Finding Selling Success and Joy at a Book Expo

I recently attended the 2025 Book Expo at The Villages in Central Florida, and maybe for the first time, I enjoyed myself while selling books.

For those who don’t know, The Villages is a large retirement community development that has an identity like no other.

It’s widely seen as the largest block of conservative voters in the United States, and it’s where conservative Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis often goes to make announcements about a new initiative he wants support for.

The Villages is also home to many, many devout readers.

So, as an author, when you attend a book festival at The Villages, you go to sell books. Because these folks buy books.

Setting up at The Villages Book Expo (credit: Ruth Owen)

Find Your Icebreakers

Last year, I didn’t enjoy myself — at all. I was too bashful. Too reserved. Not delighted to be there. In fact, some of the other authors alongside me from the Citrus Crime Writers sold more of my books than I did.

This year, my compatriots were helpful and generous. But this time, I was the seller. The fact that I had sold books last year without being on my game gave me hope that, you know, this wasn’t going to be impossible.

There was no reason for anxiety. Even though the expo was a ninety-minute drive from home, I was happy to make the trip. And happy to see a couple familiar faces. And joyful to have this opportunity

This year, I didn’t bring enough books. I sold every book that I brought in less than two hours. I needed another case.

What was the difference? It was the icebreaker. This year I brought three of them, three sentences to deliver to those walking past our modestly decorated tables. They were:

• What do you normally read?

• If you don’t want a book, please take some chocolate so people around us think you’re interested in us.

• I think you’re going to need a bigger bag before you leave.

We featured an endless supply of one-bite chocolates amid our books, a best-in-practice tactic for any book festival. Most people had something to say in reply. And many people smiled and kept walking. But many of them also paused and looked at the book displays from me, Martha Gainey and Jo Loveday.

Jo, a former nurse, writers medical thrillers. Martha, who is very Irish, has a cozy series set in County Mayo, Ireland.

And my first two novels are suspense and mystery, one set in Orlando, the second set in Boynton Beach.

Show Up with a Plan

Unlike last year, this year I had to remind myself of Rule No. 1 for the book business. Rule No. 1: Always have a plan.

So, this year, unlike last year, I approached The Villages’ event like a lab experiment. I wanted to test what worked to engage people and sell books — and what didn’t. This is the perfect type of event for such social testing.

Not only can you try out your personal marketing tactics to get people to stop and say hello, but you can also observe whether your book cover works to interest people. And, for those who pick up your book to peruse it, you can see if the jacket copy grabs their attention.

That was among the revelations this time around. My jacket copy . . . works. I’d hit them with a pitch about the book. My goal was to get them to reach out and grab a book off the standard and look at the cover more closely. And then read the back.

I sold books to more than half the people who read the sales copy on the back cover. I’ll take that as a win.

No Introverts Allowed

The second rule for authors attending reader book festivals: Get over your introversion.

Most authors are severely introverted, including this one. A joke I heard once at a writing conference:

You can tell you’re in a ballroom full of writers when everyone in the room — even though they’ve paid to be here — secretly wants to go back up to their hotel room and read or write.

But when you show up as a published author, it’s time to be “on.” Push your personality in the closet and put on your extrovert’s face.

That doesn’t mean you have to reveal your inner-most self to your new would-be readers. It means you have to engage. Show them that you’re interested in why they’re at the festival, what they’re looking for, whether they’ve been there before, and what you can deliver to them with your book(s).

Sometimes that means a thirty-second conversation. Sometimes that means a five-minute chat. As Michael Keaton’s character said in “Mr. Mom” all those years ago: “Whatever it takes.”

Follow the Leaders

None of this advice is new. In fact, most of it is common sense. But these skills, for most authors, are learned and not innate. Most of us aren’t born salespeople. We just want to tell our stories, finish, and tell another one. In fact, if we could let these books loose on the world and have someone else do ALL the selling, well, that would be about the best deal ever.

But that’s not the publishing business today, even if your name is John Sandford, Louis Penny or John Grisham, all of whom still do events when their latest traditionally published book hits the market.

As for The Villages, I hope I can make it back in 2026. I should have a new cover to put on display. And next time, I’ll bring more books.