Book Fairs: What should Authors Do?

Authors, when marketing their books, need to have an effective strategy when it comes to attending or participating in book fairs, expos, festivals, and trade shows. So, what should they do. 

 

First, search for a list of upcoming local, regional, national, and international book-focused events. Some may be open to the public and last a day, while others may be more geared towards members of the book industry and last several days. Determine which events — where and when — that you want to explore getting involved with.

 

Do google searches for things like:

 

* Chicago Book Fairs

* Illinois Book Festivals

* US Book Trade Shows

* International Book Fairs

 

Consult this as well: https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2023/09/book-fairs-literary-festivals-bible-for.html   

Second, look to see what you can do at each event. For instance, are these available to you:

 

* Speak in front or a subset group or the entire one

* Rent a booth to peddle your wares

* Do an autograph signing and book giveaway
* Share free promotional items and swag
* A way to sell books
* Advertise in the event’s publication or on their site

* Attend seminars to learn

* Networking sessions

* Talk to those who exhibit

* Meet literary agents/publishers

* Push a story onto attending media members

 

If not attending, will you pay for an ad or to have your book displayed at the event?

 

Third, set some goals for each event by knowing what types of people will attend. Assess your potential ROI. How many days/hours will you delegate to the prep, travel, attendance, and post-event follow-up?

 

Fourth, set a budget of money and time for your participation at an event. Will there be;

 

* Entrance fees

* Costs for specific activities

* Travel or lodging costs

* Ad costs

* Shipping costs

* Creating banners/fliers/giveaways

 

Fifth, look at the program of scheduled events. Learn what activities are available for your participation. Gage how many people might attend and best understand why they will be there. Who will attend: Customers? Publishers?

Literary Agents? News Media? Social Influencers? Celebrities?  Writers? Librarians? Bookstore Owners? 

 

Sixth, conduct pre-event research.  Leverage any event-centric social media pages or apps

Dress appropriately but stick out.  Be assertive. Create opportunities. Talk to people running the show ahead of time.

If you are just attending an event…

 

·         Get a print or online directory of attendees and exhibitors

·         Pickup any event publications or fliers

·         See what others  are doing at the event

·         Network and talk to people

·         Listen to speakers

·         Network with others

·         Handout fliers

 

If you can be a speaker and/or participate in a book-signing event, even better.

 

If actively participating, do the above, and get a booth, and… 

 

— offer a book sale deal there

— hand out fliers

— give promotional items away

— sponsor happy hour or give food/drink away

— blow up poster or have a stand that displays a giant book cover image

— display your books

— dress in costume or a hot outfit

— make noise/play music

— get people’s cards/email by raffling something off

— do a photo booth at your booth

 

There is a whole world of book-centric events to attend and participate in. Where are you going next — and what will you do there?

 

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Best-Selling Romance Author Sophie Lark & Bloom Books Kill Free Speech

”Popular novelist Sophie Lark's upcoming book, Sparrow and Vine, has been pulled after lines from it circulated on social media and were accused by some of praising billionaire Elon Musk or being racially insensitive,” reported Newsweek recently. 

It is hard to weigh in on a controversy when I lack original source material, namely an advance review copy of the book, but it really does not matter when it comes to these types of cancellation and self-censorship cases.  

First, it is a novel, so start with that. This is make-believe stuff. Novels throughout history have said awful things, depicted acts of horrific violence, spewed ignorance and hate, and have given oxygen to outrageous ideas opposed by the masses. If something offends you, don’t buy or read it. Give it bad reviews. Protest, if you wish. But publishers and authors should not backtrack on a planned book’s publication simply because a few loudmouths complain. 

Second, embrace free speech and stop caving the minute some people say they don’t like what you wrote. Have some conviction about your craft. 

Third, from what I have read about this shitstorm, the objected-to lines really amount to nothing. You can remove half of the books out there based on this measurement of something being “offensive.” 

Good for the author here, to originally ignore the sensitivity teams employed by wussy woke publishers, but she gets booed now for either actually voluntarily pulling the book or for making it seem like you want your book pulled so the publisher doesn’t take heat for actually canceling it. But do us a favor, don’t re-issue the book after you scrub it of soul, and sanitize it for those who won’t buy it anyway. 

The New York Times said this:

“Criticism of the book began to build on social media in recent days as readers who had gotten advanced copies posted lines from the novel and blasted it with negative reviews. In one excerpt that outraged readers, a character makes insensitive remarks about undocumented laborers, saying, “Shouldn’t there be a crew of people with questionable work visas picking these grapes for us?”

“In another bit of dialogue that readers took issue with, a character notes, “I was inspired by Elon Musk. I use his five step design process.” Musk, the billionaire leader of SpaceX, Tesla and X, has become an increasingly polarizing figure after throwing his weight behind President Trump and leading an initiative to downsize the federal work force.

 

“In some one-star reviews of the book on Goodreads, readers slammed the admiring reference to Musk as insensitive in the current political environment. Others questioned why Lark would leave the characters’ comments unchallenged by others, and said they were skeptical that the author didn’t realize the lines were offensive.“ 

Folks, we need to understand what it means to have the creative arts. Writers put out all kinds of ideas and content and the masses react by adopting and embracing some things while rejecting or ignoring others. That is fine. In an economy of ideas, may the best win out. But when a few self-anointed jurors kill a book just as it is about to be released, not because of the merits of the story, but because a few readers politicize a few lines in a romance novel, something is wrong in America.  

Bloom Books, the publisher, chose not to exercise its editing authority in advance of the book’s release and deferred to the artist’s wishes on the content. Was the publisher being irresponsible or was it commendable to support its author? Either way, only the publisher has the authority to pull the book, not the author, and this weak publisher has turned in its First Amendment card. 

All of this is just a reminder of what a hostile environment our writers and publishers operate under, where anyone can shut anyone down, sometimes with little cause. But it also shows the publishers and writers are willing to capitulate and have no backbone. Free speech is dying from the inside. 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum

Interview With Inspirational Author Mrs. Eva-Birgit Forsberg

 

 

1.      What inspired you to write this book? 

Many factors in my life came together simultaneously to provide the background for writing. First, the mere joy of living delighted me, as I was freed from working in shifts! Secondly, I was free to retire, and so to choose how to spend my time. Thirdly, I wanted to tell my children, cousins, friends and relatives of how I experienced life as a child, teenager and young adult while growing up in Thailand. And lastly, I was quite alarmed at the car crash incident which my husband experienced.  I was very glad and thankful to God that I had time to be with him every day. I wanted to share my life experiences with him and so try to encourage him in physical rehabilitation of the broken leg.  

 

2.      What exactly is it about – and who is it written for? 

The story is about vocational school students who become acquainted and keep up their friendship throughout their lives. These students were from totally differing backgrounds and life situations, but that did not deter them from being friends.  

This story took place in northern Thailand in the 1970’s. Many things have changed since that time. I grew up in the area, watching how illegal immigrants were taken into custody because they did not have any identity papers, how illegal pouching was commonly practiced, and how illiteracy brought problems into many lives.  I thought that perhaps by reading about these mishaps, today’s people might learn to appreciate what older folks have had to go through and so be thankful for the great leaps in civilization today. Maybe mission enthusiasts would like to learn about life on the mission field. And maybe the realization that cultural differences are not always a point of contestation, but a richness which allows for deeper understanding. 

 

3.      What do you hope readers will get out of reading your book? 

I hope that readers will enjoy the characters (who are true people!), benefit from some of the observations made by the main characters and perhaps view their own lives from different perspectives. I hope that readers will get a small glimpse of northern Thailand. I also pray that readers would have a desire to learn more about people from other cultures in their own communities. 

 

4.      How did you decide on your book’s title and cover design? 

 The title of the book was a difficult one for me. I played with two tiles, WHEN LIFE CHANGES and WHIRLING EVENTS.  Then I realized that with WHIRLING EVENTS I might mislead the readers to expect some fast-moving plot; perhaps the first title would be better!  The cover design unfolded by itself.  I was playing around with the story, trying to form a short ‘comic book’ strip of it to entertain my nephew when he came to visit.  I sent these sketches then to the publisher, who drew them into this neat and compact combination. 

 

5.      What advice or words of wisdom do you have for fellow writers – other than run? 

I feel that it’s good to write about something that touches one’s heart. I also like sharing everyday life events with my readers, especially when people from various cultures interact with each other.  I also enjoy writing when I feel ‘the flow’ of writing; then, words and sentences are easily formed.  If possible, when writing, I try to avoid interruptions! 

  

6.      Were there experiences in your personal life or career that came in handy when writing this book? 

Truthfully, yes. I have always wanted to help underprivileged people wherever I live in some way or another. These characters are real people, with names, places and family relationships altered purposely to protect their identity.  I have also asked these people if I may write about their lives, and they answered in the affirmative, provided that their names were not used as such! 

 

7.      How would you describe your writing style? Which writers or books is your writing style similar to? 

Personally, I prefer to rate my writing style as a ‘narrative’, or ‘one telling a story’, or a ‘description of events’. Perhaps I do not conform to any style as such, but this is what comes naturally. I have also realized that I often change my style if and when I’m writing in the first person or third person.  Then if I’m ‘an outsider’ in the story, it differs from when I’m ‘an insider’. 

 

8.      How do you feel your book compares to others in your genre? 

Fiction. the fact that these stories are based on true events causes limitations.  I cannot let my imagination run wild! Then again, the timeline of the story limits part of it. Yet, I think that this story is strange and different in the sense that it brings its own suspense and energy. Compared to other books, I feel that one must understand the surrounding culture somehow to enjoy reading the book. But I have attempted to explain cultural importances or to show them in practice so that the readers may better understand the events.  

 

9.      What challenges did you overcome in the writing of this book? 

I had to curtail so much of the story! I wrote far too much and wanted to explain everything to the reader!  Gory details were left out, character descriptions, historical events, background information, and so on. 

 

10.   If people can buy or read one book this week or month, why should it be yours? 

This book is based on true events.  The stories of these people need to be heard. 

This book shows how life’s difficulties are very small after all, when compared to those difficulties encountered by the characters in the book.  I will get a better understanding of myself as I get a new perspective on life. This book might challenge behavior, lifestyles, motivations, understanding and actions in MY everyday life as I meet these people in my community who come from other cultures.  This book might cause me to become active in bringing about social justice in the community today. 

For more information, please see: hodos21.webnode.fi/

 

Do You Need Book Marketing & PR Help?

Brian Feinblum, the founder of this award-winning blog, with over four million page views, can be reached at brianfeinblum@gmail.com  He is available to help authors like you to promote your story, sell your book, and grow your brand. He has over 30 years of experience in successfully helping thousands of authors in all genres. Let him be your advocate, teacher, and motivator!

 

About Brian Feinblum

This award-winning blog has generated over four million pageviews. With 5,000+ posts over the past dozen years, it was named one of the best book marketing blogs by BookBaby  http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs  and recognized by Feedspot in 2021 and 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. It was also named by www.WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.”  Copyright 2025.

 

For the past three decades, Brian Feinblum has helped thousands of authors. He formed his own book publicity firm in 2020. Prior to that, for 21 years as the head of marketing for the nation’s largest book publicity firm, and as the director of publicity at two independent presses, Brian has worked with many first-time, self-published, authors of all genres, right along with best-selling authors and celebrities such as: Dr. Ruth, Mark Victor Hansen, Joseph Finder, Katherine Spurway, Neil Rackham, Harvey Mackay, Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, Warren Adler, Cindy Adams, Todd Duncan, Susan RoAne, John C. Maxwell, Jeff Foxworthy, Seth Godin, and Henry Winkler.

 

His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s The Independent (https://pubspot.ibpa-online.org/article/whats-needed-to-promote-a-book-successfully).

 

He hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America several years ago, and has spoken at ASJA, BookCAMP, Independent Book Publishers Association Sarah Lawrence College, Nonfiction Writers Association, Cape Cod Writers Association, Willamette (Portland) Writers Association, APEX, Morgan James Publishing, and Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association. He served as a judge for the 2024 IBPA Book Awards.

 

His letters-to-the-editor have been published in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Post, NY Daily News, Newsday, The Journal News (Westchester) and The Washington Post. His first published book was The Florida Homeowner, Condo, & Co-Op Association Handbook.  It was featured in The Sun Sentinel and Miami Herald.

 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester with his wife, two kids, and Ferris, a black lab rescue dog, and El Chapo, a pug rescue dog.

 

You can connect with him at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfeinblum/ or https://www.facebook.com/brian.feinblum