Some would say the secret to a good book fair is not to do them. Fewer and fewer independent stores are doing in-school book fairs these days because the cost/benefit ratio is dwindling to such a degree that they can be a losing proposition. Book fairs are a complex thing for an indie bookseller to do well, and here are some tips that might help out.
* Work with one person from the PTO. Having more than one point person can make things confusing and needlessly complicated. Make sure there’s one store contact person as well. Confidence builds when there is a solid relationship between school and store.
* Be clear about expectations. How much money is the school hoping to raise? What will the school do to ensure the success of the book fair? The school administration needs to ensure that all the kids and their families, not only know about the book fair, but will given adequate time during the school day to shop for books. Nothing ruins a book fair than kids strolling amid the books with no money because their parents didn’t know what day the book fair was.
* Draw up a contract that clearly states what everyone’s responsibilities are. How will damaged books be dealt with? It is much better to have a simple document that makes clear what happens if books are stolen, missing, or damaged during the fair, than to discuss it after a box of books goes missing. Also, a contract makes the store look more professional and it lets the school know what exactly you are doing.
* Make sure the parent organization has enough volunteers to run the book fair before it begins. Nothing is more frustrating to the PTO than having an understaffed book fair. I’ve seen book fairs where the main parent volunteer not only never leaves the fair, but has checked in and set up the entire book fair and packs it up on her own.
* Be very clear up front how the school will benefit from book sales. Will they get 15% in cash or 20% in store credit?
* If your staff is able to go into the school the week preceding the book fair for booktalks, sales will rise immeasurably. In addition to booktalks, if someone can generate a flyer with the booktalked items on it that kids can take home then they’re more likely to bring money for those books.
* Don’t have a book fair that’s either too short or too long. A week-long, in-school book fair is probably too long for most schools to staff. One day is a recipe for failure. Two days with a kick-off dinner can be a really successful. Sometimes getting a local author can help jump-start a book fair and can generate a lot of excitement.
* I know it sounds ridiculous, but schedule the book fair when the kids are in school. We once had the misfortune of having a book fair scheduled during parent/teacher conferences and it was the one of the worst book fairs ever.
* If you’re trying to get into a school that has traditionally only done Scholastic Book Fairs, stress that your store is better positioned to choose books that are geared for that specific school because you know them. I’ve worked with schools who didn’t want to give up the Scholastic Fair, so I suggested having two fairs: one using us and one Scholastic. If both book fairs are marketed well, they can both be money makers for the school.
I’ve had great book fairs, and not-so-great book fairs. One thing we’ve started to focus on is doing book fairs for schools close enough to the store so that those families can be become new customers. A book fair is a great way for folks to get to know your store and what you can offer the community, which can a long lasting ripple effect of good will.
Good post. We love doing book fairs with an indie bookstore instead of with Scholastic. But don’t count out the library staff and lms! We do most of the promoting for the book fairs in our buildings and are finding that things are running more smoothly when we staff it almost exclusively ourselves. And I never schedule a book fair for days that don’t include some sort of evening event at the school, so the parents will be in the building anyway and don’t have to try and make a special trip.
This is a great post with solid information!
I think there are terrific opportunities in the school bookfair business, for today’s indie bookstores, due to Scholastic having wiped out so many of the older school bookfair companies. With so much less trade bookfair competition, Scholastic has now reduced the quality of their fairs dramatically — thus, the opportunity for us trade booksellers at the moment.
My number one piece of advice is that indie bookstores should establish brand new corporations (legal entities) and that these new companies should establish Wholesale/Distributor accounts with the publishers. These kinds of accounts receive 55-60% discounts from publishers. Having such a separate “Wholesale” company enables us indies to compete more aggressively on bookfair premiums offered to schools, against Scholastic, and also to make more profit. Bookstores who do this legal two-step then do need to maintain a wall of separation between their new School Wholesale Company and their Retail Bookstore Company — which is a nuisance. But it is worth it.
Best, Andy Laties
Eric Carle Museum Shop, Amherst, and
(formerly) Owner, The Children’s Bookstore and The Children’s Bookfair Company, Chicago
Thanks for the information;however, I have done more than a dozen book fairs over the past eight years and have been very successful and would question some of the information.
1. A week may be too long for staff; however, it does provide ample opportunity for parents to find the time and, yes, the money to get in a buy (the goal in part should be getting books into the hands of kids, and just not profit).
2. Parent teacher conferences can be an excellent time for the book fair, especially if they are scheduled for all students. This gives individuals two opportunities to look at books(before their conference and after). We definitely encourage our students to attend parent-teacher conferences.
3. I would love to work with an indie company; however, the truth is Scholastic makes it easy. They provide everything that I might need. My profits are 25% cash or 50% books, and they do a great job providing a variety of books in various formats and at various prices.
A successful book fair is the result of dedicated people, and educated and commited parents.
As a parent who has attended a lot of Scholastic fairs, I would totally welcome an indie fair. I’d love to see something different.
Wow, we are just talking to someone about a bookfair. Did I understand the margins are better with bookfairs? We have called several of the big publishers and no one seems to think that way. Can I talk to someone who has done this and see what we’re missing here.
Susan Rein, Elm Street Books, New Canaan, CT
Some publishers/distributors do offer additional discount on sales made at book fairs. These discounts usually do not stack with backlist specials or other promotions. These publishers are not the norm though.
Apart from parent/teacher conferences, our district has a one-night curriculum night for each grade. In our 5/6 school, they did a book fair at that time, when parents have some “roaming” time between scheduled talks by teachers and administrators. Many parents browsed and bought before and after. The fair was over a 2-3 day period, but coordinated with an evening session too.