Giving away books for free: Act of desperation or marketing genius?

Following two very slow and frankly, very frustrating days at the CAA book and trade fair, we decided to take matters into our own hands. So, on the third and final day we offered a free Hol paperback to anyone that wanted one. One free paperback, of their choice, absolutely free. The only thing I asked in return was that people also take my business card and email me to let me know what they thought about the book after they'd had a chance to read it.

By the end of the short, five and a half hour day, we'd given away 70 books and 70 business cards and sold an additional nine books to boot. The nine we sold were the hardcover "Documents of the 1913 Armory Show" and additional paperback copies to people who weren't satisfied with only the single free copy we gave them. Notably, we sold more this last day than we did the rest of the fair.

Giving away 70 books was, in the moment, undoubtedly an act of desperation. Though then again, participating in CAA as an exhibitor was never about individual book sales (or at least, not primarily about book sales) it was about exposure for our fledgling effort and networking with publishers and future potential authors and contributors. Establishing ourselves in the field as a source of great books on art.

On a practical level, the manufacturing cost of the books we gave away totalled to less than $250 for the lot. Hol will pay back some royalties to the authors and publishing teams that will add to that cost, but still, when a single, crappy, polyester-wrapped display table at CAA can cost $200 just to rent, spending a similar amount to give away quite a lot of books seems almost level-headed.

For our investment, we got some extra attention at the fair, we got our books into the hands of people who will hopefully enjoy them and tell their friends about them, and we didn't have to shoulder the emotional or financial cost of shipping boxes of unsold books back to the warehouse.

Even now, days later, I think it was a good move. In fact, keeping in mind some lessons-learned, I'd even consider doing it again:

• It worked to have multiple free titles for people to choose from. Were I only to offer one free title, people would feel compelled to take it even if they're weren't really interested in reading it. Perhaps, like LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program, we could host free title giveaways from several publishers who aren't otherwise at the show.
• I like the pressure-less atmosphere created by not even asking for their email in return (just letting them take mine). But were I to do it again, I'd probably reverse this and ask that they leave their email. I'd add them to our mailing list (with the understanding that they can unsubscribe anytime), and I'd follow-up with them once, 3-4 months after the fact if I hadn't already heard from them.
• I'm not sure what I'll do with the emails anyone sends me. I really liked encouraging people to email me personally, but would be great to get them to consider also posting their thoughts to their blog, our site, Amazon, IndieBound, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads or wherever they might be active online. That's something I can do in reply to emails, but I might find some way to formalize it more from the outset in the future.
• Promotion. Given that it was a last-minute decision, I only posted on Twitter about it, and made some signs for the booth to get the word out. Obvisouly worked just fine as far as giving the books away, but I'd want to capitalize on the promotion more by getting some buzz going even among those not taking free books.