Book Fairs Revisited

As promised, here are the links I mentioned on my radio show from today. If you missed the show, check it out here!

Some of these book fairs the deadlines have passed to be an exhibitor, but you still might want to visit for experience.  Also, when looking in to signing up for a fair, think about volunteering to be a speaker. This will increase your visibility at the fair. Especially effective at teacher fairs. I haven’t done it because I don’t have time. If you can tie in something about the classroom into your speech you will have a better chance at getting in.

·  The Rocky Mountain Book and Paper Fair will begin August 2, 2013 and finish August 3, 2013 in Denver, Colorado http://www.rmaba.org

·  The Martha's Vineyard Book Festival will begin August 3, 2013 and run through August 4, 2013 in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. http://mvbookfestival.com/2013_book_festival

·  The Brooklyn Book Festival will begin September 22, 2013 in Brooklyn, New York. http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/BBF/Home

·  The Bookmarks Festival of Books will be held in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on September 7, 2013. http://bookmarksnc.org/book-festival

·  The Kansas Book Festival will be in Topeka, Kansas on September 7, 2013. http://kansasbookfestival.com/

·  The Westchester Multicultural Children's Book Festival will be September 14, 2013 in Westchester, New York. http://www.qbr.com/westchester-childrens-book-festival-1.aspx

·  The South Dakota Festival of Books in Deadwood, South Dakota will run from September 20, 2013 to September 22, 2013. http://www.sdbookfestival.com/

·  The National Book Festival will take place in Washington, DC from September 21, 2013 through September 22, 2013. http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/

·  The Baltimore Book Festival will begin in Baltimore, Maryland on September 27, 2013 and end September 29, 2013. http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/

·  The Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, Tennessee will run from October 11, 2013 through October 13, 2013. http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/programs/southern-festival-books-celebration-written-word

·  The Iowa City Book Festival will begin October 11, 2013 and end October 13, 2013 in Iowa City, Iowa. http://www.iowacitybookfestival.org/

·  The Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair will begin October 12, 2013 and finish October 13, 2013 in Seattle, Washington. http://www.seattlebookfair.com

·  The Texas Book Festival will begin October 26, 2013 and end October 27, 2013 in Austin, Texas. http://www.texasbookfestival.org/

·  The Boston International Antiquarian Book Fair (37th Annual) will be held November 15, 2013 through November 17, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. http://www.bostonbookfair.com

·  The Miami Book Fair International will kick off in Miami, Florida on November 17, 2013 and wrap up November 24, 2013. http://www.miamibookfair.com/

I also found a webpage that gives a state by state list of all the book fairs. From what I can tell, these might only be state supported fairs because when I looked at the list for South Carolina, there were a couple missing. So it is not a complete list.

http://www.read.gov/resources/statefairs.php

There is also a list of library conferences by state:

http://www.ala.org/groups/affiliates/chapters/state/stateregional

Once again this is only a partial list because it only gives the public libraries. But I will take this opportunity to reiterate how important librarians are. You have to get to know your local librarians. They can be your greatest ally. Here are a couple of reasons why:

·         Librarians host book events

·         Review your book on their blog

·         Might feature your book on their website

I won’t go into details about how to get into libraries because I’ve done that segment before and you can find it at www.sybilnelson.com/libraries. I will reiterate a couple of tips.

·         Family. friends, and fans have great influence. Ask them to visit your local library and request your book. If your book is already there, ask them to check it out. It will make your book more popular.

·         If your library has an applicable book club, offer free books to the first 5 members or something.

·         Go to WorldCat.org to see what libraries have your book in order to put into action the above tips.

If it is not a local library or you don’t have enough fans in a certain area to get into a library then you have to do it the organic way. Which means, you need to get a review from Library Journal, Booklist, Publisher’s Weekly, or Kirkus. You have to contact each of them individually and follow their guidelines to get a review. So far, I have found it impossible to crack that nut. I’m still trying. Libraries will also accept reviews from School Library Journal for children’s books. RT Book Review for romance books. And Locus Magazine for Science Fiction Fantasy.

Look into OverDrive for eBook distribution through libraries. Romance ebooks are really big in libraries right now. You may even want to look into turning your book into an audio book.