Run outreach and events
Confirm events, inventory, payment, and signing logistics
Before each event, confirm in writing who is supplying the books, how many, who sells them, how you are paid, and what happens to unsold stock.
Why it matters
An event with no books is a talk. An event where the books arrive but nobody agreed who sells them ends with the author making change from a pocket. Confirming logistics is not fussy; it is the difference between an event that produces sales and goodwill and one that produces an apology. It also protects the relationship with the store or venue, which you will want again.
Your part
- What you do
- Verify. Someone else may do it. Inspect the result yourself.
- Who normally owns it
- Author and Outside platform. Event organizer arranges; author confirms every detail
- When
- Two weeks before each event, and again two days before (Run outreach and events: three months before publication through the first months after)
How to do it
The full walkthrough
Every author event has a set of logistics that seem obvious until they go wrong: who orders the books, whether they will arrive in time, who handles sales and takes the money, whether the author is paid for the appearance or for the books or neither, what happens to copies that do not sell, and what the signing setup is. Confirm all of it with the organizer, in writing, a couple of weeks before the date.
At a bookstore, the store usually orders through its wholesaler or the publisher, sells the books, and keeps unsold stock or returns it. At a library, festival, or conference, a partner bookstore may sell, or the author may be expected to bring copies and handle sales, or the venue may buy copies outright. At a corporate or association event, the host often buys copies in advance as part of the arrangement.
Traditionally published authors should confirm with the publisher that the store's order has been placed and will ship in time; the publisher's sales rep may be able to help if it has not. Hybrid and self-published authors are often the supplier themselves and need to know their consignment or direct-sale terms, carry a way to take payment, and track what was sold.
Also confirm the small things: arrival time, a table and a pen, whether there is a microphone, and who introduces you.
Common mistakes
- Assuming the store ordered books because the event was booked.
- Arriving at a library event with no books and no seller.
- Not agreeing what happens to unsold author-supplied copies.
- Forgetting to ask whether the venue expects a fee, offers one, or expects a free copy for the collection.
A template for this
Bookstore event inquiryA courteous inquiry to a bookstore's events contact proposing a specific event, with date options, the reason it suits the store's customers, and ordering details.
When to use it: Use this when you have a real connection to a store, or the book has a clear local or subject audience, usually three to four months before the dates you propose. Do not use this when the store publishes an event request form. Use the form and adapt this text for it. Do not use it at all for a store whose customers have no particular reason to want this book.
What done looks like
- A confirmation email to the organizer two weeks out covering date, time, format, book supply, quantity, seller, payment, unsold stock, and signing setup.
- The book order confirmed as placed and shipped, with the publisher's help if needed.
- For author-supplied stock: copies counted out and in, a way to take card payments, and the consignment or direct-sale terms in writing.
- Your own arrival time, materials (pen, one-page sheets, a sign-up sheet if you keep a list), and a contact number for the day.
- A note afterwards of copies sold and any follow-up promised.
Ask your publisher
Copy this into an email. Replace the bracketed parts with your details.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- No single official page for this step.
- Last checked
- Not checked against its source yet.
- How confident we are
- Verified