Grumpy old man is grumpy, but also very smart and pragmatic about publishing as a business. This is a great discussion, and I love that he's talking numbers, here.
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Why Events are Valuable
- Thread starter A. E. Lowan
- Start date
pmmg
Myth Weaver
HA! I had seen this one already.
Though, I think if I was to do events like this, I would go just for the education (learning the ropes), and exposure. Making money at them would not be my goal, least not initially. But...Maybe I am just foolish.
Though, I think if I was to do events like this, I would go just for the education (learning the ropes), and exposure. Making money at them would not be my goal, least not initially. But...Maybe I am just foolish.
- Thread starter
- #3
Not foolish at all. We get our best profit margines at our home con. It's Planet Comicon Kansas City, which saw a gate of 90k a few years ago for their 20th year. They took a hit from COVID, but so did everybody.
What we love about going is we make new friends every year, and get to see older friends and a couple of our super fans. For me, that alone is worth the hassle.
Mad Swede
Auror
My publishers rarely do events, mostly because we don't have that many in the Nordic countries. What my publishers do more often is book signings, but even then we don't do that many. I've only got two this autumn.
Prince of Spires
Istar
The big thing he mentioned was, do an event for another reason than wanting to sell books. Selling books is nice and a great way pay for going to the event. But if you're going for the money, the math aint mathing. Going with his math, $200 profit is terrible.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to earn $200 in profit from my books. But he forgot to value in the cost of his own time (as the publisher, not the author). And $200 for 2 days of work is a bad return on investment. That's something like $12 per hour, which is below minimum wage here in the Netherlands.
Secondary issue is that it isn't scalable. Or at least, it's hard to scale unless you become a much bigger author. What I mean is that if you sell $1100 worth of books in a day at a convention one year, then it's hard to turn that into $2000 the next year or $10.000 the one after. Since you're practically hand-selling, there are only so many people you can talk to in a day after all.
It's great to interact with fans, if that's your thing. Though if you're a small author, chances of running into an actual fan aren't that big.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to earn $200 in profit from my books. But he forgot to value in the cost of his own time (as the publisher, not the author). And $200 for 2 days of work is a bad return on investment. That's something like $12 per hour, which is below minimum wage here in the Netherlands.
Secondary issue is that it isn't scalable. Or at least, it's hard to scale unless you become a much bigger author. What I mean is that if you sell $1100 worth of books in a day at a convention one year, then it's hard to turn that into $2000 the next year or $10.000 the one after. Since you're practically hand-selling, there are only so many people you can talk to in a day after all.
It's great to interact with fans, if that's your thing. Though if you're a small author, chances of running into an actual fan aren't that big.
Mad Swede
Auror
What's being missed in some of the comments here, and what John Hartness didn't say, is that for most authors all these events are usually done in their own private time. As an author with a publishing contract I don't get paid for the time I spend doing book signings or attending events like conventions or book fairs. My publishers staff do get paid if they are working there, and I may get some or all of my expenses paid, but the time I spend doing these things isn't paid for.
What about the books that get sold I hear you ask? Well, at book signings it is the book store where the signing tales place which order extra books. In this way my publisher sells more copies and the book shop covers their expenses as well as generating other sales. These other sales occur because those who come to signings often buy other books as well, they're not just there for my books. At other events (at least here in Sweden) one of the book store chains will be responsible for books sales and will order books for all the authors and their publishers who will be present at the event. In this way sales go through normal channels and the logistocs of storage and distribution get taken care of.
What about the books that get sold I hear you ask? Well, at book signings it is the book store where the signing tales place which order extra books. In this way my publisher sells more copies and the book shop covers their expenses as well as generating other sales. These other sales occur because those who come to signings often buy other books as well, they're not just there for my books. At other events (at least here in Sweden) one of the book store chains will be responsible for books sales and will order books for all the authors and their publishers who will be present at the event. In this way sales go through normal channels and the logistocs of storage and distribution get taken care of.
pmmg
Myth Weaver
Bumping into a fan at a rando convention would probably make my year. But...I'd also have more chance of bumping into big foot, I fear.
- Thread starter
- #8
That or a Deadpool parade. One of my favorite things about cons. The Deadpools. And they will seemingly at random form up, all of them - and by that I mean 30 or so at the last one I attended, and one Spiderman who hadn't yet dicovered dancers' belts and got Shanghai'd into parading, too. Dude looked like he'd stuffed a squirrel in his britches, so I think his abduction was for the best.
