Make your presence at a book fair a success in 4 steps

As an author or publisher, book fairs are an excellent opportunity to promote your work. They allow you to meet your readers, of course, but also other authors and actors of the book industry whose advice and contact information could prove essential in the pursuit of your activity.

Book fairs offer great visibility to their participants in a relatively short time. For this reason, preparing methodically and well in advance your participation in a book fair significantly increases your chances of getting the maximum benefit, both in financial terms and in terms of notoriety.

In order to ensure that your presence at a book fair is successful, we at Copymage have put together a list of 4 tips to prepare the different aspects of your participation.

Tip #1: Choose the book fair that is right for you

Whether you are the head of a publishing house or the author of self-published books, participating in the various book fairs that are held throughout the year in France is an excellent way to:

- make your writings known,

- to meet your readers,

- to increase the sales of your books,

- to integrate the network of professionals in your field of activity,

- to benefit from commercial and creative opportunities.

You can easily find a detailed list of all the literary events taking place in France on the internet.

However, because attending a book fair requires a significant investment of time and money, it is necessary to properly target the book fairs to attend.

There are several criteria to consider:

• First, the type of literature featured. If you are the author of children's books, it is neither useful nor relevant to participate in a book fair dedicated to the literary genre of detective fiction.
• Secondly, the notoriety of the book fair. The more prestigious the event, the more media coverage you, as a participant, will receive and the more you will be able to meet important actors, prospects and potential partners. However, participating in a "small" book fair can also be a good operation if the theme corresponds exactly to your style or your subjects. Indeed, the smaller number of exhibitors can be an opportunity for you to emerge and make your works known.
• Third, the cost of participation. Getting a booth at a book fair is often expensive. Don't hesitate to set a price limit beyond which you feel your participation is no longer profitable
• Fourth, the location of the book fair. Participating in a book fair involves travel costs (in time and money) and sometimes lodging, again be careful that these costs do not reduce the benefit of your participation to zero.

Tip #2: Setting up your booth for the book fair

In order toensure your visibility at a book fair and thus attract participants, you must create a unique booth that reflects the universe of your literature.

For this, two essential communication supports must be part of the decoration of your stand:

The Roll-up

This nomadic communication support is composed of a printed tarpaulin attached to a roll-up system and contained in an aluminum structure. The Roll-up is a must for all your participations in a book fair.

• It makes your stand visible from a distance.
• It allows the diffusion of information about your books: title, summary, date of release of the next volumes in the case of a series, etc.
• It carries the graphic identity of your work by taking up the graphic universe of the cover of your book: a large format photograph will immediately plunge the participants in the book fair into the atmosphere of your literature.
• It structures the space of your stand: placed on the ground in a stable way, it draws the limits of your stand and invites the participants to approach it.
• It is a nomadic communication support by essence: easy to carry thanks to the dedicated cover, installed and uninstalled in less than 5 minutes, storable in the trunk of your car, it remains intact between two shows.

Available in several sizes, at Copymage, we print your Roll-up on fireproof tarpaulins thatmeet the fireproof standards imposed by the book fair organizers.

L'poster

The booth poster is also an essential element for the decoration of your booth at a book fair.

The large format poster

Large format posters, i.e. A0 (841 x 1189 mm), A1 (594 x 841 mm) or A2 (420 x 594 mm), will give you excellent visibility at a book fair. Attendees will see from afar a large poster, in the colors of your book's cover, placed at the back of your booth.

The small format poster

Smaller posters, for example A3 (297 x 420 mm) or A4 (210 x 297 mm), will provide practical information to participants. Placed on an easel, they will show your contact information, the address of your website (via a QR code), your social network accounts, etc. These posters will also be useful to indicate the prices of your books.

At Copymage, we offer a variety of finishes for all your posters. For posters that will be displayed at a book fair, we recommend that you opt for the lamination or laminating options, which will ensure that your posters will last from one book fair to the next.

Tip #3: Prepare "gifts" for book fair participants

Just like the design of your booth, it is useful to think about some communication elements that can be distributed to your clients, prospects and partners during the book fair in order to remain in their memory and in their contact list once the event is over.

Two items are particularly popular with book fair attendees:

The bookmark

It's a classic at book fairs and not by chance. The bookmark is an integral part of the world of literature. It is a small gift that readers love because it allows them to know where they are in their reading without damaging their book. As aesthetic as it is practical, this object is also an excellent means of communication since readers use it - and therefore read the information it contains - on a daily basis.

At Copymage, we offer you to print your bookmark in several dimensions:

• in classic format: 55 x 20 mm
• in large format: 40 x 148 mm
• made to measure

We also suggest that you choose a 300 g/m2 paper to obtain a rigid and resistant bookmark.

Finally, if it is a classic gift, there are many ways to make your bookmark a unique object. In particular, we advise you to choose exceptional finishes such as lamination, selective varnish and gilding in order to create an object that reflects the world of your literature.

Thus, each day, when they open their book, your readers will be able to browse at a glance a quote that is dear to you, the contact information of your website, the titles of your previous works, etc.

The postcard

Distributing a personalized postcard is also a great way tooffer a small gift to participants a book fair while disseminating information about your activities. In fact, a beautiful postcard can be used as a bookmark in a large book by your readers. Your readers will be touched if you put a personal note on it, in the form of a dedication.

When designing a postcard, it is essential to choose a beautiful illustration because that is what will make it be kept and displayed by your prospects.

We suggest that you choose a photograph or drawing that recalls the world of your literature, it can be the cover of one of your books, the graphic representation of one of your key characters or a photograph of an important place described in your book. In all cases, the resolution of the image must be at least 300 dpi.

At Copymage, you can choose the size (A5, extended A4, custom) and orientation of your postcard, as well as the type of paper (300 g/m2 olin paper, 350 g/m2 matte paper, 600 g/m2 thick paper).

You can also choose from finishes that will allow you to recreate the tone of your literature as closely as possible:

• A matte lamination will give a sober, modern and elegant tone to your postcard.
• A glossy lamination will intensify the colors of the chosen illustration.
• The soft-touch lamination will give your postcard a soft and velvety feel.
• With a selective varnish, you can highlight specific areas of your postcard (title of your book, character in the illustration, etc.)
• The 3D selective varnish will add relief on some particular elements of your postcard adding a touch of originality and unexpectedness.

Tip #4: Expand your network at the book fair

Attending a book fair is also a great communication opportunity, both to keep the interest of people already in your network and to attract new people to your network.

Communicate about your participation in a book fair

The success of your presence at a book fair also depends on the communication that you will do around your participation before, during and after the book fair.

It is essential that your network knows that you will be participating in this book fair so that people who are already interested in your work can attend:

- come and get a book signed,

- to share collaboration projects with you,

- come and meet you.

All these people who are already part of your network will create traffic at your booth, which will encourage book fair participants who do not know you yet to come and meet you.

To mobilize your network, you can think about a mail campaign using flyers or the postcards you have already planned for your booth. You can communicate about your presence at a book fair during a signing session that takes place beforehand - to do this, think about putting up a poster on your table with the dates of your signings at upcoming book fairs. Finally, you can relay the preparation of your participation in the book fair, its progress and what you thought of it on social networks.

Multiplying contacts

A book fair brings togethermany people, with very different profiles (professionals, experts, prospects, customers), who all have the same interest: books.

A book fair is therefore a golden opportunity to multiply the number of your contacts and thusexpand your database.

Take the time to talk to everyone who comes to your booth to introduce them to your literature, but also to gather information about their own activities and projects.

Also, don't hesitate to goaround the book fair to introduce yourself to the other booths. You may find future partners, ideas for your future projects, contacts to add to your address book or original bookmarks!

We hope that these 4 tips will help you prepare your presence at a book fair to make it a real success. Copymage remains your professional partner for the preparation of all your communication elements, even if you are in a hurry: with the Express 4h option, you will not miss any opportunity to make your literature known at a book fair!