BOOKSIGNING FOLLY #4: SITTING & WAITING
The biggest mistake I see authors making at booksignings, is their decision to sit behind tables, barriers to conversation. If you have to sit, it would be better to sit in front of the table. Truth is, at a booksigning, you have to conjure your inner extrovert and show pride in your art.
For instance, be firm with your host about where to set up your table. PLACE YOUR SIGNING TABLE WHERE THE ACTION IS (preferably, close to the place people make purchases). Some customers come to the venue specifically to buy your book, but many show up with no advance warning of the booksigning. You have a chance, while they cue up to buy other things, to stand, hold out your gift to people, introduce yourself, and explain what you write. Let folks know your books are in print or on Kindle, Nook, I-Tunes (and/or audio), honoring all the ways readers access stories.
Have a sheet of paper ready for e-mail addresses in case people want to hear when your next book comes out. More important, raffle off one of your books (or the chance to have a reader’s name appear in your next book). This technique allows you to gather e-mail addresses to add to your cache of readers.
When people ask you to sign your book, connect with them personally. Write the customer/addressee’s name down on a piece of paper and check the spelling with the reader before you put pen to the pristine page. Come to the booksigning ready to sign with a clever, pithy phrase related to the book the reader is buying. For my novel BAD LIES, I used this phrase: “May all of your LIES be GOOD ones!” For Cézanne’s Ghost set in Aix-en-Provence, I use “Bon Voyage,” or “Une grande évasion!"
Thank your potential reader for stopping by. Before your buyer leaves, always remind him/her: “If you enjoy my book, I’d love for you to say so on Amazon. Reviews help authors!”
Good luck with your next booksigning. I know I’m revved up to organize a signing soon; I wish you success with yours!
I’ll be doing a booksigning at my favorite local Starbucks. Stay tuned for date and time, with Cézanne’s Ghost as the pièce de rèsistance. Amazon: http://a.co/bQdl7jp
Three young American women vanish in Aix-en-Provence, France.
The FBI suspects their American tour guide.
Leon Beaudet, formerly a U.S. Olympic wrestler, is proud of his five-star guide business, but when tourists disappear on his watch, the FBI dredges up a violent episode in Leon’s past and tap him for the crime. Worse, his new tour group includes Aline Kerig, who is as beautiful and carefree as the three missing women. Leon is fascinated and puzzled by Aline even while he fears for her safety. She refuses to go back to the States, forcing the FBI and local police to involve her in the hunt.
With the French tourist industry about to collapse and Leon as a prime suspect, how does he protect Aline and find his lost tourists?
“If you like an interesting cast of characters, a heavy dose of mystery, and a lot of fabulous surprises, you’ll be happily turning pages late into the night.” -Brenda Novak, NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author, reviewing SWOON by Rolynn Anderson
