoupage project … I probably should have practiced a bit more before launching into it).
Once we were confident the machine functioned, I got to work writing 500-word stories—the perfect length to print on a quarter-sheet of paper and fold up inside a small vending machine capsule.
As someone who normally thinks in novel-length stories, I had a HARD time writing 500-word stories. I wrote quite a few 1500 and 2000-word stories before I nailed the 500-word length. But it was so much fun! I got to explore different genres, different voices, different story structures—there’s a bit of everything among the vending machine stories. I’ve learned heaps while creating these stories.
Tomorrow’s market is the first time I’ll have the story vending machine. It’s loaded with a mix of twelve different stories for ages 8 and up, each one a bite-sized morsel of adventure. What better way to liven your day?
I’m nervous, because I’m so excited about the story vending machine, and I want my readers to be just as enthusiastic. I’m also nervous because there are still some technical glitches with the machine (those crazy physics of rolling balls again …), and I just hope it works smoothly when it’s put to the test.
I recently participated in ALLI’s SelfPubCon, which focused on the business side of writing. There were sessions on using social media, monetising YouTube, website design, using AI for marketing … I watched video after video that made my brain turn off. Video after video teaching me how to cash in on the advertising deluge we all suffer from online. How do you get those irritating ‘commercials’ into your YouTube videos (so you can make money on them)? How do you use Facebook Ads? How do you cash in on third-party advertising on your website?
Ugh!
I hate the constant bombardment of ads for crap no one needs. Do I really want to be a part of that, even if it can make my writing business profitable? Is that really why I write—so people’s interest in my writing can sell salad spinners, ‘miracle’ weight loss pills and erectile dysfunction products?
I despaired until I stumbled across a session on selling physical books. The panelists in this session talked about selling books at markets and fairs, doing school visits, exploring unusual sales outlets like tourist destinations, how to encourage people to buy your books face-to-face.
Yes! This was my kind of marketing. The kind of marketing I’ve been focusing on in the past year. Talking to people, talking about my books, being in the same physical space with potential readers, watching how people interact with my books. Getting that personal connection with readers in the real world.
Start talking to me about SEO, CTR, and ACOS, and my eyes glaze over. But throw me into a room with a bunch of potential readers, and I’m all over it. Watching the session on physical book marketing, I finally realised that it’s not that I can’t understand the online marketing game, it’s that I don’t want to.
Making money from random pop-up ads in my online content goes against my values. Putting my own random pop-up ads in someone else’s online content goes against my values. Bombarding potential readers online every day goes against my values.
And that’s okay.
I don’t have to participate in that madness.
And, yes, perhaps if I had to pay all my bills with my writing, I would feel differently, because god knows it’s hard to make a living selling books at markets. But I like my day job. And while I would love to write full-time, I know that I gain a lot of writing benefit from my day job. I would be a poorer writer without it.
And if making art is about expressing yourself and your values, then why wouldn’t your marketing reflect that as well?
Indeed, how could I, in good conscience, make money from plastic widgets advertised on my website when my books and stories contain so many environmental themes?
So I will continue to trot out my books at local markets, beside other local artists. I’ll continue to work on the board of the Tamariki Book Festival to help other authors do the same. I’ll chat with readers, listen to grandparents talk about the sorts of books their grandkids like to read, discuss dragons and my favourite dragon books with kids, hand out stickers and bookmarks, visit schools and tell children how hard writing is even for me. And I will sell a few books, sign people up for my newsletter (people who actually want to hear from me), and probably end up spending half what I’ve earned buying art from others.
Is that so bad?
Sounds perfect to me, because it is much more aligned with my values. It values personal connections and supporting others. It recognises the value in the art itself, rather than measuring the value of the art in terms of what else can be marketed alongside it.
And maybe I won’t ever be able to support myself with my writing. But I will be true to myself.
And … um … not to deluge you with marketing, but if you happen to be in the area, come say hello and pick up some Christmas gifts at these upcoming markets:
It’s the time of year when an author’s thoughts naturally turn to …
…marketing.
Yes, it’s sad that I have spent more time considering how I’m going to sell books this holiday season than I have planning my family’s Christmas celebrations and summer holiday trips.
This year, I’ve decided to explore the summer market scene. My first market is coming up this Sunday.
The North Canterbury Creative Market will be held from 11 am to 4 pm on Sunday, 3 December at the Rangiora Showgrounds (156 Ashley St, Rangiora). I’m really excited about this market, not just for the possibility of selling some books, but also because there will be over 80 stalls bursting with locally made awesomeness. I can’t imagine a better place to find unique Christmas gifts that support local creatives.
I’ll also have a stall at the Spencer Park Market and Gala from 10 am to 4 pm on January 1st and 2nd. This event is sure to be a fun time for the whole family, with food, rides and games in addition to over 115 craft and market stalls. I can already taste the mini-donuts …
In the pursuit of sales, I have also joined 76 other fantasy and science fiction authors to offer you an amazing lineup of gift ideas this Christmas. Check out some of these awesome books, either for yourself or those readers on your gift list.
And finally, I’ve discounted my e-books on Smashwords for their End of Year Sale. From 15 December through 1 January, my books are 50% off, along with zillions of other discounted or free books from other authors. This is definitely a sale to take advantage of. Stock up on reading material for the holidays.
And once all that marketing is out of the way, yeah, I guess I need to think about what I’m getting folks for Christmas … And I definitely need to spend a few days at the beach.
Robinne Weiss 