Article: In his novel, All My...
In his novel, All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers, Larry McMurtry’s protagonist, Danny Deck, is seeing his first book published. On the day of his inaugural book signing, torrential rains hit the city. He arrives to find the bookseller has iced down four bottles of champagne in anticipation of stampeding fans. They wait for the crowds to appear and blame the rain when no one shows. Rain stops. Still no one shows. An hour later, an elderly lady comes in. It’s the mother of a socially inept kid that Danny was kind to in high school. She buys a book. No one else comes. Danny and the bookseller drink all four bottles of champagne. Danny has an embarrassing realization with it means to be an unknown author.
I read the book long before I became a published author, but I could read between the lines. That book signing didn’t just happened to Danny Deck. It (or a version not unlike it) happened to Larry McMurtry. It was my first clue into the reality of book signings.
Knowing this, why did I decide to embark on a month long book tour down Route 66 with my husband, a cat and dog who hate each other, in our travel trailer to launch Mission Irresistible, my third book from Warner Forever?
Shh, don’t tell anyone, but I have a confession. I like book signings. (And no, it’s not because of all the champagne drinking). I like meeting fans and getting to know booksellers and learning what’s selling and what people are reading. I love dressing up and playing at being an “author” once in a while. It’s a nice change of pace from being a working writer.
On the road, however, you have to do both. Write and promote. It gets to be a tricky balance, but there’s something magical about it. This is what it means to be a writer. This push/pull of introvert versus extrovert.
Shh, don’t tell anyone this either---you’ll forever ruin the public’s perception of book signings because, as Danny Deck learned the hard way, the best signings aren’t held in bookstores.
The best book signings are in RV parks and beauty salons and Wal-mart. They’re at health clubs and little league ball parks and at the beach. Hold a book signing where the people are going about their daily lives. Sure, it takes some of the mystique out of being an “author” but that’s just a load of PR anyway.
And if you do hold a signing in a bookstore, be an approachable person. Get up from behind that table and go talk to people. Hold out your hand, smile, and take an interest in them. Be kind. Have a drawing for a gift certificate to the bookstore. Don’t sit around and wait for the hoards to come to you, go out there and offer them something. You. If you heed my advice you won’t end up like Danny Deck embarrassed because your books didn’t sell.
Shhh, I’ve got another confession. I know it’s crash to talk numbers, but on my month long signing I personally sold five hundred and sixty-two books. And when I got home I received over two thousand e-mails from people I’d meet on the road or who had seen me at events, but were too shy to come over.
Remember, the only book Danny sold was to the mother of a boy he’d befriended. You want to sell more books? Befriend more people. Because isn’t that what were trying to do after all? Reach people. Connect. Share our view of the world. Send a message. Spread the love. Hey, it’s a reason worth touring for.
Copyright © by Lori Wilde 2005