Book Signings - A Gift to Authors - Part One
For something I had decided I wasn’t going
to do, in-store book signings have turned out to be an activity that in my book
world now follows writing and reading.
book lovers and constant readers go into a bookstore to find a book and a shelf to get away from the world in for a while. Why would I want to interrupt such a fabulous pastime? I decided I didn’t.
Then a very fortuitous meeting, quite by
happenstance, took place while visiting one of Canada’s national book chain
stores. I was trying to find a way to get The
Actor (my STARBook awarded novel) onto their bookshelves. The store manager
confronted me with the question: “Why would we want your book on our shelves? Nobody
knows who you are.”
Wow! And to think this hardwood head of
mine actually heard what the book manager was saying. The Actor would take up valuable shelf space, and unless somebody
knew about The Actor and valued its story,
it was going to stay on the shelf hogging space that an otherwise known book might
take. I had to find a way to change
that. But as I said, this was a meeting of good fortune that changed everything
for me and what followed.
The book manager asked me a question after
a short exchange, perhaps seeing the glimmer of determination in my eye: “Have
you thought about doing book signings?” I, of course with my naïve expertise,
explained (whined) as to why I had decided not to do them. It wasn’t "the way". But the
“magic” came in the manager’s next question: “Where else are you going to go
and talk about your book and your work for a couple of hours, in a bookstore and—no guarantees here—possibly
sell a couple of books?” I couldn’t answer that question. In fact it made so
much sense that I booked my first signing there and then – technically not my
first “signing”, but rather my first “booking”, eight months away. The reason
for the date being so far out, as I later found out from the manager, was because
he never expected to hear from me again.
All that is in the past now, after 75 book
signings in our national book chain of Indigo-Chapters stores across Ontario
and elsewhere in Canada. In fact, in July I reached a milestone 1000th
book from a book signing.
While having no desire to become a “carnival
barker” at the front of a bookstore, I figured if I could have professional
career as an engineer and still become an author, I could likely find a way to become
comfortable promoting my books. That comfort has mysteriously become love. I
love talking about books and writing with almost anyone, but especially with book
lovers and constant readers. Mix in my love of movies and music, and it’s a
wicked combination of fun and discussion.
Signings may not work for everyone, but for
me its great way to get in touch with readers and book lovers. Today it feels a
little unfair, as I take away so much from the interesting people I meet at
each signing. Many have touched my life in ways they’ll never know. As the
great Stephen King once said, “it all goes in”. But remember, none of this makes
one iota of difference without first writing the book that you love.
I’ll talk more about how to actually book a
signing in my next post.
TDG
