by Ane Mulligan  @AneMulligan

What is a literary Festival? Quite simply, it’s a time when readers and authors congregate for their mutual love of books. Each author has a table to display their books. They might have author panels for Q&A.  Some festivals are GIGANTIC with miles of booths and authors and a gazillion books. Other are small and intimate, like the one I go to.

Benefits for readers:

A chance to see your favorites and meet new authors. Talk about your favorite stories and characters. Look through lots of books. You will discover a large range of genres, and panels highlighting the stories of writers, poets, and journalists.

Benefits for authors:

You have the opportunity to meet your readers face-to-face. That’s golden for authors. Unless you talk at a book club, you don’t get their feedback other than reviews. And let’s be honest; only about 1 in 100 will actually write a review.

Questions become research:

When talking with those who stop at your table, note their age, and any other details you can glean about them. They are your audience. Remember these people when you are asked what your target audience is. I’ve narrowed mine. Stats on Amazon tell me what percentage of my readers fall in certain age groups.

You can ask attendees what they’d like to see in your next book. If they mention they loved a particular book of yours, ask them which was their favorite character. If they’ve read all your books, ask their favorite. This is good research for your next projects.

Promote your brand:

I’ve sold more book to new readers by promoting my brand. When asked what the book is about, I say, “It has an ensemble cast of strong Southern women helping each other navigate the story.” I don’t need elaborate or tell them the plot. Every book I write has those elements.

Grow your newsletter list:

Your very best form of marketing and promotion is your newsletter. Have a sign-up sheet on your table and offer to email them a free short story if they sign up. Have book marks with your social media on them. Have SWAG. If you can, have book marks with all your book covers. That way they can check out your other books online at their leisure.

Build relationships:

Book festivals that you attend are usually where you live. You’re a local author. Readers who come to book festivals are avid readers and want to have a relationship with authors. Take time to create those relationships. If you’re talking with Jane Doe and Susie Smith walks up to yoru table, don’t stop talking with Jane. You can acknowledge Susie with a smile, but she will come back to chat after you are through with Jane … especially when she sees the attention you paid to Ms. Doe.

Finally, most read multiple genres, so even if they stop at the Si-Fi author’s table, don’t think they won’t like your books. But if they prefer suspense, point out another author who writes in that genre. Both author and reader will remember that kindness and will refer other readers to you.

Where to find book festivals:

Writers Digest lists the festivals by state.

American Writers Museum has a long list of book festivals where you can even purchase tickets.

You can Google book festivals by your state. Not all charge for tickets, but some have so many author applicants they have to set limits. Some, you need to apply for 18 months in advance.

Ane Mulligan lives life from a director’s chair, both in theatre and at her desk, creating novels. Entranced with story by age three, at five, she saw PETER PAN onstage and was struck with a fever from which she never recovered—stage fever. One day, her passions collided, and an award-winning, bestselling novelist emerged. She believes chocolate and coffee are two of the four major food groups and lives in Sugar Hill, GA, with her artist husband and a rascally Rottweiler. Find Ane on her website, Amazon Author page, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, The Write Conversation, and Blue Ridge Conference Blog.