OXFORD INDIE BOOK FAIR
DEC 1st 2024

EXHIBITOR BOOKING NOW CLOSED

PROBLEMS? QUESTIONS?
Check the FAQ PAGE for answers.

BEWARE of unsolicited emails pretending to be from or about the Book Fair – scams are rife these days.

BOOK A TABLE

EXHIBITORS BLOG

We’re sending out an email to all booked exhibitors on Mondays in the run up to the event with news and tips on getting the most out of the event. If you’re new you can catch up using the links below.

EXHIB BLOG #1: 21-Oct-24

EXHIB BLOG #2: 28-Oct-24

EXHIB BLOG #3: 5-Nov-24

EXHIB BLOG #4: 11-Nov-24

EXHIB BLOG #5: 18-Nov-24

EXHIB BLOG #6: 25-Nov-24

Welcome to the exhibitor centre. Here, you will find all the information you need to successfully exhibit at the event.

Please take the time to read the information and instructions on this page to help you set up on the day.

We will update this page on a regular basis, so please do come back regularly to check details.

If you are subscibed to our newsletter, then we will keep you up to date about any important changes and future events.

Information for Exhibitors

(Updated 30-Nov-2024) Exhibior booking now closed.

EVENT LOCATION: The Examination Schools, High Street, Oxford, OX1 4BG

EVENT DATE: Sunday December 1st 2024

OPEN FOR SETUP: 09:00 – SOUTH hall exhibitors ONLY. 09:30 – All other exhibitors. (Try not to turn up early, we need to spread arrivals out)

DOORS OPEN TO PUBLIC: 11am

DOORS CLOSE TO PUBLIC: 4:30pm

EXHIBITORS TO VACATE BY: 5pm

Tables: 144 tables (see diagram below for layout)

The North Hall is designated the ‘quiet hall’ where there will be little or no presentations or amplified speech and is best suited for exhibitors who need to talk with visitors. The South Hall contains the stage where talks will take place and will be more ‘lively’. Both halls have the giant screen onto which the advertising videos will be run (reduced audio in North Hall).

If you have any questions or need help on the day then our team member Shona Nicholson will be on hand to assist. We also have a number of voulenteers to help out.

Badges

We’re putting out name badges with lanyards on your table to help you identify your place and to wear if you like. It’ll help people recognise you.

The lanyards are colour coded; the RED lanyards will be worn by organisers or volunteer helpers who can assist you on the day.

Loading, Unloading, Travel

Check back for official time of opening for setup. There is NO parking at the event. You may briefly stop outside to unload on High Street. Beware of the traffic restrictions past the venue heading into the city centre.

Please be patient and resourceful when arriving at the building to unload your gear. We’re have some people in hi-vis jackets to give advice and help things move smoothly.

There is a car park at the Plain and it is possible to park at Oxford Brookes.
If you are not familiar with Oxford and come by car make sure you approach from the Plain (East Oxford / London Road / Iffley Road ). Automatic cameras issue fines for continuing on into the city centre from Abingdon Road etc.

Note also, that there is NO ACCESS to the city via Botley road as it is closed at the train station for extensive works. Do not exit the A34 at the Botley Interchange, instead use the next one south at Hinkey Hill (ring road) where you will find a park and ride. To continue into Oxford, Turn right at the lights at the Tesco Metro then left along Iffley Road.
The London buses and Park and Ride buses stop almost outside the venue.

Parking

There is NO exhibitor parking at the venue please do not try to park there or ask to do so. With a bit of careful coordination, it will be possible to turn up by car if absolutely necessary to unload outside the front, but please move off as soon as possible to allow others to unload.

There is plenty of parking in Oxford, though some can be expensive. The cheapest (and probably furthest) is the large Westgate car park. St Clements Car park is the closest. Please check parking availability in advance and plan your day.

St Clements: https://www.oxford.gov.uk/directory-record/88/st-clements-car-park

The Thornhill park and ride stops 150yds from the venue.

Accessability

A map of blue-badge parking in Oxford can be found HERE.

Table Setup

We will be admitting exhibitors for the SOUTH hall from 09:00 in order to help spread the inrush of people and for safety. All other exhibitors can enter the building at 09:30.

Pitches are comprised of a series of examination tables pushed together to make different configurations. The “regular” sized pitch (3x tables) are 135cm (4ft5in) wide and are just right for most exhibitors to sell their books from. Those will occupy the central area of each hall.
The “large” size, comprising of 4x tables is 180cm (5ft11in) wide and more suited to those that might have a larger catalogue of books or wares to display. These are located around the outside of the halls.

The depth of the tables is 75cm (2ft5in) and the height is 72cm (2ft4in)

Breakdown

Similar rules for breakdown regarding cars will apply. Again, do be patient with the staff who will attempt to make things run as smoothly as possible. There is no parking at the event, so it may be wise to ensure that you have eveything ready to go before fetching a car to load up.

Venue Rules

Here are some important venue rules which ALL exhibitors must comply with for safety and protection of the building. There will be venue staff present throughout the day to help everyone, and they will advise and if necessary enforce these rules (which may result in the extreme case of non compliant exhibitors being expelled by security – this is outside our control and no refunds will be issued in such cases)

Power

There are plenty of wall sockets located around the walls and are availible ONLY to the outer ring of tables. The central rings of tables do NOT have access to power. Please share these sensibly with other exhibitors.

Please bring a suitably rated extension lead to run from the wall behind you to your table. We cannot supply extension leads. Ensure that your lead is run to avoid tripping by yourselves and fellow exhibitors.

ALL devices connected to the mains supply MUST be PAT TESTED and acompanied by the relevant certificate. It is YOUR responsibility to ensure that this is done. Venue staff may check equipment and ask you to unplug anything which does not comply.

WIFI

The venue has WiFi throughout which can be used for your ePOS systems etc.

We don’t know the WiFi password, but when we do, we’ll stick something to a wall or door before the public arrive.

We can’t be responsible for the quality or continuity of the connection but will endevor to let the venue owners know if there are any problems. It would be wise to have a backup plan for your ePOS such as WiFi hotspot from your mobile phone to card reader in case of problems.

OTHER VENUE RULES

DO NOT stick or pin anything to walls or parts of the building. Keep gangways and public walking spaces clear of boxes, banners etc. Avoid trip hazzards and be mindful of of obstructing emergency escape routes.

Photography

We will have an official photographer (wearing a book fair hi-vis jacket) taking photographs and videos for publicity, social media and our website.

Please gather in the North Hall for the opening where there will then be an opportunity for a full group photo of all the exhibitors. The photographer will be up on the stage so hopefully everyone will be in shot.

Bring a book and hold it nicely for the first photo, then when instructed hold it up high and cheer for the second one.

The lighting might be a little low in the venue, so if you hold your book STILL then it will be in focus.

TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS AND VIDEOS throughout the day and post them to social media. Tag us on twitter and we’ll like and share.

Book Launches

FULLY BOOKED

Please go to the stage abour 5-10 minutes before your scheduled slot to meet with the host who will be introducing you. You can let them know how you would like to be introduced. Keep it to a strict FIVE MINUTE eleveator pitch, let people know who you are and most importanty what table you’re at and where it is so they can go buy your book.

Social Media

Make sure you Follow and Tweet to us at @OxIndieBookFair

You’ll find us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/OxIndieBookFair

Also send posts of the event throughout the day and the time leading up to and after the event. We will have a small team in helping to promote the event on Twitter and other social media platforms. Make sure you folllow us, retweet and get involved with the conversation to help grow awareness.

Use the hashtag: #OxIndieBookFair

The summer event is being hosted by the Oxford Festival of the Arts. They’re providing the venue free of charge to us, so to help keep that relationship strong (and allow us to keep the exhibitor fees at a minimum) pleae mention them in your social media. Follow them, and repost their messages from Facebook and Instagram on @artsfestivaloxford, Twitter on @artsfestoxford and link to their website at www.artsfestivaloxford.org

Here are some pre-made social media graphics for you to use and an A5 Flyer

Download Media Pack

Some useful links to add to your posts:

Book Launch materials

Use the button below to download a template and examples you can use to announce your 5 minute book launch pitch on social media. There’s JPGs, PDFs and an InDesign file if you’d like to modify it yourself.

Book Launch Pack

Vouchers

Here’s something that we’re going to try out this year.

We’re doing a 20,000 household maildrop before the event of a flyer for the Book Fair. On the reverse side is a BOOK DISCOUNT VOUCHER which we’re hoping will encourage visitors to come along and buy more books.

For PARTICIPATING EXHIBITORS this means that visitors would be able to get a £2 discount when they spend £10 or more.

If you’re already selling your books at a special show price and can’t drop your price then that’s all good – you don’t have to join in with this if you don’t want to.
If you DO want to take part in the scheme then all you need to do is go to the profile editor and put a tick next to “Accepts OXIB Voucher”.

A little marker will appear next to your profile card on the website AND visitors can click on the button at the top of the directory to see just who else is participating.

I’ve already checked this for my publishing company sci-fi-cafe.com so you can go to the exhibitor directory to see how it looks.

Take a look at the terms and conditions page for the vouchers using the link below so that you know how it works on the day if you choose to.

It’s strongly worded in your favour, so hopefully we’ve got every angle covered.
We’ve even included a little barcode on the voucher. If your scanner will allow discount vouchers to be linked to a SKU then you can use that. Else, you can either manually discount or add a voucher to your system some other way.

NOTE: I’ve tried doing this with the Zettle system and it won’t let me put in a negative value for a product… maybe other systems might work or there’s another way to do it. If you find out, let me know and I’ll share with the group!

Voucher Rules


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Booking

EXHIBITOR BOOKING NOW CLOSED

Bookings are accepted by purchasing a pass through this website only. Please do NOT send money unless you have a proper link to buy a December 2024 exhibitors pass or your reservation may not be made.

Cancellations / refunds cannot be accepted within 1 week of the event. Refunds cannot be made for no-show on the day or for event cancellation outside our control (eg: emergency with location).

Once you have made your booking, you will be able to edit your own profile information which appears on the directory listing for the public to see.

Detailed instructions can be found under the “For Exhibitors” section..

Sub-letting of tables is not permitted and bookings are non-transferable. For safety reasons, we have to limit the number of people at the regular sized tables to TWO persons as the space is very limited.

Any persons causing a disturbance or offence to exhibitors, visitors, organisers or venus staff may be asked to leave the event and may face a ban from exhibiting in the future. Abusive nature of any kind will not be tolerated.

Table Allocations

Here’s an up to date schematic of the table booking allocations.

regular large Booking Incomplete (not paid) Booked
S08S69S44S07
S09S68S45S06
S67S46S05
S66S47S04S03S02S01N01N02N03N04N05N06N07
S65S48S43S42S41S40S39S38N38N39N40N41N42N43N50N75
S10S64S49N51N74
S11S63S50S37S36S35S34S33S32N44N45N46N47N48N49N52N73
S12N08
S13S62S51S28S29S30S31N37N36N35N34N53N72N09
S14S61S52S27N33N54N71
S15S60S53S26N32N55N70N10
S16S25N31N56N69N11
S17S59S54S24N30N12
S58S55N29N57N68N13
S18S57S56S23N28N58N67N14
S19S22N27N59N66N15
S20S21N26N16
N25N60N65N17
N24N61N64N18
N23N62N63N19
N22N21N20