Yesterday, I drove to Bozeman, Montana for a booksigning. Yes, I remembered my camera. No, I didn’t take pictures. I forgot!
I did the signing with my friend Sharon Dunn. Sharon and I attend a brainstorming retreat with other Christian writers once a year, and it was great seeing her again!
But before I tell you about the signing, I have to tell you about the drive over. Bozeman is 5 1/2 hours away. I visited with my husband for the first hour, then I got out my notebook computer. I’m not sure how long I wrote, but I was “in the zone.” Yes, the car was zooming down the Montana highways, but I was in Spain and Germany dealing with my main Nazi dude and all his sorted issues.
I typed and typed. We stopped for coffee (the nearest Starbucks is 2 1/2 hours), and I typed some more. By the time my brain got tired, I’d written over 4,000 words. No joke!
I told my husband that I’d have to plan more out-of-town trips. No phone. No interruptions from kids (they stayed home). No email, MySpace, or blogs (yes, they are my weakness!). It was great to get so much written. And then, because I couldn’t read my research books anyway, John and I chatted the whole way home.
The booksigning went well too. My assistant Amy made homemade cookies and brownies for me to take. They were soooo yummy. Sharon brought treats too.
We had a great set-up in the center of the store. We had free coffee and treats, and for for about the first 30 minutes hardly anyone stopped by. In fact, they would steer around us, sure we would pounce on them or something if they neared. (I don’t think I look too scary 🙂
After a while though people started coming by. Maybe they decided we weren’t very big threats? I’m not sure how many books I sold, but people loved hearing about the true stories behind my novels. Once I started telling them about the veterans I interviewed, they were hooked–they wanted to read the novels.
Over all, hopefully I picked up a few readers and hopefully the bookstore workers will stock more of my books. What more could I ask for?
So, how about you. If you see an author signing in a store, what do you do? Do you approach them, steer away, or would you at least come near enough to snag a tasty treat?
I’m so glad it went well. I’ve actually never been to a book signing nor been to a bookstore during one. If I were interested in the book I’d go and see the author. I love listening to stories from all sorts of people. :0)
I’m a bit intimidated. Before I ‘met’ you, I never thought of an author as someone regular, like me. I always thought you all were these wonderfully intelligent, super knowledgeable, high brow people, who wouldn’t REALLY want to meet me.
And while I still think you are wonderfully intelligent, super knowledgeable, and high brow, NOW I know you are also regular and would want to meet me.
Lesley, oh do I have the stories to tell 🙂
Jessica, good point, I never thought of that before. I’m as regular as they come, and I see myself as that way. I love meeting new people too. That’s for giving me that point-of-view. It helps not to think I’m just scary or something 🙂
I think that I feel a bit shy, as well, especially if I am not buying a book that I want to be autographed. I think that if I was doing that, I’d have no problem, but otherwise I feel like I’d just be taking their time. I have to remember to be bolder next time.