Combined Book Exhibit

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by A marketing maven on January 9, 2011 at 10:30am

Hi James -

 

Welcome to the discussion group.  You will find that there are many groups who will offer to show your books at various trade shows. Combined Book Exhibit is one such group. They provide shelving for books that have paid to be displayed. It looks similar to library shelves - lots and lots of books on display.

 

I have participated in both their offering and the IBPA display service. My preference is the IPBA display because it is a "manned" (or womanned!) display.  The Combined Exhibit is static and quite large. The IBPA display is organized by type of book and has people there actually talking to perspective buyers and provides a "take away" catalog for the buyers of the books on display.  Remember, these aren't consumer shows for the most part, these are trade shows, so you won't actually have books sold at the show. The sales will come when the librarians and book buyers return home.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Carol

Permalink Reply by James W. Lewis on January 9, 2011 at 2:27pm

Carol:

 

This definitely helps. Thank you!

 

The IBPA display seems more interactive since someone is standing there talking about the books. I assume the IBPA is similar to the CBE in that you pick the shows where you want your book displayed, correct? Also, did you experience a spike in sales because of this service?

Permalink Reply by A marketing maven on January 9, 2011 at 8:17pm

James -

 

IBPA is the other trade organization for independent presses besides SPAN. They have some services that are different than SPAN and some that overlap, but you should belong to both organizations - they are terrific learning opportunities. www.ibpa-online.org

 

Here are the shows that IBPA displays at:

http://www.ibpa-online.org/pubresources/exhibits_PMA.aspx

 

You definitely should spend some time looking at their website - then join! If you belong to a local affiliate, you get a dues reduction. See the local affiliates here: http://www.ibpa-online.org/pubresources/affiliate.aspx#affil  SPAN has a similar offer for membership here - but I assume that you already belong here.

 

As to the catalog - see the listings here: http://www.ibpa-online.org/featuretitles/bea.aspx for the BEA show last year. The catalog itself is a nice, glossy catalog with the book covers and the descriptions as on the website (which is included in the price).

 

Sales - I'm sure you know that tracking marketing efforts is very elusive. I subscribe to the "7 touches before a decision" theory that your book has to be seen an average of seven times before a buying decision is made, so the more places it is, the more people who will eventualy make a buying decision. That being said, I mentioned in my last post that these are trade shows, not consumer shows, so you will see no direct sales as a result, unless you happen to run into someone who personally wants to buy a copy - a somewhat unlikely scenario as people are busy scooping up free copies of all the new books and really don't want to carry your title around with them. No wheeled carts are allowed on the floor, which limits the amount of books you can carry!

 

The reason that you display at these shows is to get librarians, book buyers, foreign rights dealers, etc. interested in your books. It is also a great time to meet with potential distributors for your books, to meet publicists in your genre and other trade activities.

 

Everyone in the business should go to BEA at least once - and I also highly recommend Pub U - an activity of IBPA just prior to BEA. Learn about it here: http://thepublishinguniversity.com/ - this is the 2010 page - I can't see that the 2011 pages are up yet.

 

Get involved in the industry - you nor your sales will regret it.

 

Carol

 

 

Permalink Reply by James W. Lewis on January 10, 2011 at 5:19pm

Carol:

 

Thanks for the wealth of information! Much appreciated!

 

James

Permalink Reply by James W. Lewis on January 9, 2011 at 2:29pm

Also, what does the "take away" catalog consist of? A book description (similar to the back of the book)?

Permalink Reply by Florrie Binford Kichler on January 12, 2011 at 1:31pm

 Hi James (and Carol) --To answer your question, you can take a look at the actual IBPA trade show catalogues at http://www.ibpa-online.org/featuretitles/featuretitles.aspx  Click on "Book Expo America 2010 Show Catalogue." If the direct link doesn't work, go to ibpa-online-org and click on "Featured Titles."

Hope that helps!

Best,

Florrie Kichler, President, IBPA

Permalink Reply by Brad Poulson on February 11, 2011 at 5:49pm

 

James,

 

Book Expo America & Combined Book Exhibit approached SPAN about offering the following benefit to SPANnet Members. We have been finalizing the details, and are excited to announce:

 

Display Your Book at the 2011 BookExpo America!

 

Is BookExpo America part of your marketing plan?

 

If displaying your book at this prestigious publishing event in New York City (Monday, May 23 - Thursday, May 26, 2011) could help you to achieve your publishing goals, then BookExpo America (BEA) and their partner Combined Book Exhibit (CBE) have a tremendous offer for all SPAN Members:

 

For only $145 per title, your book can be on the shelves of BEA’s official book exhibit - The New Title Showcase.

 

The New Title Showcase provides authors and publishers a display venue in the Crystal Palace Lobby of the Javits Convention Center!

 

SPAN members who participate in BEA’s program have the opportunity to put their book(s) in front book buyers, librarians, editors, publishers, agents and more.

 

BEA’s offer to SPAN Members includes the following:

 

• Full face-out display of your cover. All displays are alphabetized by company name to support your other marketing efforts and make them easy to find.

 

• Listing in the New Title Showcase Catalog. This “conference take away” is available to all attendees and contains your contact information.

 

• Entry in BEA’s online, searchable database at www.newtitleshowcase.com. This listing includes a “Look Inside the Book” feature where you can showcase several pages from your book online.

 

BEA and CBE normally charge $280 per title per title for this exposition.

 

But for all SPAN Members, from now until April 15, 2011, BEA and CBE are generously reducing this cost to only $145 per title.

 

If displaying  your title at this year’s BookExpo America could be a profitable part of your marketing plan, then follow these directions: http://www.newtitleshowcase.com/register_reseller.php?aid=110

 

I hope you find this beneficial!