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Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1282
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 09:23 am: | 
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Cushcity.com hosted the first National Black Book Festival as part of the Houston Black Expo on May 17th and 18th.
It was my first time in Houston. The first thing that struck me was how calm the city is compared to New York City. It is the 4th largest city in the country, so I expected something on the scale of LA or Chicago, but it really had a small town feel (remember y'all everything is relative).
When I got off the airplane at 5PM on a friday at Bush International. It felt empty there was no one around. When I exitied the aorport there was no traffic as I got closer to the city it picked up a little but it was never heavy.
The same goes for the convention center I drove right up parked (only paid $10 where NY would have been $50 if you got there early enough), and casually walked over to the convention center. No lines no waiting.
If this was NY City the place would have been a zoo -- which is why I don't go to Black expo type events in NY.
I went to Houston with in the intention of meeting all of the authors and filming or at least photographing all of them. i also wanted to meet more authors outside of my neck of the woods.
After 15 minutes I knew meeting everyone was beyond the realm of possibility. I understand there were about 125 authors present. I did not even get a chance to say hello to everyone I knew.
But I did manage to meet a bunch of authors not from the North East.
One author was ReShonda Tate Billingsley
http://authors.aalbc.com/reshonda_tate_billingsley.htm
ReShonda is based in Houston and is an accomplish author. One of her books will be made into a film this Summer.
More to come. |
Emanuel
Veteran Poster
Username: Emanuel
Post Number: 563
Registered: 03-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 04:46 pm: |
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Thanks for the report Troy. How was overall foot traffic? Did you see a lot of authors SELLING books? Is a worthwhile event for authors to plop down vendor money? Any other connected folks there like publishers or literary agents? |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1284
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 10:43 pm: |
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Emanuel this is just the beginning, there is more to come.
To answer your question the feedback from authors was mixed and actually speaks to a point I made in another conversation started by author DT Pollard. So the answer to your question, "Is a worthwhile event for authors to plop down vendor money?" is: it depends upon who you ask.
The most frequent complaint I heard, from authors, was that there were "too many authors" present. I interpreted this to mean that there was too much competition for book sales.
From my perspective, and I would image from the perspective of the book clubs and other visitors, present that more authos is better than too few authors.
Basically the seller (author) wants a monopoly and the buyer (reader) wants a wide selection.
The problem was not the number of authors, but perhaps the way they were organized. I could see were one my enter the author's pavilion and be overwhelmed -- sort of like going into a B&N superstore when all you are used to is the local mom & pop independent bookstore.
Huge superstores like B&N work because people there is an order to the stores people know where to find want they want. One does not have to go through 250,000 titles to find the one they want.
At the this fair I had trouble findling authors I knew, even through there was a directory, because the table numbering scheme and layout was not clear. If the authors were grouped by genre this may have been better, but some authors would not like to be grouped this way.
This is no different than most book fairs I've attended or even help organize. The ones that do this better usually cost a lot more money to particpate in.
Sure there were other industry professionals I met, for example, Dana Pittman who runs Nia Virtual Book Tour she is another sister holding it down in Houston and working to develope creative ways to get the word out about our books.
Author, Attorney Oswald Scott, Dana Pittman, JD and Troy
I brought 10 books (5 from the Houston Library that was having a huge book sale in the same convention center) and was given about 5 more, my primary focus was to meet new authors and to develop contact I already had. My only disappointment was that I could not talk to everyone.
Speaking of books: I packed the books I purchased in my luggage. Continential charges $50 for a bag over 50 lbs and the charge $150 (or something similiarly outrageous) for a 2nd bag).
Out course my bag came out to 59 lbs. I took out the pretty heavy three book set of Charles Schultz collected works that got me down to 52 lbs -- they would not let me slide 2 lbs over weight. I then took out a large coffee table book which got me under 50lbs. Actually I spent quite a bit of time taking books out an reweighing my bag so that I could get it on the plane.
What is the point of making me carry the books in my carry on? The plane will not weigh any less. Plus now I'm taking up even more space in the overhead bins. I'm sure the luggage handlers can deal with a 60 or 75 pound bag.
It seems like yet another unnecessary time consuming task airlines now put you through. This was the only part of my Houston trip I encountered a line -- reminded me of NYC. |
Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 59
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 - 11:28 pm: |
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Troy this is a good report. I live in the Dallas area and had every intention of going to that event. I declined when I found out how many authors would be there, especially for an initial running of the book portion of the event.
I look at these events two ways, some focus on the books, authors and readers. An excellent example that I attended was a couple of state events in Arkansas and Louisiana. Arkansas was a 2 night, 2 day event with many diffenent readings, receptions and open mike event. There was a more limited number of featured authors and vendors. It was downtown, outside and in a natural foot traffic area near the Clinton library. The difference is those events were State supported and benefited literacy causes.
Other events are money making affairs for the organizers with fees from too many authors. This is great for the organizers, designated booksellers and featured authors. The self-published authors are often paying the freight for the featured wriiters with their table rental fees and sell few books.
I really look at new events for signs of overload on number of authors attending.
www.DTPollard.com |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1285
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 09:18 am: |
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Hey Hen81,
I'm only getting started with the report. I have a lot of video to edit. Just jammed up preparing for BEA.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. I will share this thread with the organizers. Cushcity is all about Black folks working together for our mutual benefit. In fact, Gwen Richardson, co-owner of CushCity wrote a book on the subject:Why African-Americans Can't Get Ahead: And How We Can Solve It with Group Economics
I'm convinced that they were interested in the event being successful. Of course, anyone who has organized fairs knows it is not easy. I think this first effort was quite commendable.
Hen81, how would you go about determining the optimum number of authors to have at an event? WOuld you estimate the ratio between attendees and authors, author per square foot, or some other mechanism?
Here is a shot of author Victor McGlothin with Sisters of the Women of Wisdom book club from Charlotte, NC.
Victor was a featured author but he still worked the crowd. He spoke with authors, readers (show will sisters from a book club) and even brought books. |
Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 60
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 10:50 am: |
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What I'm finding is that it is hard to determmine. One measure that I look at is the number of featured authors. If the number of featured authors is over 15 I get a little concerned. Large venues can be a concern based upon where you will be located due to traffic flow patterns.
I like events that are a little more diverse in book and author mix. I have fared better in mainstream events that feature authors of all genres vs. strictly African American book events. I tend to stand out more and often I will be the only one or two black authors there even at large State events. Almost all of the black attendees will stop by my spot because I stand out. You also have to have a book that can crossover in some cases, I've seen authors struggle with an urban book at a mainstream book fair.
This is me at the Louisiana State Book Festival holding court on the grounds of the state capital in Baton Rouge. I was set up right in fornt of Huey Long's monument.
www.DTPollard.com  |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1289
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 01:24 pm: |
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Nice hoto man!
DT Pollard (Hen81) How much did a table cost at that event? How many days did cover?
Did the net revenue generated from books sales cover your cost to attend the event (food, lodging, transportation, registration, etc)?
If not, were you disappointed, why or why not?
I don't mean to interrograte you but I think you response will help other folks. |
Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 61
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, May 22, 2008 - 08:50 pm: |
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This was a one day big event on a Saturday with B&N tent and several other major sponsors. Bands were playing and there was a lot of traffic. The table rent was $100. I netted enough in sales to cover rent and one night hotel. I didn't cover enough for travel as I drove to Baton Rouge from Dallas. This was a combined vacation/book tour and I stayed over for a week in New Orleans and did a book fair the next week on Frenchmen street.
I was pleased with this event and trip. The East Baton Rouge library system had ordered several copies of Rooftop Diva months before the book fair. The State Librarian stopped by my table to inform me that she had just ordered a copy of Rooftop Diva for the State Library collection.
Coming to this area was a natural for me given the main character of Rooftop Diva hailed from New Orleans and was a Katrina survivor. I also had several librarians take information with pledges to order the book for their collection. I also ran out of literature and had to get more printed for the New Orleans show. I'm sure some of those follow-on sales that showed up on Ingram were from that show.
The end is if you can break even on the table/booth, everything else can be viewed as promotion. Some of the images on my video were from the New Orleans leg of that same trip.
www.DTPollard.com |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1292
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 - 07:40 am: |
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Hey man it looks like you really enjoy what you are doing -- your response tells me that.
I think your response is very sensible. Often authors look at trips as failures if they are unable to recover all of their expenses through book sales.
Out of town trips can be great for promotion as well -- perhas more valuable than the book sales it your work the fair properly. Indeed, one can be taught how to work a book fair or trade show to there advantage.
Even in my case; I did not sell a single thing in Houston, but I felt reaching out to an audience in another part of the country was well worth the trip. Plus I got to tour a city which I've never previously visited.
I walked Texas Southern's campus, took a tour of Nasa ("whitey" is going to Mars y'all), I ate at Papa Deauxs (sp?), and hung out in a couple of local clubs, etc. |
Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 62
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, May 23, 2008 - 01:51 pm: |
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Writing books is truly a sideline for me that is totally different from my business equipment sales career. While in New Orleans I sold a book to the manager of the time share we stayed in because of the Katrina tie-in. One of the volunteers that we worked with on building the Habitat for Humanity house in St. Barnard parish came to the New Orleans Book Fair on Frenchmen St. and bought a book before he flew back north.
I stopped at Community Book Store in New Orleans who was coming back from the storm and left some consignment books. The owner was great to meet and a real character. She sold books on the street until she could get back open. On the way there I stopped at an Essence reporting book store in Beaumont, TX and met the owner. He may be gone by now.
Of course we did the French Quarter, ate at K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen, went to the Mississippi Gulf Coast and did the Casino thing.
On another note one of the participating businesses in that book fair in Houston stiffed me from a signing I did before. I won't mention any names, but will let you figure it out, that also played in my decision not to participate.
www.DTPollard.com |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1293
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 09:18 am: |
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I'm sorry to hear about your experience, with that business DT. Without nowing the specifics I'm surprised it could not be worked out.
While your writing career a sideline. You obivously take it very seriously. Do you consider it a sideline becuase you enjoy it less, or make less money at it, that your sales career?
I used to consider AALBC.com just a sideline to my day job. It was not until I left my day job that I really understood AALBC.com was not the sideline -- my day job was... |
Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 65
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, May 24, 2008 - 06:03 pm: |
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The book business is very fractured today and moving in a dangerous direction of increasing supply amid shrinking demand and distribution. While it is possible to breakthrough, I have not felt compelled to spent the time to pursue agents or publishers full force.
I write fairly unique books that don't fit into the "hot" genres but are more reality based ficton with characters that happen to be who/what they are without that dominating the story. I get 4 & 5 star reviews and that is a point of personal satisfaction. It would take a lot to vault me into full time writing to replace what I do now. If I wrote full time I could probably produce at least three 90,000+ word novels per year with different storylines. I tend to write like I work,and put in a full day when possible.
www.DTPollard.com |
Troy
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Troy
Post Number: 1294
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 06:45 am: |
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DT this video may give you a sense of the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pvON71YriI
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Hen81
Regular Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 67
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 06:00 pm: |
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I have advertised with these folks and spoke with both of them and they seem to be straight shooters from a business standpoint. The Festival seems to be a good idea and one was needed for a city the size of Houston for black authors.
I'm participating in the Tulisoma Book Festival in Dallas this year for the second year in a row. Last year they had Juan Williams as a featured author along with a few others. It's tied into and run by the Dallas Public Library and takes place at the African American Museum.
www.DTPollard.com |
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