You’ve made the
decision. Book signing it is. Congratulations! It’s a courageous step forward. Don’t
look back but I warn you it’s only the beginning. And the courage part has just
begun. We’ll get to that in part three. But now lets get to booking and
preparing.
In part one, I spoke
about booking a signing after that first meeting. It wasn’t my first signing to
take place but it was the first one on my calendar. From there I started. First
step was a phone call to a store. Did they do signings? Yes. Could I send them
my information? Yes.
And so it
began.
I spent time
creating the email I sent to present myself as a new author in as compelling a
light as I could manage with the little that I had to work with. Book reviews,
interviews, trailer, any sort of thing I had on The Actor or myself as an author. Out it went to each store person
I spoke to on the phone. In the beginning, each book signing often took several
phone calls and numerous emails. I knew how important follow-up was and
practice, I did. Always wanting a ‘yes’, I don’t stop until I have a ‘no’. Some
of those stores I’m still talking to after two years. They haven’t yet said
‘no’ but I haven’t done a signing there either.
A book signing
is one of the most ‘win-win’ situations I’ve ever experienced. Through my
business life, I had come to dislike the ‘win-win’ expression as one party’s
win more often than not resulted in the other party’s loss (cost). Here, all
win—author, reader, publisher and bookstore. I will be first to acknowledge
that book signings won’t work for everyone. Some authors dislike them too much
and some personalities are not a good match, and for some it’s simply too much
effort.
With book
signings in the schedule, I then had to prepare. I learned a lot here mostly by
doing things that didn’t work. I knew from my business background that I had to
have a 20-second “elevator” speech. I had to be able to whet the appetite of a
prospective reader of The Actor in 20
seconds. This might be the single most important thing for a new author to have
for their book. No one wants to listen to someone ramble on and on about a book
they’ve written. We’re all proud of our work but we have to remember that
everyone else has a life too. Get it down and conversational.
Visibility
might be one of the most important things at your signing. While we all want to
sell books, getting your book seen is just as important. A two-by-three poster of the
cover works. You’re in a bookstore. Be seen. You’ll likely have the privilege
of being the only author in the bookstore that day from the hundreds if not
thousands of authors with books represented there. Realize that privilege. You want readers
leaving the bookstore remembering your book.
I have business
cards that include the covers of both The
Actor and The Drive In. I have
them at the ready. After twenty or so book signings, I found bookmarks are a nice
addition to anyone buying The Actor
or The Drive In.
Now that you’re
booked and prepared, my last book signing post will talk about being there and
doing it.
