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Writer's pictureLoren Tuxford

First Time Exhibitor Appearing in 3… 2… 1…: Organisation vs Last Minute Checklist Chaos

Attention Readers!


Book Fair Australia 2024, presented by Book Addiction is just about here! If you haven’t got your tickets, why not? Ha! Just kidding. Tickets are still available online here, and at the door for both Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd of November. Clear your weekend for a whole lot of books, bookish merch, along with an amazing suite of guest Authors. Don’t be shy, visit and chat with all of the stall holders too.


And now…


Attention Fellow First Time Exhibitors!


Are you excited? Are you grateful for this opportunity to connect with readers, vendors and fellow creators? Are you a little jittery in the guts? All three? Same here peeps, same here. Even with being part of the awesome Staff at Book Fair Australia for the past year, I’m still getting a whole forest of butterflies ready to launch from deep within my soul. You see, this year I am stepping out of my author cave into the spotlight, and hosting a stall for the first time.


Person lying in a pile of clutter

A few blogs back, I wrote about this, which you can read here: https://www.bookfairaustralia.com/post/stepping-into-the-spotlight-first-time-exhibitors


We covered:

Must Haves - Insurance, Table dressing, Bump-In and Bump-Out times, Showing up with Books to sell, Payment facilities

Think About - Book swag, Donating items for the raffle and showbag, Networking and Helpers


So, all of the above is organised? The paperwork is done, table and books/ merch is ready, and you’re coiled like a spring ready to launch.


Now what? Well, here’s my experience for this past week or so in attempting to eliminate the possibility of “Cr*p, I forgot the (insert obvious thing that shouldn’t have been forgotten)” chaos.


  1. Read the Exhibitor Manual 2024 again. Seriously, there are so many great tips in there.

  2. Write a checklist and tick things off as you pack them.

  3. Post on Social Media to remind existing and new audiences that you’ll be attending Book Fair Australia 2024.

  4. Pack some lollies (this could be the most important, right?).

  5. Pack a few items like tissues, headache tablets, water bottle

  6. If you need to recharge your electronic devices at the event, do you have your battery / power bank charged? Are your cables in working order?

  7. Are you taking payments? See above for your payment device!

  8. Pack some pens and a notepad

  9. Check for any last minute communication from the Exhibitor Liaison team (you would have seen the one a couple weeks back about pre-booking some items: parking, wifi etc)

  10.  Make sure you have your Hi-Vis and closed in footwear ready for Bump-In (and Bump-Out)


That’s all I can think of right now. Maybe something else will pop up but if you need help during the weekend, please ask. Staff and Volunteers will be available, recognisable by their cool T-Shirts. Be proud of your achievement and know that you’re going to be amongst a wonderful community of fellow creators and readers shortly.


For the full list of attending exhibitors, don’t forget to check out: https://www.bookfairaustralia.com/exhibitors/events/sydney-2024


See you soon!


P.s. One last checklist item…


11. Lollies…

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