In the past, we’ve given you PubFight strategies, formulas, and spreadsheets (XLS) to help you conquer the auction. These are important, and you should brush up on this year's titles before your league's Fakefurt auction, but this year we’re going to tell you what kind of PubFighter you are in the auction arena.
Answer the following personality questions and we’ll accurately predict your PubFight style. Do you plan every little detail or do you fly by the seat of your pants? We’ll tell you.
What kind of PubFighter are you?
When you’re waiting for a meeting to start, you regale the people next to you with your weekend stories.
No, I’m too busy re-reading my meeting notes.
If I feel sufficiently prepared for the meeting, I might.
All the time.
You will definitely take to Twitter to weigh in on the latest controversy.
Only if I feel well-informed enough to contribute something insightful.
If I feel passionate about the subject, I might add something.
Of course! People are wrong on the internet and I need to let them know.
You know every detail for all the comp titles, from author to pub date, price, and sales history, for every book in the PubFight catalogue.
Of course. Is there another way to prepare?
I know some key titles and have looked up some comp sales info on SalesData.
I’ve barely even glanced at the list. It’ll be fine.
When asked for your opinion on a complex topic you take some time to reflect before giving your answer.
Definitely.
I’m working on doing this more.
I’ve got an answer for everything right away. I rarely feel like I need reflection time.
At a book launch, you introduce yourself to the author and tell them how much you enjoyed their book.
If I have read the book and know the author would appreciate my comments, yes.
Sometimes.
I’ll do this even if I haven’t yet read the book.
Mostly As: You’ve planned, made spreadsheets, used formulas, and done your sales data homework. You don’t deviate from your well-researched plan and not even wild bidding from your adversaries can throw you off track. You never bid more than you set out to and winning a book for less than your top price brings you great joy. You are made of steel in the PubFight auction. Winning is the top priority.
Mostly Bs: You come in with a strategy but sometimes it gets thrown out the window when you see your league-mates bidding hard for a book that wasn’t even on your radar. You can get carried away with their excitement and sometimes you get had by people driving up bidding, but mostly you walk away with a balanced list and some surprises.
Mostly Cs: You let your emotions rule you during the auction. You have no strategy prepared other than winging it in the moment. You’ll drive bidding up for a title you don’t even want just to make sure your adversaries don’t get anything for free. You often find yourself paying more for favourite authors and books you’re looking forward to reading rather than relying on cold, hard data. But that’s ok. You’re in this for the fun of the game — winning would just be a nice bonus. You give the auctions higher stakes and lots of excitement.
If you want a refresher on how PubFight works, read this post from last year. And if you want the full rules of the game, you can find those here.
BookNet Canada's auction is going down on July 26 and we'll be using the hashtag #PubFight on Twitter to keep track of our league's progress throughout the fall. Join us there and let us know how your auction goes, how your list shapes up, and how your titles are selling.
