Top Highlights

• The advice I did manage to collect does have some value. Professionals suggested I bring enough books to make back the cost of the table, plus a few extra. That’s the rule of thumb I go by, except I never can tell which books will be a hit at any given convention. Sometimes, one book surprises me by selling more than usual and another one by not se...
• some title seems like it resonates with the themes of the con, bring 20 of that title. For anthologies, unless it’s for a charity, 5 is sufficient for most events, regardless of size.
• If you’re offering set deals, bump the number of included book 2+ by a few copies, to as many as 7 (smaller cons) and 10 (larger cons). Note: if you want to do decorative stacking, bring at least 15 copies of each book you wish to stack. Depending upon the thickness of the book(s) in question and how you decide to stack them, you may need as many a...
• You paid for the whole table: use it. As weird as it sounds, it helps you to look like you expect to be successful.
• Among other things, use this time for a final test of your technology. If you’re using a Square reader to accept credit cards, make sure it’s working. Get the wifi password and determine if the connection is good enough. You’ll be glad you did the tests before you end up telling a customer that, yes, you can take card, only to have to fiddle with y...