The four Sparks, L to R: Me, Kim May, Dayle Dermatis, Leslie Claire Walker
I had a book signing today. I drove town to the Reader’s Guide (an indie bookstore) in Salem for a book signing. The Fiction River anthology, Sparks, edited by the fabulous Rebecca Moesta, won’t be published until March, but fellow authors of the anthology, Kim May, Dayle Dermatis, and Leslie Claire Walker and I all greeted readers, and signed copies of Sparks, as well as another Fiction River anthology, Alchemy & Steam.
Elements of a Good Book Signing
Kim, who works has worked at Readers Guide for eighteen years and set the signing up for us did everything right.
- She contacted us nearly two months in advance to save the date
- She had us send her our author photos and bios, which she used to design the awesome-looking announcement poster
- She made sure the books were there on the date of the signing.
- She set up our signing table right at the front of the store
- She did a great job on publicity, setting up an event on Facebook, and encouraged all of us to use social media to get the word out, which we all did.
And it worked. We sold out of the Sparks anthology, and sold about half of the copies of Alchemy & Steam. Most of the people who made a purchase knew Kim or were frequent customers of the bookstore, and came in specifically for the book signing. And I think it was more than the delicious cookies Dayle and Leslie brought that lured some of our future fans over to our table–we were having so much fun, people came over to investigate and walked away with a signed copy.
Hanging out with readers and other writers makes for a fun day. Many thanks to Reader’s Guide and Kim May for hosting such a fine and memorable book signing.
