My Favorite Venues for In-Person Promotion

In this article, I’m going to rank some of my favorite venues that I have personally used or that I plan on using as part of my promotion and why. I hope this helps you in your publishing journey.

1. Medium sized anime conventions–   I’m talking a minimum attendance of 1,000 people. I would also ensure that the booth cost is worth it and that the layout isn’t too spread out. You want a compact set up that ensures that you’ll have a lot of foot traffic. If you want to do a convention booth try going to that convention first or look at the layout for the convention to see if you’ll be likely to get a lot of foot traffic. Below are some anime conventions that you might want to try.
   • Otakufest– I had a good experience there considering the hurricane and that it was my first convention. I made a profit on my first booth with just 1 book for sale.
   • Anime Iwai– This is a small but mighty con. It’s hard to secure a spot (there were only 15 this year, but the cost is lower and competition if you secure a booth is low. They also have a loyal fan base).
2. Library Local Author Events–  If you get into the library system through your local libraries local author system, you get the chance to do a booth at their once a year event. This means you can table for free at an event where your target audience is already their looking for books to read.
3. Middle Schools, High Schools, and Colleges–  If you live close to your old high school, try setting up an Alumni talk. For these types of events you want to keep the focus on inspiring the students, not purely on marketing and selling.
4. Barnes and Noble– Try for a smaller location. The Coral Springs location was warmer and more accommodating than Boca Raton when I was looking to set up a signing. To do this you’ll need:
   • Business casual attire
   • 1 page print out of some positive reviews (include blogger and editorial reviews if you have them)
   • A blurb of your book
   • A physical copy of your book
   • Business cards
   • Your availability
5. Coffee shops– Pick somewhere that has a lot of writers and readers that frequent their venue. Here are my two favorites for my area
   • Starbucks– People love to go their to socialize, write, and study
   • Underground Coffee Haus– This place is a hole in the wall local to south Florida. They do nightly events, stay open late, and have a used bookstore in the coffee shop.
   • The Alchemist– It’s a half-indoor/ half-outdoor coffee shop with excellent foot traffic. They do tons of events and the staff are friendly and accommodating. They’re always looking for ways to get even more foot traffic.