Dear Diary: A Day at the CAA Book & Trade Fair
Saturday, February 13, 2010 at 06:23AM I kept a diary of the day's events at the Book and Trade Fair yesterday. Frankly, it was a hard day for us. Foot traffic in the area we're in was extremely light. And for reasons I haven't yet pinned down, I didn't feel like we (our books, the contest, or me) were effectively engaging the attendees that did come by. Not to say it was all bad, I'll elaborate more positively on our experience here in a future post. For now though, here's the blow by blow account, unedited, and with nothing left out save a lot of small talk with my booth neighbors and occasional visits from friends:
10:40 almost two hours into second day. Have only sold one book, Museum Legs, talked to one person, and gotten two contest entries ... slow.
10:55 met Frances Pohl, author of Framing America: A Social History of American Art (Thames & Hudson), one more contest entry.
11:04 one query on book price, Museum Legs.
11:55 a brisker hour. Three more entries, one longtime enthusiastic supporter, one introduction, one free book given: Thoughts on Landscape.
12:00 one word of encouragement.
12:11 two more entries.
Surprised by how many people ask us where we're based. Answer: Tucson.
12:15 met someone who'd ordered and received a free desk copy of Museum Legs, but hadn't read it yet.
12:27 two more entries. Trickling in.
12:32 suddenly deserted, must be lunch time.
12:40 a rep stopped by from a previously recommended mid-west independent sales group.
12:45 two more entries.
12:58 day took a surreal turn. Was just interviewed by Columbia College student for the CAA blog.
12:59 one more entry.
Has anyone written a book on the psychology of the art conference/trade show attendee?
1:10 small talk with fellow exhibitors.
1:52 eating lunch in the booth
1:53 one contest entry and a promise to checkout our website.
2:11 ready for, hoping for, the afternoon rush.
2:20 sold four books to our generous booth neighbor from the great state of Oklahoma. 20% professional discount and free shipping thrown in of course.
2:35-2:36 straightened booth.
2:48 first e-book fan, and only second person to comment on e-books at all. Says she'll buy from us particularly because they're drm-free.
2:56 hear the din of chatter from other aisles, see champagne flutes going by.
3:05 met a liberal arts college librarian/professor who already subscribed to our emails; sold a book, For & Against, to someone else.
3:06 there are only three people in our aisle not affiliated with a vendor.
3:07 make that two.
3:24 report from established press in one of the main aisles: "insanely busy".
3:50 sold one book, Whistler As I Knew Him, after convincing the buyer to pay full price ($9) to support a startup, independent publisher. She also entered contest.
4:18 still here
4:19 just got word there will be wine in the University of Chicago Press booth at 4:30.
4:30 wine's not until 5:15.
4:47 encouraged a Sargent fan to read Sargent's Daughters: The Biography of a Painting (MFA Publications), one more entry.
5:05 wine, early.
5:17 brief conversation with CAA official. She was surprised it was slow for us, says attendance is up from last year. Translation: it's not CAA's fault.
5:28 one more entry, no book sale.
5:29 implemented new display strategy, marked prices on books very prominently, starting at only $9! Very reasonable.
5:55 someone thanked me for letting them sit down and rest for a moment.
6:00 and that's all she wrote.
Reader Comments (1)
This was a good read.