Author Booth Setup Checklist for Book Fairs and Markets

Use this on the night before and again at load-in.

Before you leave home

• Books, stands, tablecloth, signage, one-sheets
• Card reader charged, plus a spare cable or battery
• Cash float in ones and fives
• Sales tax rate set in your payment app for this venue
• Certificate of insurance and vendor packet if the organizer requires them
• Bags, pens, and a QR code to your newsletter or one-sheet
• Water, snacks, hand sanitizer

Load-in order

1. Find your booth and confirm the table size.
2. Tablecloth first, then risers, then your lead title facing the aisle.
3. Price cards and signage.
4. Open your payment app, set today’s tax rate, and test the reader.
5. Put cash and spare stock under the table.
6. Take a photo of the setup. You will want it for next year’s applications.

At the table

• Covers face the aisle and every price is visible.
• Let people touch a book before you talk.
• Open with a question, not your whole synopsis. “Have you read much in memoir?” works. So does “Looking for something for yourself, or a gift?”
• If they ask what it is about, give the 15 second version: genre and situation, the feeling, who it is for. Then ask if it sounds like something they would read.
• Do not chase people who keep walking.
• Reset your covers during slow stretches. Motion draws more eyes than calling out to strangers.

Ask for the sale

Interest is not a sale. After someone leans in, ask. “Want me to set one aside for you?” or “I can sign it to a name if it is a gift.” Offer one add-on at most, then stop.

After the event

• Tally sales and tax collected
• Note which titles sold and what you would restock
• Thank the organizer within 48 hours
• Log the event with fee, sales, and whether you would return

The full version

The Author Events Field Guide ($34) expands each step, with the pitch scripts, the objection lines, the day-of runbook, and the event log template.

Get the Author Events Field Guide