Recently, I was offered the opportunity to set up a table at IndigoSpirit in Oakville—not once, but twice! I wanted to share my experiences for any new authors that might be wondering what to expect.

How to Get a Table at Chapters Indigo

First off, let me say that, I knew Chapters Indigo promoted local authors but hadn’t considered approaching them until Phantasmias garnered more reviews. My audiobook narrator, Tom Craig (IG@BuddyWithTheSideburns), recited the opening of “Haunted House” to Diane, IndigoSpirit’s manager in charge of consignment and author events. Although Diane assured me most Chapters Indigo stores will look at any local author that asks for them, I think the connection and preview definitely helped my cause. She still wanted to hear my book pitch and see the quality of my book before she made the final decision to book me in September.

Getting a table a second time, I soon learned, was entirely dependent on my attitude and not my sales. Several of the employees confided in me that other authors were…less than cordial. Not just to customers, but to the staff that had given them the space to sell their books. This is baffling for a lot of reasons, but just on a mercenary level: Chapters Indigo offers these tables and space in their stores for free. Yes, they charge a consignment fee on every sale (more on that later), but you’re not paying to be there. Why would you be rude?

Anyway, the long and short of “how to get a table at Chapters Indigo”? Ask.

As for my experience, I can break down what I learned (and what I’ll be carrying forward to my next events) into three parts: Be prepared, be forward (but not pushy), and be polite. These three points work on a few levels, too.

Be Prepared

This may seem obvious, but I really can’t stress it enough.

My cover artist, Nino Vecia, startled me with this question early in Phantasmias’s development: “What’s your book about?” He asked as a joke, because he was caught off guard by his printer who asked him the same question. I fumbled, said way too much and not enough, and after that I decided to plan a succinct and clear answer. That helped immensely when Diane put me on the spot with that same question (though my nerves still make me waffle a lot in conversation). The sales managers at any Chapters Indigo or IndigoSpirit are going to want to know what kind of book you’re selling! Have a marketing copy available for them to look at and a quick pitch to give them.

I’ve gone to a fair number of conventions, so I packed my usual bag of essentials—water, snacks, first aid, and so on. I already have business cards, my favourite signing pens, and obviously my books. However, I needed flyers, a newsletter sign-up sheet, and a last-minute add: posters.

Once the date was set, and with Diane’s guidance, I found they had standees for me to use and a seven-foot table with a black (Indigo branded) tablecloth. With the sizes of the standees in mind, I had posters printed with Nino’s stunning Phantasmias artwork. I kept the 11x14-inch ones plain, but on the 8.5x11-inch posters, I added a few lines from reviews the book received recently.

Nino was kind enough to give me some tips on table display, which felt counterintuitive to me at first. He told me, “Bring lots of books and put them on the table, however you want, but put no less than 40 copies out. It shows you came to sell and legitimizes your product.” This was echoed by Tom when I arrived, who added that, towards the last two hours, we should stop replenishing the book piles to create a sense of urgency—the book is selling, show it off.

Now, the second event was closer to Halloween, so I also included a little more decor, but it made for a much nicer display. I’ll definitely be taking some of those decorations with me at my next event (the perks of writing horror: Halloween decorations year-round). There’s definitely a happy medium between these two set-ups.

I don’t know why I hadn’t thought about table displays prior to these events, but I’m happy to slowly build a setup I like.

Be Forward, Not Pushy

I know, I know. Most of us authors are introverts by nature—how else could we handle being alone with our thoughts for so long? Ha. But you have to sell your books! You’re behind a table, so you need to reach out. No matter how good your display set up, people won’t just stop (and if they do, you need to engage). I actually saw this firsthand as my table one day was set up to the right of the entrance and, at the next event, I was set up on the left (towards the cash). Most people who came in veered away from someone standing by the door, regardless of what side I was on (they also usually ignored the poor greeter whose job I was sort of intercepting, ha).

Tom had the best advice for this: Just say, “Hi, how are you?” We greeted everyone who walked in, followed up with a short call to action. This varied as we tested out what would get the best response, but let it be a question: “Do you like fantasy or horror stories?” “Know any fans of short stories?” “Would you like to meet a local author?” Just get a few questions in mind that can be interchangeable about your book—and make sure they’re short. One breath was my measure.

I’ll admit, nine times out of ten, you’re just going to get a reflexive “no.” It’s not personal and some people may circle back later: It’s just a knee-jerk reaction regardless of what you ask. “Can I have a moment of your time?” “Do you need help finding anything?” “What are you looking for today?” You’ve heard some variation of that question out and about…how many times have you reflexively said “no” even when you are looking for something in particular?

That’s completely okay. Thank them for their time and wish them well. That’s very important! Leave a good impression.

If they give you their time, be mindful of it. This is the moment for your elevator pitches and describing your book as succinctly as possible. For Phantasmias’s hook, I’ve always liked, “A little bit of fantasy. A little bit of horror. A whole lot of bloody whimsy.” I’d have another sentence or two about the collection and leave it up to them how much detail I went into. Some people are very chatty and others less so. I also learned that some people really have a short amount of time to run into a store, no matter how curious they may be! I think they most appreciated the quick and pithy, two-sentence pitches.

Likewise, I found a variety of hooks that would work. A lot of folks coming in to this particular store were not at all interested in anything horror or fantasy related. It was wonderful to see the person whose eyes would light up on hearing I had a horror/fantasy book. Their reaction made me giddy and boosted my spirits, every single time. However, I found a lot of patrons of this IndigoSpirit were just happy to support a local author. Even some people who were utterly uninterested in Phantasmias’s premise would suddenly turn around and engage when they heard I was local.

That was something I wasn’t prepared for. I hadn’t considered that being local was something people would be interested in. Likewise, it took a few interactions to realize it wasn’t obvious that I was the author of the book on display. People (very sweetly) gave me a bit of their time just to pitch my book to them and congratulate me on publishing.

Be Polite

This goes hand in hand with the previous point, of course. However, it’s so important to be just as polite to your potential customers as the staff of where you’re being hosted. It leaves a wonderful impression and you’re more likely to get a call back. Diane confided in me that, while she was eager to have my book on display for Halloween, that would have been my second event…which I wouldn’t have gotten if I’d been like some other authors who’ve been offered to set up for a day.

Above the obvious polite greetings and “thank you”s, it’s equally important to be polite in the face of…interesting people. They weren’t rude, but they were chatty about subjects unrelated to what I was there for—selling my book. I wanted to give these people the time of day, but they were obviously looking to sell me on something. In these instances, it was great to have a buffer with friends and, obviously, Tom, who were helping me out. They could interject or at least interact with other potential customers to ensure I didn’t lose any sales. In the case where someone was chatting too much off-topic, I listened, but when I could interject about my book—I did. This either prompted other people to stop by or brought the conversation to a close. Remember: You’re there to sell your books and that should be your focus.

Likewise, if you encounter anyone who is particularly dismissive, grumpy, or even rude, don’t give them more than an ounce of thought. “Thank you anyway,” “have a good day,” just remind yourself that you’re seeing these folks for a fraction of their day and who knows what’s going on in their lives. Thankfully, I had very little in terms of rude behaviour to deal with and it was mostly easy to ignore (if a bit strange).

What I Learned

First, let’s talk about consignment fees: At the time of my events, Chapters Indigo took 45% of my book’s sale price. I sold 48 books, not including the stock left to adorn the “Local Author” shelf. Basically, it worked out to the price I would pay for a table at a convention. The argument could be made that I could have sold more at a convention where my target audience would be. However, as the table and space were free, it was a great opportunity for me to train my marketing pitches.

Audience was definitely a key takeaway. The IndigoSpirit in Oakville is, as Diane described, a fraction of the space overflowing with the Spirit of Chapters Indigo. It’s a pickup point for online orders, a quick stop for gifts, but the people who wander by and spend an hour are few. Besides, Chapters Indigo stocks a lot of books, of all kinds of genres, so the people coming in that had an interest in genre fiction, then horror-fantasy…well, you get a smaller and smaller pool of this location’s demographic.

Beyond location, I’m also fairly shy in general, but I love talking about my stories. So, while I have to practice hooking people to my table, once I start talking, it was much easier to keep going. I didn’t always have the smoothest segues, but people definitely responded to my (and Tom’s) enthusiasm for Phantasmias.

The next point may not apply to you if you’re more extroverted. For me, I know social engagement drains me. I made sure not to have any heavy social plans the day prior or the day after. I fared a lot better at the second event because I didn’t have as much running around to do the day before—the posters and table gear were already packed from the previous event. It’s definitely going to be important for me to manage my time around events like this and certainly something I’m still learning.

My last lesson over the course of these two events: I definitely need to invest in some kind of memory foam mat. Standing for 11 hours even in the best shoes I had certainly took a toll on my feet and legs!

My Overall Experience

Even though I spent such a long time on my feet and in “"social mode,” the support during both events from friends, from the staff, and from members of the community just blew my mind. I met teachers, librarians, salespeople, and other editors who were just a joy to chat with and made the day fly.

I’m looking forward to comparing these in-store events to conventions I hope to attend in the future. Both in terms of the associated costs and the audience they attract. Right now, I have no real basis of comparison apart from what friends and fellow colleagues have experienced at their own events…and every book and person is a little bit different.

At the end of the day, of course, I’m getting to talk about my book and the stories I love to write. That people are interested in listening to my pitch, never mind picking up Phantasmias and giving it a read, is an incredible feeling. I can’t wait for the next one!

Stay tuned to this website and my various social media channels to find out when my next event is.

If you’d like to buy a copy of Phantasmias, the eBook and softcover are available in my shop, https://shop.ScribeCat.ca!