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At a large convention like Balticon, the name of the game is visibility. There were at least a dozen other booksellers, and there is a steady stream of potential customers flowing by. I realized before long that I had to set up my books in a way that would catch the eye of someone walking by, make them take a longer look at my stock, and give me time to engage them in a conversation. Fortunately, the publishers have already done much of your work for you. Book covers are designed to do exactly what I have just described - catch the customer's eye and make them stop for a longer look. Take a look at the photo of my table at Balticon, showing the bins of paperbacks for sale.

Note that the table is perpendicular to the aisle so that people will be looking up the length of the table as they walk by. By simply turning selected books so that they sit upright, the eye is drawn to them. A certain title, a certain author's name, or part of the illustration will catch the eye, and then the customer is drawn in for a closer look. Maybe they'll buy the item that originally attracted them or maybe they'll buy something else. The only certain outcome is that they won't be buying anything if they keep walking past your booth. I didn't try it this time, but it might have been worth sacrificing part of the top shelf to display some of the better hardbacks face forward.

Note that this discussion is somewhat subjective and based on a limited amount of practical experience. However, it is reinforced by discussions I had with other, more veteran sellers, so I stand by it.

What's Hot:

• OMNIBUS EDITIONS (including the Science Fiction Book Club). People can't resist a bargain, and buying three books for the price of one is a bargain.

• HARRY POTTER. Any book in the series, any printing, as long as it is a hardback and in good condition. Easy $10 to $15 sales.

• NEIL GAIMAN AND TERRY PRATCHETT. Individually and together.

• DAN BROWN. Common paperbacks in good condition will sell for $3 to $4, and non-first edition hardbacks for $10 to $20. If you have any first editions, I'll gladly buy them from you for $20.

• LAURELL K HAMILTON, KELLEY ARMSTRONG, KIM HARRISON AND JIM BUTCHER. An exception to the horror doesn't sell rule (see below).

• NON-SF STUFF. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you can only sell SF and Fantasy at the cons. On a whim I put three Pogo collections in my stock, and they weren't out 10 minutes before someone snapped them up. Turns out there had been a big article in the Washington Post a few days earlier about Walt Kelly and how collectible Pogo was. $50 sale for me. Other non-SF sales included Penn & Teller, Monty Python, an Annotated Treasure Island, and Dr. Seuss (Dr. Seuss Goes to War, a very interesting book that I kind of wish I'd kept).

• DOUGLAS ADAMS.

• TRADE PAPERBACKS (TPBs). They are bigger and heftier than regular, mass media paperbacks, and people really like them. The great thing is that you can comfortably price TPBs $3 to $4 higher than their smaller cousins, but most thrifts don't distinguish between them so they cost you the same.

• CTHULHU. Another exception to the Horror Doesn't Sell rule. The Cthulhu Mythos originated in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, but many writers have subsequently written in the Mythos. Most any of them will do well.

• PHILIP K. DICK. Paperbacks, hardbacks, SFBC - it's all good.

• HIGH-END, COLLECTIBLE BOOKS. I originally decided not to bring any of my higher priced SF/F stock, mainly because I didn't think it would sell, and I was concerned about theft. Instead, I printed up a catalog with color pictures of the good stuff, and had it on hand to show to people who expressed interest. I made one decent sale this way, a pair of books for $90. In the future I think I will bring at least some high-end stock and display it in a prominent position to attract customer interest. Like the guy on the street corner selling $1000 apples, you only have to sell one $100+ book to call it a good day.

• BOOKS BY AUTHORS WHO ARE AT THE CON. Convention guests are usually announced a year in advance, so you have a lot of time to accumulate books by the upcoming guest(s) of honor. I for one will be spending the next year buying up books by Neil Gaiman and Gene Wolfe in preparation for Balticon 40. And as suggested by Colleen McMahon in an email after last month's column, the media conventions (Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, etc.) are great venues for selling books and magazines with photographs of stars who are at the con, suitable for autographing. Thanks for the suggestion, Colleen.

What's Not Hot:

• DRAGONLANCE, FORGOTTEN REALMS, ETC. There is a market for these books; it just doesn't appear to be at the SF conventions. I had over 60 of these paperbacks in VG or better condition, and not one of them sold at either con. I plan on selling these in lots on eBay, where the books seem to sell with an average price from $1.50 to $2.50.

• HORROR HARDBACKS. Modern horror by very popular authors in general does not seem to sell well in hardback. This would include authors such as Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, Ramsey Campbell, and Anne Rice. The demand is certainly there, but there are so many copies printed that you'd have to price yours at $2 to $3 to make them attractive. And given that I can pack four or five $3 paperbacks in the space occupied by one Stephen King hardback, it's just not worth it.

• PIERS ANTHONY. I had 30 PB and HB books by Anthony. Only one sold between both conventions, and that was an omnibus edition of his Tarot books, thus proving my first rule of What's Hot.

• JACK CHALKER. 15 Chalker PBs, not one sold. Of course, with individual authors like Piers Anthony and Jack Chalker, I could sell out to the one right customer at the next con. But I'm thinking book lot on eBay.

• MICHAEL CRICHTON. Like Stephen King, Chrichton's books are published in such huge numbers that you can't price them for more than $2 to $4 and expect them to sell. Plus, many SF fans consider him to be a non-genre hack. Exceptions are very early titles like The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man, and even those are only in the $50 to $100 range.

• SCIENCE FICTION BOOK CLUB. Too many copies available, poor quality - and pretty cheesy cover illustrations for the most part. There are exceptions, of course. As mentioned above, omnibus editions of popular authors can sell for $5 to $10 or more. The SFBC version of books that are outrageously expensive in their true first trade edition can carry real value. The example I've used many times before is Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, which should fetch at least $50. Also, there are a small number of cases where the SFBC edition is the first or sometimes only hardback version published. The 1977 SFBC edition of Stephen Donaldson's Lord Foul's Bane (1977, code "H21" on page 403) is the true first edition, released prior to the Holt Rinehart Winston 1977 trade hardback, when the latter was delayed due to dust jacket production problems. The SFBC edition of C.J. Cherryh's Hunter of Worlds (1977, code "H06" on page 213) preceded the mass market paperback edition, and there has been no subsequent trade hardback edition. Also as mentioned above, any SFBC Philip K. Dick is worth getting. They make great lots on eBay.

Following are my sale results from Balticon. Note that "HB*" indicates a signed hardback.

 

Day Sold	Format	Receipts	# Sold	Avg. Price
Balticon 1	HB	$40.00	5	$8.00
Balticon 1	PB	$47.00	9	$5.22
Balticon 2	HB	$63.00	7	$9.00
Balticon 2	HB*	$25.00	1	$25.00
Balticon 2	PB	$60.00	18	$3.33
Balticon 2	TPB	$8.00	1	$8.00
Balticon 3	HB	$136.00	6	$22.67
Balticon 3	PB	$60.00	9	$6.67
Balticon 3	TPB	$44.00	6	$7.33
Balticon 4	HB	$40.00	2	$20.00
Balticon 4	PB	$37.00	14	$2.64
Total		$560.00	78	$7.18

These results look more encouraging, but remember that my overhead was a lot higher here. Expenses totaled about $250, including the table fee, extra membership for a helper, parking, food, and cost of inventory.

Here is some summary data looking at my sales across both conventions, broken out by genre:

	Genre	Receipts	# Sold	Average Price
	Fantasy	$295.00	60	$4.92
	SF	$265.00	36	$7.36
	Other	$134.00	11	$12.18
	Horror	$85.00	19	$4.47

Fantasy and SF were the clear favorites, although my "Other" (non-genre) books had the highest average sale price. These included the Pogo, Monty Python, Penn and Teller, and Dr. Seuss books I mentioned earlier, plus some anthropology-type books on magic. A bigger stock of the right kind of non-genre books could make a big difference in total sales and would make your stock stand out from the rest. And as noted earlier, horror did not perform well and took up valuable shelf and table space.

Here is summary data looking at all sales across both conventions, broken out by format:

	Format	Receipts	# Sold	Average Price
	HB	$387.00	31	$12.07
	PB	$323.00	85	$3.80
	TPB	$69.00	10	$6.90

Comparing the number of sold books by format to the total counts of books by format, I can calculate per cent sold by format:

	Format	Inventory	# Sold	% Sold
	ARC	6	0	0.00
	BCE	3	0	0.00
	HB	224	31	13.84
	PB	452	85	18.81
	TPB	55	10	18.18

Here's an interesting result: the trade paperbacks sold at nearly the same percentage rate as the paperbacks but for almost double the average price. This tells me that I should make every effort to stock more trade paperbacks.

As I said in Part 1 of this column, selling at the conventions is not for everyone. If your main goal is maximizing your profit while minimizing your work, then con selling is probably not for you. However, for those of us with a real enthusiasm and even love for the genre, the idea of spending a weekend surrounded by like minded individuals, selling books and talking, and leaving with more cash than you started with sounds pretty darn good. I had a great time, and I definitely plan to do it again.