As my sixth book, The Snowflake, "dropped" October 1st, I find the marketing side of this career ramping up again. One of my favorite parts of marketing is getting out of the house and on to the road. As everyone knows, book signings can be hopping fast or hopelessly slow, but I have found that they can always be lots of fun. There are store employees to chat with. I've learned a lot about their side of the book business by asking questions, being sympathetic to their struggles and cheering them on in their triumphs. Then, there are fellow authors to meet! It's always good for me to get out of my own little cave and find out what's going on in the industry around me.This past weekend I went to Heaven Help Us bookstore in New Albany, Indiana. Kyla and her team (waving to her wonderful mom!) are so warm and welcoming. The road trip down was only about two hours and I like to bring driver/hubby along as it gives us an excuse to spend time together. When we got there I had the privilege of meeting author Kaye Dacus who I found out writes 3-4 books a year. Hats off to Kaye!! I also met our own JoAnn Durgan. It was hard to find everyone at ACFW so it was especially fun to hear about JoAnn's first book coming out this fall. (Boy, is she excited!).
I'm saying all this to say that while book signings can be disappointing from a sales stand point, they always have something to offer. So load up the car and get on the road! And hopefully we will run into each other sometime soon!
How about you? Any tips that you have found to make book signings more successful?
Good for you, Jamie! Have to confess I shudder at the prospect of book sigh-nings. Not that they're a prospect yet.... I can see my dread is because my eyes are on me instead of on others, so thanks for the good advice.
ReplyDeleteI had done many signings before I chanced upon one at a Barnes & Noble that really caught people's attention. The author had given a copy of his book's cover to a bakery, which created that vivid graphic in frosting on a large sheet cake. The author placed a small table front and center in the store. The table was draped with a table cloth that matched the main cover color. The cake and small paper plates and plastic forks (along with 2 stacks of books!) took up most of the table, and on each side floated a couple helium balloons (again matching the main cover colors), which anchored on each side of the table. Basically simple, but very eye-catching, especially as a swarm of people where standing there and eating cake and asking the author questions.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great idea, Rick! Based on what you and Rachael Phillips have posted recently, it would seem the way to gain readers (at least enough to get them to ask questions and maybe buy my book) is through their stomach. Give 'em cake, and let 'em eat it, too, eh? Since I have a yellow rose on the cover of my upcoming book, I'm thinking individual cupcakes with yellow roses. What do you think? Thanks for the mention, Jamie. It was fun. And what kind of mother would I be if I didn't mention my daughter, Chelsea, took this photo! Jamie, I hope to see you Indy on November 6th.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!