The Business of Book Events - In Defense of Fees, Comps and Influencers

BEFORE I GET INTO ALL OF THIS I want to say that if you are looking for budget-friendly event options, look for events close to you so there are very little travel and food expenses and no lodging expenses. Try your library, or your city or county events, small local markets, farmer's markets, bookstores and coffeeshops. They tend to have smaller fees and less requirements.

The Write Women Book Fest is an all-genre women/femme-identifying or non-binary LGBTQIA-friendly author signing event with panels and workshops. We've slowly been morphing from a one-day fest to a two-day convention.

There is discourse on Threads right now, which I imagine Lady Whistlethreads will be covering next week, about the costs of book events. I can't speak for all book event planners, but I will say the side eye that's happening over there, though I don't think is meant to be malicious, certainly gives me pause as to how authors perceive book event planners, our value, our labor, and our intentions. I would venture to say a large percentage of book events are run by authors who, like me, have day jobs and try and squeeze in writing. We do it for the love of community and the looks on author's faces when they sell their books. We have had several authors sell their very first book at our event, and that makes us extremely happy. We do it to connect and network with other authors. It's a LOT of freaking work.

I would say we have about 99% happy, appreciative, helpful, kind, cooperative, low-drama authors who come to our event. The complaints we have received were mostly that the tickets should have been free. One person opted not to show for our workshop day last year because she didn't like that I ordered vegan food for our workshop event, from one of the best vegan restaurants in DC. Though two people there were highly allergic to shellfish and said it was the first time they could eat from a buffet without worry of cross-contamination.

Over the five events we've organized, some people didn't sell many books, others sold a lot of books. It's generally the people that don't sell many books that are upset. No book event can guarantee you sales. I know it's upsetting when you don't make a lot of sales. I'm an indie author and I have been there. The way I think of book events when I attend them as an author is as a fan-building opportunity and a networking and marketing expense. 

Cardyn and I do all we can to set up a space conducive to connecting with readers, selling books, and we try to treat you like a star. We can't please everybody, we aren't famous, and our event still isn't selling out tickets in the first five minutes, but we get a little bigger and better every year. We have had the absolute blessing of slow growth. It's allowed us to learn and adjust as we grow without any major upsetting catastrophes. 

A LITTLE BACKGROUND
I started this event in 2019, the same year I started a local group for women writers called Women Authors of Maryland, or WAM. I did so to connect with local authors and because I feel women authors face challenges their male peers do not. Then the pandemic hit and online connections were very important so I changed the name to The Write Women Network, so women authors outside of my location would feel welcome to join us on Facebook.

So, I started WAM, then I looked for a woman-centered book event near me and couldn't find one, so decided I to create one. With the help of some of the group members at the time, and the person who now co-organizes with me, Cardyn Brooks, we created the first The Write Women Book Fest.

We had the event at a historical property and partnered with the parks department, so the venue space was free. However there were expenses and a lot of volunteer labor on my part during planning, and physical labor (I hope I never have to fold and lug 50 tables after a long day ever again) on the part of several wonderful volunteers. All told Cardyn and I spent about $1300-$1500 each to put this event on. That's right, we not only didn't get paid, we paid to do it in dollars and labor all to uplift and support women authors. The event went well and was exciting!

We wanted to try again the next year and figure out how to make it work because paying about $3k each year out-of-pocket was not sustainable for us. Plus the sheer exhaustion from set-up and tear-down was too much.

We had a few meetings about the 2020 event, then of course covid and the lockdown happened. We didn't know what would become of our little festival that had a pretty good first year but it looked like the parks department would be shut down. So, we pivoted to a virtual event for 2020. Then 2021 was a hybrid, and 2022 was also a hybrid, then last year 2023 was for the first time at a hotel. This obviously changed the pricing structure, which I will get into below.

The Short Answers

First things I want to note to keep all of this in context - hotel fees and requirements vary WIDELY.
Event planner priorities vary WIDELY. 

Our Priorities as we grew were as follows:

• A location to be indoors because worrying about weather and books was stressful
• A location that had ample free parking very close so women wouldn't have to be in parking garages and wheel to the location and the parking fees didn't add to expenses (some places parking was as much as $40 a day)
• Would hold about 100 authors and 400 attendees
• Located in Prince George's County preferably (ended up the cities were WAY too expensive, anyway)
• Provided set-up of tables, or the ability to rent and have tables set up

Other event planners might have a different wish list. If it's a very aesthetic thing like a fantasy con with a ball, they may want a very fancy venue and don't mind parking fees. If it's a Main St. style event, they might not worry about the weather. We had several lucky years at our first venue, but the year we moved to the hotel it poured, so we were glad to have done that.

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Q. Why do conventions pay cover models? 
A. Cover models are comparable to a celebrity draw. They are "performers" and performers are entertainment, and therefore they get paid. We don't have cover models but we pay our drag queen, for example.

Q. Why are influencers let in for free?
A. Every author should have a keen awareness of the value of influencers. Influencers have a targeted market (sometimes an extremely LARGE one) and if they come to the book event and pick up your book and like it, it can be life-altering. To be able to get your book's swag into the hands of the right influencer is difficult and requires a lot of research and work on the part of the event planners. 

Q. Why do authors pay to put our books into a bag?
A. We have never charged to put swag into swag bags, but many events do. This may be to help pay for the bags themselves, to fund next year's seed money, it could be any number of reasons. Most of them don't require you to, and allow you to opt out. There is a LOT of labor involved with stuffing a hundred or more swag bags, storing the swag and so on. If you have to hire help because you can't find volunteers, that may also account for it.

Q. Why do we pay to attend?
A. There are many expenses associated with running a book event. Who should pay them? We try to balance the cost between the authors and the attendees, and it's a delicate balancing act. Our dream is to one day have a major sponsor that will help us keep our prices down.

Then there are monthly fees such as web domains, storage for book event bulky items, signs, marketing, lanyards, bags, nametags, also day-of managers so the even runs smoothly. Sound equipment rentals, decorations, software subscriptions. Some hotels require you buy a certain amount of catering as well. This is a photo of the price for the first day of our two day event next year. Not only is it expensive (and this is for a mid-range hotel) but you can see a deposit before you ever sell a space is required. I had to fork over $2k before I even knew if anybody would sign up. That's risk that all event planners take on. And this is one of the most affordable places I found!

Then there is the matter of my labor. It feels like on Threads the labor of the event planners is not being counted as worth anything. Maybe I'm being a little defensive, but comments seemed to be making an assumption that we are taking advantage of authors, so I'm going explain some of the labor involved. When you're a year out from the event it might be about 5 to 10 hours a week labor. But as you get closer to the event, the hours increase to basically a full-time job until the event arrives.

If you look at this website for example, every time a name changes, somebody comes on or drops out, I have to update everything. I have to link, find images, make graphics, schedule social media posts, find partnerships that are interesting and helpful. I have to look for influencers, the balloon arch person, where to rent sound equipment, how many mics we need, make the floorplan, price compare lanyards and order them, send out invoices and invoice reminders, answer dozens and dozens of emails. Put together the nametag kits and organize them properly, which is actually one of the most tedious jobs I've ever done in my life, but so very important to the organization of the event.

There is a LOT of labor involved with a book event, even a smallish one. And it's not just my labor either, Cardyn works all year long, we have meetings and phone calls. We try and organize workshops and panels. There is a lot that goes into it and most of it nobody would balk about paying a person to do or expect them to do for free. Last year we were able to pay ourselves a very small amount (less than $1k each), but only after we paid everybody else. That is the first time we have been able to do that.

Q. What about events that don't charge authors like mentioned on Threads, Strange Love Indy?
A. Some events might have a sponsor covering the space and people willing to organize it as volunteers. Some might be covered by grants, or the city.  Often free events are smaller and not held at hotels, or if they are, they are sponsored. Or they may put the whole expense onto the attendees. It's great that these events exist and if you can get into one, awesome. But it's not fair to think that because one event can do it, we all can do it, or that if we charge authors we are taking advantage of people. ALSO, we tried a few times having a few free slots for people to ask for if they couldn't afford the event, and those people tended to be no-shows. I'm sure there were good reasons, but it was bad for the event. I think some people would be very grateful to have the space, but to give up a space for free to have no-shows was not good. And not sustainable. Instead we have offered discounts when needed, or payment plans and that has worked better.

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Q. Why am I paying to be here when someone else is receiving compensation to be here when my presence adds more value to the event?
A. I can't answer for all book events, but for us, it's a matter of name recognition, draw, experience, visibility, past support, and whether that person requires compensation. Will they bring in some people that might also buy from the other authors? Do they have a fanbase that works with the event?

Great big events with big names? I'm not one of those so I can't answer how they determine who has to pay and who gets paid. But my guess is that they estimate that person will bring in a lot of people and sell tickets and hopefully some of those people buy books from other lesser known authors.

Q. Shouldn't there be transparency so people know it's fair?
A. If it's a non-profit, yes. Otherwise, no. I'm going to just ask people to think about whether you want people up in your business decisions. Imagine the book world demanding you be transparent with all of your business details, who your editor is, what you paid for lunch, the car you rented, the character art you ordered. It's intrusive. If a business wants to be transparent, ok. That's fine. but EXPECTING somebody to just add MORE labor to their event planning just so people can scrutinize if mid-list Author Jane Doe's keynote was worth a free hotel room and two lunches, or if you spent enough on Facebook ads, or if you spent too much on lanyards, or if the hotel was charging too much for chicken sandwiches? No thanks. If it ever gets to that point, I will stop organizing book events and bury myself in writing.

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Right now, Cardyn and I love planning this event. We have had so many amazing interactions and exciting moments. We've nearly had breakdowns and I almost fainted in 2022. In the end it comes down to what is sustainable and fair for us as the event planners whether we will continue on into 2026. We have done all we can to grow and make this event a positive experience. We fall short sometimes, we are human. We try to learn and do better next time. We aren't for everybody, and that's ok. Overall it's been a great experience because we have featured a very inclusive list of authors and we like being their cheerleaders.