Katherine Roberts – Brand Partner & Educational Services Representative
The PaperPie (formerly Usborne Books & More) “Reading Is A Gift” book fair program was developed to encourage reading and at the same time earn free books, and/or profits for your school or organization. With the FREE book and/or cash incentives that are in place for each book fair, you can choose the option that best meets the needs of your school or organization. We have LOTS of different choices when doing a book fair!
What kind of events are available?
- Traditional Book Fair – Based on the size of your organization, I will bring an appropriate selection and quantity of books to sell on the spot to students and/or parents.
- Order Only – This works particularly well for preschools that may not have a large area to use for displaying books to purchase. Instead, I can set up a single table with a variety of sample books for kids and parents to view, and then parents can submit orders via paper forms or online.
- Online E-fair – The simplest option is to promote the book fair with students and parents and then let them order completely online; though this usually does not generate as many sales.
- $5 Book Day – Similar to a traditional book fair, but all the books I bring will be sold for exactly $5 (sales tax included). That way parents can send $5/10/20 bills with their kids to shop, and volunteers do not have to use a calculator for purchase totals!
What will my organization earn? The choice is yours!
- FREE books – 25% to 50% of retail sales in free books (depending on the type of event)
- Money and books – provides the host school with cash and FREE books for the library
- Cash only – fund special projects, teacher resources or extras for your students.
What marketing materials are provided?
- We can discuss what will work best for your particular event, but some of the materials we have available are signs, flyers, bookmarks, stickers to put on kids’ shirts as a reminder, wishlists for kids/teachers, etc.
A Few Tips:
- Scheduling: If we choose a time/date when a large number of people will be at your organization for other reasons, that will be very beneficial. For instance, if your school is having a parent meeting, schedule the book fair for a couple days leading up to the meeting. Then kids will have a chance to window shop and choose their wishlist, and parents can shop when they are already in the building for the other event.
- Promotion: Overall, a book fair will have a higher chance of success if your organization is promoting the event in multiple ways – school newsletter, PTA group on Facebook, parent emails, etc.
- Wish Lists: Having students walk through the display area and write down their top 3-5 choices is very helpful for parents as they are shopping, and if teachers write out their own wishlist, parents can shop for classroom gifts as well.
- Minimum Sales: Traditional book fair sales must reach a minimum of $250 retail in order to qualify for free books; $5 Book Fairs must reach a minimum of $400 retail in order to qualify for free books. If you would like to discuss the possibility of one of the cash options instead, sales will need to be over $750.
Contact Katherine with any Questions: [email protected]