Once you’ve secured a signing or discussion at a bookstore, it’s your responsibility to drive traffic to that event.
A poster placed inside the store is a highly visual way to communicate an event to readers who live or work near the event venue.
Most Barnes & Noble stores are equipped with a few poster standee signs. The frame dimensions on this standee are typically 22” x 28”. (Note: always double-check the dimensions with the store.) It’s been my experience, that they may allow ONE of the standee signs to be used for a book signing poster.
The desire for a poster varies among stores. Within this blog post, we’re talking about bookstores in all areas except extremely populated cities. What I’ve usually encountered is that if you offer to print a high quality professional poster, the store will normally accept it. I always email a proof of the poster for approval to my key contact at the bookstore, before going to print.
Your poster design should include a book cover, headshot of author, an excerpt from a testimonial of the book, author’s website and social platforms. Try to place the most important information at the top of the poster as most people read from top to bottom. The poster standee is about 4 feet tall so it’s imperative that a consumer’s eyes first meet the important information in order to be motivated to read further down.
Note, I used to not include the store’s name and address on the poster because my logic was that anyone seeing the poster in the store would know that the event is happening in that venue. However, I’ve changed my strategy due to the amount of photos captured and shared on social media. I now include the store name and location on anything that might be captured in a photo. Someone might take a photo as a reminder or want to share it, so it’s helpful for them to have all the details.
You can easily create a design with the help of a local MinuteMan Press who can also print the poster. You’ll then want to stop at Staples and purchase a mailing tube. Roll the poster and put a rubber band around it. Attach a sticky-note reminding your bookstore contact when to start displaying the poster. Most stores will display a poster 1 to 2 weeks before an event.
Are you at a starting point of creating a poster design around your upcoming book signing? For those that are visual learners like myself, I’ve included a few bookstore poster examples to get you started. Final note: keep your branding consistent. Repurpose the poster design and post it on social media and use the same artwork on flyers.
