All Alaskan Authors are welcome to join. Watch this site for more information on upcoming events for 2012. Members will be able to pay here to participate. Authors then provide the association with books to sell. Event fees are based on a percentage of the cost and are for a single title. Additional titles by the same author are placed for a 50% discount. In addition, all sales at these events will incur a 20% commission to the association. This is used to offset other expenses these events incur such as travel, lodging, and advertising.
We now have the Alaskan Association of Authors Store up and running. If you want to use your credit card, or purchase multiple items using a shopping cart, click on the Author Payment Center Link here:
You can still use the payment options below if you are purchasing a single item and want to use Paypal.
Become a member of the Alaskan Association of Authors. You then will have access to our services and resources. We will soon be adding monthly meetings to our schedule. Watch this site for more information.
This fair takes place in Fairbanks every year and has approxomately 50,000 visitors. It lasts 10 days. Both locals and tourists frequent the fair. Our booth is located in the Borealis Pavilion. Members can pay here to be included in this event. First come first serve!
Member Authors that have more than one title can pay for each additional title here at the discounted rate.
Kenai has a beautiful event that they call the "biggest little fair in Alaska". It's only a three day fair, but people come from all over. This will be our first year there. As the booth size is smaller here, we will display fewer books.
This is the big one! Two weeks and twelve hour days in Palmer. This fair averages about 300,000 visitors from all over the state and many tourists too. Our booth is located inside Raven Hall. Members can pay here to be included in this event. First come first serve!
Member Authors that have more than one title can pay for each additional title here at the discounted rate.
This three day event takes place in Eagle River, Alaska. An estimated 30,000 people visit this festival. We meet mostly locals at this event, but a few tourists seem to come through too.
Member Authors that have more than one title can pay for each additional title here at the discounted rate.
The Anchorage Museum is the setting of this elegant event. Many people come through looking to do some holiday shopping. Note: Parking for this event is very expensive, so that is built in to the price. Also, while this event is moderately priced, the museum gets 20% of all sales.
During the summer we will be at the Downtown Market on weekends that don't conflict with our bigger events. Many locals and tourists visit the market. This is a per weekend price. We will be there for as many as 15 weekends during the 2011 season.
This will be our first year at this event. Every Wednesday 600-800 people come to see what the market has to sell. This year, they will find some really good reads! This is a per Wednesday price. There are 15 possible Wednesdays in the season.
This event falls in the middle of November and is only for Alaska artists and craftsman. That includes local authors and this is a great event right before the hoildays. It's another one that is more expensive for a two day event, but they get a big crowd of shoppers at over 14,000.
Thisevent is only one day, but it gets over 5300 customers ready to shop for the holidays. This could be our busiest day all year!
This event takes place in the beautiful Dena'ina Center in Downtown Anchorage the first weekend of November. It is well attended and people are their to buy gifts for the holiday season. For a three day event, it's more expensive, but has a lot of potential for sales.
The second weekend of November this three day event attracts customers from all over the interior looking for quality gifts. What better gift than a book to read by the fire?
As with the event banner, this will be very visible at all of our events throughout the year. Oversize, full color book art will be on the front of the skirt. A limited amount of titles can fit, so don't miss being seen at every event we attend.
Most of the events we participate in have sufficient power for us to have a monitor playing a slideshow featuring our authors and their titles. Member authors that want to be added to the 2011 trailer add that feature here.
One author pointed out that just a booth at the state fair was $2000. Not to mention all of the other costs to be there. She wanted to know how much for all of the events? I didn't have an answer at the time. Adding it all up, it would be about $1400 to attend every event we have listed here. (including all the weeks at the markets) So, as a way to encourage our authors to get their books out there, we have set a season price that includes the trailer, banner, and ALL of the events for a single title. (This does not include the membership fee or the website feature fee.)
This includes the whole season as detailed above for authors that have a second title. Any titles beyond a second are priced on a case by case basis depending on display preferences.
Are you a member of our association and want to see your book featured here? The cost is $30.00 for six months or $50.00 per year. Send us 5-10 books so we have them in stock, your jpg book cover, and a discription. We will add your book to the website and take the standard 20% of all sales (to cover storage and handling). We will then feature your book here. The customer then has the option of paying for it and picking it up at any of our events (even those events your book is not displayed at) or paying to have us ship it to them.
Not yet a published author? Visit Publication Consultants to get information on publishing your book with a locally owned and operated publishing company.
Events in June:
Anchorage Downtown Market on June 4 and 5, then again on June 25 and June 26
Anchorage Southside Market on June 11 and June 18
July Events:
Anchorage Southside Market on July 2
Bear Paw Festival in Eagle River July 8, 9 and 10
Anchorage Downtown Market on July 16 and 17, then again on July 23 and June 24
Our events are filling up fast!
We have limited space at these events. In order to showcase each and every title, we can only accept so many for each event. Don't wait too long and miss out!
Thoughts to ponder:
Many Alaskan Authors can't even get their books on the shelves of local bookstores. You might be one of those frustrated authors!
Just for a moment, imagine your book(s) sitting there on that most precious real estate... the bookstore shelf. Using your last name you can even guess at what prestigious authors your book might be sandwiched in between. How many of your books might sell in that dusty, cramped space?
When you are a member of the Alaskan Association of Authors, not only does your book get a prime spot at our events, but the staff running the booth space will be actively promoting your title.
Budgeting your events:
While these prices are far lower than if you tried to participate in these events on your own, we know that it is important to stay within your annual marketing budget. If you are interested in multiple events and have a budget in mind, feel free to contact us and we can help you stay within your budget while maximizing your exposure.
Disclaimer:
The Alaska Association of Authors cannot guarantee the sales of your titles at these events. You should look at these fees as the cost to advertise. The potential for sales is certainly higher than if your titles are not on display.
More Events?
Have information on events you'd like to see the association participate in? Send us any details you have and we will look into it!
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