How did the book stall go?

Today proved to be a success in terms of local exposure for Mine to Avenge. During the week I had an interview with the local newspaper, The Border Watch (article below) and also an interview with the local radio station to promote my book-stall at one of the local markets this morning.

All in all, it was a successful enterprise. I had only a few sales, but, most importantly, was the exposure and the conversations I had with people about Mine to Avenge.

In terms of my stall location, it couldn’t have been better. I was given the very first stall by the door, so that I was the first stall seen on the way in and the last one seen on the way out, virtually guaranteeing that every person in and out of the market saw the stall, whereas others situated further inside could easily be overlooked.

I had a few giveaways as well - giving away a signed copy of the book to the first person who said they’d seen the newspaper article. Unfortunately I was a bit slow off the mark and forgot to do the same for the first person who said they heard the radio interview. I also had a giveaway for the person who made the closest guess as to the word count of Mine to Avenge (she guessed within 200 words).

I enjoyed this market experience so much that I have made a booking to do it again in a fortnight - and they’ve given me the same position by the door. Being closer to Christmas then, I plan to set up the stall with an emphasis on buying the book as a Christmas gift and will offer to giftwrap it as well. I will also prepare a promotional brochure for people to take with them, with a bit more information about the book than a business card can hold. I might also organize a raffle with one or two books as part of the prize.

If you haven’t tried promoting your book at a small local market before, I’d encourage you to give it a go, and if anyone has any other suggestions as to how to make such a stall a winner, I would love to hear them.