Get ready for a zine fair
The Anchor Archive often tables at different zine fairs. Here's what you need to do to get ready for one.
People
A few weeks before the zine fair, figure out how many people you'll need to work at the table, depending on how long it is. Maybe one or two people will want to sit at the table for the whole fair or you can divide up the time in shifts of 2 hours each. Make sure to schedule 1/2 an hour to 1 hour at the beginning and end for set-up and take-down.
Put together a schedule and send out a message to the Anchor Archive list and maybe the Sad Rad list, asking who wants to sign up for what times.
You'll also need to have someone take the stuff to the fair at the beginning and bring it back to the zine library at the end (maybe someone with a car), and someone to pack up everything before the fair and put everything away after the fair.
What to pack
- Zines to sell - choose 10-15 titles from the zines for sale rack and bring 3-10 copies of each, depending on what you think will sell. Favour new zines and zines on topics that you think will appeal to the crowd at this particular zine fair. Try to not bring zines that people at other tables will also be selling.
- A float for change - about $80 in denominations of $10, $5, $2, $1, and $.25. Count the float and write down the total so you can subtract it from the total amount of money you make at the end.
- A jar or container to keep the money in
- Fliers for the Anchor Archive. If there aren't some around, copy more.
- 1 or 2 racks to display the zines on. Some need to be supported by something, so pack that too.
- A stack of discard zines that we'll give away or sell by donation, if you think there will be room for this on the table and if there is already a stack in the library.
- Scrap paper, pens, and markers to make last minute signs or take notes
- A nice piece of fabric to use as a table cloth
- Make 2 sign-up sheets to put on the table - 1 for Anchor Archive announcements and 1 for people who want to get involved with the Anchor Archive
- Patches or buttons to sell
- Extra price stickers in case you notice a zine that isn't priced
- You can also offer to sell stuff for Ink Storm or Sad Rad if there will be room on the table
At the zine fair
Say hello to people who come to the table and tell them about the Anchor Archive if they're interested.
You don't need to keep track of which zines get sold (unless you want to). If you're selling stuff for Ink Storm or Sad Rad, keep track of that.
Make sure to send someone around to buy zines for the library. Try to get new zines we don't already have. You can also offer to trade zines from our distro.
After the zine fair
Put all the zines we didn't sell back on the zines for sale rack or shelf.
Put all the racks and other stuff away.
Count the money that was made. Subtract the float from the total. If any money was taken out to buy zines for the library, include that in the total amount of money that was made, but make note of how much was spent on zines. Make sure the money is given to the finance person, along with information about how much was made selling zines and how much was spent on buying zines. Make note of the table fee too, if there was one.