The Ultimate Guide to Planning and Preparing Your Author Booth for a Book Fair (+ free book fair packing checklist!)

My first book fair with The Coding Workbook was so much fun. My team and I met lots of great parents, teachers, and kiddos, and sold some copies of the book! Our table set up looked great, and I’m so happy with how everything turned out.

I think a lot of the success of the book fair was a result of how much time I took to plan and prep my booth. Before the book fair, I spent weeks reading and taking notes from blog posts and articles about how to set up my author booth. But most of what I read covered the basics of what to bring or how to make your booth stand out. I wasn’t able to find anything about timelines and cost for how authors planned and prepared for their book fair booths. So after I finished my book fair, I knew that I wanted to write a full post on both my planning timeline and how much things cost to prepare!

While some of the items I list below might seem like big up-front costs, I made a point to spread my purchases out over a span of 8 months. And more importantly, most of the things that I’ve purchased (banner, banner stand, posters, etc.) will be reused for many book fairs to come!

Here is the timeline of what I did to prepare for the Bay Area Kids Book Fair.

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6-8 months before the book fair

Apply to have a booth at the book fair
- Get accepted to the book fair
- Pay booth fee (for 6’ space) [$160]
  - Note: I also had the option to rent a table for a small fee, but I borrowed one from a family member!

2 months before the book fair

Design main The Coding Workbook banner on Canva (2.5’ x 6’)
- Order banner from Vistaprint [$67]
- Order banner stand from Amazon [$24]
Order 10 extra copies of The Coding Workbook from my publisher w/author discount (No Starch Press) [$60]
Ask a few family members/friends if they can come help with the author stand

1 month before the book fair

Design ‘5-star Reviews’ table poster on Canva (8”x10”)
- Print poster [$0.20]
- Buy an 8”x10” clear photo frame to display the poster [$1]
Design ‘Features of The Coding Workbook’ table poster on Canva (8”x10”)
- Print poster [$0.20]
- Buy an 8”x10” clear photo frame to display the poster [$1]
Buy money holder/supply case [$6]
Buy 4 blank t-shirts (similar ones linked) from the craft store for the people helping me manage my stand [$10]
- Get t-shirts printed with the cover of The Coding Workbook [$45]

2 weeks before the book fair

Change Venmo handle/icon to The Coding Workbook
Design ‘Venmo QR code’ poster on Canva (5”x7”)
- Print poster [$0.20]
- Buy a 5”x7” clear photo frame to display the poster [$1]
- Note: SO many people used Venmo which was super surprising and super awesome!
Order Square reader [$10]
- Set up Square account + test Square reader
Talk with family members/friends about their roles during the book fair:
- Photographer (I made a list of photos and videos I wanted, which worked out great!)
- Customer interactions (I gave them their talking points)
- Food/lunch picker-upper
- Payments
Buy boo k d isplay stands [$19]

1 week before the book fair

Come up with talking points (and share among all booth helpers)
Get cash
Pack money/supply case
Pack large bin with book fair items + take inventory
Confirm date/time with booth helpers

Day of the book fair

Before leaving:

Pack car with the bin of book fair items (list attached below)
Charge portable charger + pack it along with my phone cord
Bring a water bottle
Make sure my phone is charged
Text booth helpers to check-in
Wear comfortable shoes (!)

Upon arriving at the book fair:

Check-in with book fair organizers
Find assigned booth spot
Distribute book fair t-shirts to booth helpers
Unpack and decorate!
Enjoy the book fair!

Printable Bookfair Packing List! (click image to download PDF)

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