When I started out at my first art book fair, I had 3 books on my table and made basically nothing while tabling for 4 days. But I spent a lot of money on amazing books, met a bunch of artists who would become great friends, and immersed myself in a space full of bookmakers. I learned a lot at my first few fairs: what worked (well-made books), what didn’t (anything too big), and the importance of community. At the fairs I asked a lot of questions of other vendors, talked with as many people as I could, and tried to have fun, even when it was slow and boring.
Community
I stress the community aspect of art book fairs because the connections you make with other vendors and fair attendees are often more meaningful than sales.
Being A Good Tablemate:
- Talk to the people tabled next to you.
- Know to shut up (and give them space) when someone is stopped and looking at books on their table.
- Don’t play loud music, movies or games on your phone.
- Don’t be obnoxious.
- Be respectful of space.
- Don’t block other vendors’ tables while talking with your friends.
- Trade and buy their books.
- Help out if they need to leave their table for a minute.
- Share food and drink with them.
Community Is Important:
- Talk with other vendors.
- Ask them about their books and previous fair experience.
- Follow them on social media.
- Swap business cards.
- Do trades and buy their books.
- Sign up for email lists.
- Send librarians and collectors who stopped by your table to neighbors’ and friends’ tables.
- Go to the after party. Approach publishers you recognized from the fair and say hi.
Trading Or Bookswapping:
Trading your books with other bookmakers is a rite of passage at art book and zine fairs. While not everyone will trade books, most will. The best way to find out is to simply ask and have a copy of the book you are willing to trade with you.
I’ve found that this is one way to both connect to other publishers and not spend the money you’ve just made selling your own books. In How to Art Book Fair I include this quote from Michaelis Pichler about equal swaps, and not paying in books. I think it gets at the heart of what makes art book fairs unique: participating in a gift economy while also still participating in the broader market economy.
Please note: a friendly book swap is always one-on-one. That is, a swap between publishers, artists, or authors where one book is exchanged for another. Ideally, both parties have a choice, and are swapping their own books. Exchanging one big book for three small books is “paying in books” (not a friendly book swap).
— Michalis Pichler, “Book Swapping & Seriosity Dummies” in Publishing as Artistic Practice
Building Community After the Fair:
- Do follow-up emails. Follow back people who followed you on social media.
- Do studio visits with other bookmakers.
- Include their books in exhibitions you curate.
- Share their books with your friends.
- Interview them for podcasts or your zines.
- Stay in contact. Show them around your city when they visit.
- Also, don’t forget to take a photo of all the cool stuff you got and tag the fair. This is a book fair staple. Photograph your haul, tagging the books you’ve traded and purchased.
Upcoming for the Fourth Edition of How to Art Book Fair
Bad Trends In Art Book Fairs:
Charging to apply: The Capital Art Book Fair and the New Jersey Art Book Fair have both started charging to apply which I think is a problem. Publishers pay to participate through their table costs; they shouldn’t also have to pay to apply. This is double charging people. I understand that reviewing applications takes time, but these costs should be a part of your table costs. Hopefully this won’t become a trend, because this could reduce the diversity of participants.
Door Entry Fees: Ticketing is necessary for queuing people for both health and safety reasons, but please keep the entry price low so that it doesn’t affect sales. Art book fairs are more democratic than other art fairs in that they sell to the general public as well as collectors, libraries and museums. When you buy a ticket for an art fair, you are usually going to view art, whereas with an art book fair, you are going to view, connect, and purchase.
Printed Matter’s model of a ticketed opening night for collectors of rare books generally works. That said, I’ve found that opening night events are usually the worst for sales, as the event becomes more of a party and place to be seen.
Good Trends In Art Book Fairs:
More diversity. Break areas for vendors. Free food and drink for vendors. Volunteers to watch your tables. Overall, a focus on the vendors’ wellbeing. This began, in my opinion, in 2019, when some fairs saw new leaders and actively addressed complaints from vendors. All (good) fair organizers care about health and safety, but the pandemic really made those concerns part of a great experience.
Successful art book fair organizers balance what makes a great event for bookmakers and attendees. Having a crowd is important, and organizers should make every effort to introduce and popularize artist books in their city and arts community.
Paul Shortt is an artist, curator, and educator based in Florida. He makes signs, books, videos and social practice with a bit of humor. As the creator of How to Art Book Fair, Shortt has participated in over 50 national and international art book and zine fairs.
