Raffle a book at your signing
I went to a fantastic event at Book Court last night. Act-I-Vate
Primer, an anthology of graphic short stories by webcomic creators, was projected on a large screen. The stories were read and, in some cases, very amusingly performed, by each creator and one or more of their partners-in-crime. A very entertaining evening. There was a nice turnout, as often
happens when multiple contributors are reading- each contributor
brings a few friends along.
My favorite feature of the night, though, was the raffle. The
authors raffled two copies of the book, for a dollar a ticket. A
volunteer worked the entire room, and of course I bought a ticket
(I’m sure almost everyone did). They must have taken in at least
$50, more than enough to pay for two books. As a bonus for those who
didn’t win, the winners were forced to perform one of the stories in
order to win their copy! Much hilarity ensued.
It immediately occurred to me that this idea could be applied to
almost every signing you hold. Not that I think your customers
should be invited to get up to read alongside Michael Chabon, but a
raffle could become, for the customers who don’t win, a powerful
incentive to buy a book at your event. In the interval between the
reading and the signing session, you could announce the winner of
the book, and that person could come forward to happily claim their
copy. What happens to the customers who didn’t win? Certainly some
percentage of them will decide that yes, they really, really want to
buy the book now.
The economics are very tempting- if 30 people come to you event, and
you sell 24 tickets, you’ve covered the cost of the book, and you’ll
probably sell a few more copies on top of that. If the event is
lightly attended, keep the tickets for a monthly raffle for a free
book- now you’re gathering email addresses for your mailing list. If
a local organization comes in looking for a donation, offer to make
them the beneficiary of a raffle at an upcoming event. With any
luck, they’ll help you publicize the event, guaranteeing a bigger
turnout.
Act-I-Vate Primer at Book Court, 10/29/09
I went to a fantastic event at Book Court last night. Act-I-Vate Primer, an anthology of graphic short stories by webcomic creators, was projected on a large screen. The stories were read and, in some cases, very amusingly performed, by each creator and one or more of their partners-in-crime. A very entertaining evening. There was a nice turnout, as often happens when multiple contributors are reading- each contributor brings a few friends along.
My favorite feature of the night, though, was the raffle. The authors raffled two copies of the book, for a dollar a ticket. A volunteer worked the entire room, and of course I bought a ticket (I’m sure almost everyone did). They must have taken in at least $50, more than enough to pay for two books. As a bonus for those who didn’t win, the winners were forced to perform one of the stories in order to win their copy! Much hilarity ensued.
It immediately occurred to me that this idea could be applied to almost every signing you hold. Not that I think your customers should be invited to get up to read alongside Michael Chabon, but a raffle could become, for the customers who don’t win, a powerful incentive to buy a book at your event. In the interval between the reading and the signing session, you could announce the winner of the book, and that person could come forward to happily claim their copy. What happens to the customers who didn’t win? Certainly some percentage of them will decide that yes, they really, really want to buy the book now.
The economics are very tempting- if 30 people come to you event, and you sell 24 tickets, you’ve covered the cost of the book, and you’ll probably sell a few more copies on top of that. If the event is lightly attended, keep the tickets for a monthly raffle for a free book- now you’re gathering email addresses for your mailing list. If a local organization comes in looking for a donation, offer to make them the beneficiary of a raffle at an upcoming event. With any luck, they’ll help you publicize the event, guaranteeing a bigger turnout.
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on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 10:33 am and is filed under Bookstores, News.
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