This list is to remind the authors (& artists) that the fee that they pay to attend NEAE events allow them to do more than just sell books. Many things happen at our events that you may not be aware of, such as:
- Sell books
- Sell books to the public
- Sell books to bookstores
- Sell books to libraries
- Sell books to businesses
- Network with other authors, artists, publishers, book printers and more
- Learn marketing and advertising
- Discuss book design, cover design and book printing
- Discuss finding an agent or distributor
- Find an illustrator, artist or photographer
- Learn more about social media and advertising
- Distribute marketing materials to the authors and to the public
- Maybe have their story picked up by a screenwriter, theater group or movie company
- Find out more about e-books, audio-books, book trailers and websites
- Find exposure for you and your work
- Swap books with other authors, swap marketing material and write reviews for each other
- Maybe get interviewed for a YouTube video
- Maybe get a book signing at a library, book store or other location
- Maybe go on local community TV
- Get free advertising on the Expo website and Facebook page and in the grab bags
- Meet and talk to celebrities and higher end authors & illustrators
- Prices are kept as low as possible to attend!
Why the NEAE Matters by author Chuck Miceli
Writing is often a solitary activity and many of us spend countless hours alone with a writing pad or computer working to bring what is in our head out and onto the page. We often wish we had someone to turn to for advice or encouragement. The NEAE is a great place to meet with many like-minded authors and illustrators, who are there with support through their friendship or their business services. But once the work of creating, editing and publishing our books is done, the second phase of advertising and marketing need not be done in isolation either. Too often we can feel like other authors are in competition with us, but the opposite is often much closer to the truth. If we allow it, we can be each other’s greatest resource. We all share a love for the written word and each of us has accumulated a wealth of experience by the mere fact that we have actually brought our book project to completion. Now we can be a great source of support and encouragement, as well as information and creative ideas. We use the NEAE events to explore this possibility. The NEAE facilitates a lively and open-ended discussion about what, how and why we write and how we can make the most of the Expo and other marketing opportunities. This most often is not a lecture or formal presentation, but rather an exchange of ideas among all of the participants. The goal being that we experience each other as teammates in our common effort to get our work out to the world and hopefully, have some fun in the process.
