BookCon / Book Expo Experience and Trade Show Scam(s): Warning to Indie Authors

[Vigilante]

Count me in! I have participated in this year's show and I had very few sales. The issue here is that new writers are not aware of this, that's the reason why in the author market everyone was a new exhibitor.
I have lost a lot of money. If you were a participant, how could you resist to take 30 free books instead of buying one from a non established author.
We need some compensation, I have lost almost $4000 for registration, ordering products, shipping, hotel, transportation etc.
I have a list of all the participants in the author table (which also didn't have much sales) in case we need to start something big.

Did you find us via Google? Did you have one of those small author tables at the show? Post more details about your observations! Did most of the indys in that area share your same experience? We'd be interested in a more detailed story from you.

For those of you following this, the promoters also sold small tables to independent authors that sat side-by-side in a bullpen. This area was kind of off in its own space outside of the traffic pattern of the show. They were still expensive, just slightly discounted from the cost of a booth. Maybe a 2' x 2' table with two folding chairs.

 

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[Vigilante]

Why should you get compensation? You did a marketing experiment and it failed. Now do the next one.

Guess what, I don't get refunds from Facebook or Google if one of my campaigns goes to shit (or if they change the algorithm again) and I lose a few k.

You are one of my faves. It is OK for you to be wrong occasionally.

Facebook delivers exactly what they articulate they will deliver. There is no false pretense with a Facebook advertisement solicitation.

 

[Vigilante]

The Incredible Shrinking BookExpo: A 2017 Recap From An Indie Publisher's Perspective | HuffPost

Interesting read from an independent publishers perspective on the show

 

[amp0193]

Trade shows will be replaced by sites such as this: https://www.hubba.com

Whether it will be Hubba, or another site, there will be an online marketplace, ala Amazon, for wholesale buyers to connect with brands, that will replace tradeshows in all industries.


I made a post recently about getting placed in several market showrooms. While this should be a boost to my wholesale business, these showroom operators have told me that foot traffic is down every year at the markets. It's just inconvenient compared with using the internet. I went to one market event at the Dallas Market Center last year, and thought I was in the wrong place, or got the dates wrong, because I felt like the only person there.

And yet, every showroom has a website straight out of 1998, with no intent to adapt. They will get along as long as they can by leveraging their network and "good old boy" club, and then they will die.

 

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[NoahK]

The Incredible Shrinking BookExpo: A 2017 Recap From An Indie Publisher's Perspective | HuffPost

Interesting read from an independent publishers perspective on the show

Good article. It also had a link to this one: Authors: Think Twice Before Paying to Exhibit at Book Expo (BEA) | Jane Friedman

 

[samsara]

Looks like google is indexing this thread

Google Mexico

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Why should you get compensation? You did a marketing experiment and it failed. Now do the next one.

I'm on the fence with this one.

A "victim" can chalk it up to experience and move on, or fight.

In this case, what was promised was not delivered, at all.

In @Vigilante Facebook example, if you pay Facebook $100 for 2000 impressions and you discovered they only gave you 310, it is fraud.

We can blame our ads, our booth, and our product -- but in the end, if someone advertises "X" and they deliver "Y", it grounds for a complaint.

If Vig paid by credit card, I would dispute the charge.

 

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[jon.a]

Google Mexico

View attachment 15090

We need to get this thread ranked for bookcon review

 

[Vigilante]

I'm on the fence with this one.

A "victim" can chalk it up to experience and move on, or fight.

In this case, what was promised was not delivered, at all.

In @Vigilante Facebook example, if you pay Facebook $100 for 2000 impressions and you discovered they only gave you 310, it is fraud.

We can blame our ads, our booth, and our product -- but in the end, if someone advertises "X" and they deliver "Y", it grounds for a complaint.

If Vig paid by credit card, I would dispute the charge.

If I bought a car, and just didn't like the car later, I could chalk it up to an error on my part.

However, if I bought a car and the manufacturer or dealer made specific performance claims, but then the car didn't measure up to the performance claims, I would have a legitimate reason to fight.

If you get what you pay for and it just doesn't work out, that's fine. If you don't get what you pay for, some things are worth fighting.

 

[Iwokeup]

So @Vigilante 's TLDR is this: The show was nothing but bro-marketing... selling perceived value over actual value.

This was my experience at a Trade Show in our niche last year.

However, given some info passed on by @Ramble On last night, there's another show that may be far better for us going forward.

@Vigilante Thanks for posting this thread man. Rep sent.

 

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[BradD]

Will be interested in hearing how it plays out! Assuming if they take the legal route there's language in their contracts around "we are not responsible for x,y,z and you agree to indemnify blah blah we love money"

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I have lost almost $4000 for registration, ordering products, shipping, hotel, transportation etc.
I have a list of all the participants in the author table (which also didn't have much sales) in case we need to start something big.

Case in point at someone going "all in" on their dreams and getting taken.

Bottomline, it's a rip-off -- and what better of target market for rip-offs are people chasing their dreams...

 

[KLaw]

I'm not on the fence. This sounds more like a cry / rant. The "facts" u stated were based on your emotions not facts. I agree trade shows are a joke for the most part. Due diligence would have told you that. Like u said, chalk it up as a semi expensive learning experience. It's a hard pill to swallow...but u stated there were others that got traffic...maybe u just validated your product. Either way...I wish u the best of luck.

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

@Vigilante did u ever hear back from the show?

 

[Vigilante]

@Vigilante did u ever hear back from the show?

They called me a couple days ago and gave me a bunch of BS. As expected. Pursuing a couple of alternatives to recover funds.

 

[PowerJen]

Please know that this thread represents my opinion, and isn't necessarily the opinion of everybody in attendance at the event.

Let's unpack it this way. We're fond around here of saying "fail faster" and for me, this show was an opportunity to accelerate directly into the market and let the market respond. To that end, I wouldn't have done it any differently. I got to spend a bit of money to accelerate the curve, and measure the market, and the market responded with a vote of no confidence. I will unpack it here a bit so that you can learn some things about the (failed) strategy. All in all, I call it a win. I got out of it what I needed to, which was market validation (or in this case, lack thereof). However, I also got fleeced by the promoters of the event who didn't deliver what they promised in exchange for the cash. They didn't deliver the buyers, the traffic, or the results they promised.

The show is billed as the largest book industry convention in the country. It has two components... a two day, private industry show, and a two day consumer book fair similar to ComicCon and run by the same people.

From their marketing materials :

"BookExpo is a premium trade event featuring a Show Floor comprised of the world’s most influential publishers and distributors and an attendee base hand-selected from bookstores, retailers, libraries and museums. The Show Floor emphasizes meetings and author interaction with the trade that will deliver tangible results for your business." (emphasis mine)

They promised that some of the largest buyers in the industry would be attending the private show, and that tens of thousands of consumers would attend the book fair.

Here are some facts :

• No significant buyer came by our booth in the 4 days of the events. Not one buyer that bought for multiple locations. Mostly was just people looking for free shit, teachers who had no budget, librarians who were there to see the big companies, and other vendors trying to sell publishing services and other shit you literally don't want to hear about as they stop by your booth to peddle their wares.
• They encouraged PR and press releases ahead of time. We offered a $15 giveaway FREE to the first 100 attendees every day. Know how many people asked for them? Zero. Their whole advance PR pitch is a scam. Nobody cares. We were holding the giveaways only for people who asked for them, to know that they were responding to the advertising. Nobody did.
• Of the people that did come during the industry portion of the show, most were treasure hunters looking for freebies. If you didn't give them mini sized crunch chocolate bars, they moved on with their trash bags to the next booth. They weren't there for the books.
• During the BookCon show, exhibitors thought there would be dozens of thousands of people in attendance. The reality is attendance was a small fraction of what they "sold" it to be, and of those only a small fraction passed through the aisle we were in. Of those, only a small fraction was interested in any given booth, and of those only a small fraction were "buyers" within the subset of the book or books offered.

Where the event promoters fail is by not recognizing, or not caring to recognize, that there is literally a zero percent chance of a positive ROI by someone who is an indy author in a niche subject (which is about EVERY independent author). Taking their money with large promises and no realistic shot of recovery is dishonest.

The reality is this is NOT a platform for independent authors. There were a few that did a marginal amount of business, but there wasn't anyone who likely came even close to recouping costs. It was a blood bath, to benefit the vendors and promoters at the expense of the hopeful and aspiring authors.

We didn't even go back for the last day of the BookCon. We cut our losses, enjoyed some down time in the city that never sleeps, and paid the onsite Fedex a premium to return our stuff to our home office.

There were a lot of aspiring authors that went all in on making their dreams a reality at the show, and mostly what they received was exorbitant expenses with nominal traffic, nominal interest, and nearly nothing that was promised other than a rented space in the midst of an event that exists despite their attendance, not because of it.

The show is NOT the venue for a self published author. They would take a copy of your book and stick it on a shelf with several hundred other books for $400. You are just hoping someone walks past, picks it up, and happens to be the buyer for Barnes and Noble. You've now paid them $400 for almost nothing.

This show is for big publishers, by big publishers, and catering to big buyers who don't give a shit if you are there. They're not there to see you, not looking for you, and not going to stumble upon your several thousand dollar expenditure. If you took HALF of that money and did Amazon/Keyword/Facebook advertising with it you would have a much better chance at reaching and creating a market than you would paying $10 for a hot dog while you sit in your booth on the periphery of the event hoping that the Walmart buyer makes her rounds and discovers your masterpiece.

Should independent authors invest in BookExpo or BookCon? Absolutely, unequivocally NO in my opinion.

I am empathetic to your disappointment as a fellow indie author. I spent $30 on an author stall and talkfest, nobody bought but at least networking was useful. It was then I realised that you don't sell books inside the industry--instead you go to the niche event where NO-ONE else is selling a book on the topic.
Also, hold your own events. You can connect w/ me on the socials.

 

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