Hi
This is the second exclusive exhibitor-only newsletter for the Oxford Indie Book Fair.
In this edition, some more tips to help get the most out of the Book Fair.

As of writing this, the book fair is 75% booked! Go take a look at the Exhibitor directory to see how many brilliant writers, companies, artists etc are going to be there with you.

Complete your profile

Social Media

If you write a relevant tweet about your work and how you're getting ready for the fair then we'll follow you back, like and share your tweet. Just tag us @OxIndieBookFair
Same goes for Facebook and Twitter.
Remember that we've already made some social media graphics that you can use freely in your social media. Just go to the Exhibitor Centre and download them.
Our Facebook AD has just clocked over 16,000 views today but we also need YOU GUYS to be spreading the word too - there's over a hundred of you. If you can entice just a handful of people each to come along then think of all the extra people at the fair who will be coming along to see and hopefully BUY your books.

Big Screen Advertising

Don't forget that you can also have your books visible on the BIG SCREENS at the event and until the summertime on the homepage of the Book Fair website. Find out more at the advertising page. It's just £25.

Table Dressing

Most of you really know how to put together a good pitch. Putting a covering on the tables to make it look nice is really important. I've even seen quite a few custom printed coverings - those look SO professional.
It's a good idea to plan out how your table will look in advance. It'll save you time on the day. If you want a bit of inspiration, you can see some of the table layouts in the gallery on the website's homepage.

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!

A message from Sylvia

Let's hear a few words now from one of the other organisers of the Oxford Indie Book Fair. I'll be including a short piece from everyone over the weeks leading up to the event:

Oxib aims to support authors, poets, illustrators, small publishers and related services. Our fair is about more than selling books-although we hope you will sell!
It is about meeting your fellow writers and publishers, networking and making friendships.
I recommend going to the oxib website, clicking on MENU and Exhibitor Directory. See who will be exhibiting on Dec 1. You may not be able to talk to even half of the exhibitors, so decide whose books; poetry etc. interest you and make a point of saying HELLO and sharing your common interest. Decide if you want to stay in touch - in which case share your emails.
PS The organisers do all we can to promote the fair but the success of it is in YOUR HANDS. Spread the word.
See you soon
Sylvia

Remember, this Friday in the visitor's blog, we'll be highlighting activities for kids at the Book Fair. If you've got children's books then don’t forget to check the category in your profile before then.

And there we have it for another week.
If you've just booked your table then welcome! You can catch up with last week's exhibitor's newsletter containing handy Book Fair tips by clicking on the link below.

See you all soon,

Andy, Sylvia, James, Felicity, Ray and Shona