A Unique Book Club Experience

Beth’s article reminded me of a unique book club experience I had recently. It wasn’t a group signing, just one of my own. I was invited to be the guest author at a book club that consisted of a group of women who lived on local farms and ranches. The women had been meeting for many years faithfully—one of the members even kept minutes of each meeting and recorded every book they had studied.

The drive to the meeting was interesting. It took my wife and I far out into the country, along winding roads and down into a deep river valley. Cattle roamed the pastureland freely and posed a hazard, especially as the sun began to set and we realized the cattle were Black Angus!

During the drive, I thought to myself: What kind of book club experience will this be, way out in the middle of nowhere? How many will attend? Well, it turned out to be a wonderful experience, with all but one member in attendance. They were exceptionally cordial and complimentary, and even asked me to pose for pictures with them afterward. But the biggest surprise of all was as my wife and I were preparing to leave, the book club members handed me an envelope. It contained a $50 gift card.

I’ve attended several book clubs in the past, but I’ve never been given a gift before. Just the opportunity to speak to book clubs about my books was gift enough. But this kind, isolated group went the extra mile. They even invited me to come back again so they can discuss my second book. I’m going to take them up on it!

Have any of you had an unexpected experience at a book signing?

My Book Signing Experience

   I had a book signing in Denver on December 1 while my wife and I were down from Alberta, Canada, visiting our two daughters and their families who live there. My two daughters were my “campaign managers,” and they sent out invitations to their friends to attend. I arrived a little early and set up and began trying to do some “cold sales,” that is presenting my books to people in the store who didn’t know me or my book. I had no success. But then my daughter’s friends began to arrive and the sales went well. We sold all the copies in the store and then spent the evening running around Denver, buying up additional copies to satisfy the demand. We were grateful for the support.
     But the experience gave me pause. Had I gone to a store without any advance preparation or publicity, it would not have been a successful venture. Because I’m not a JK Rowling or a Stephanie Meyer, I cannot rely on mass interest and support. I attended a Stephanie Meyer book signing in Denver a couple of years back, and it was like going to a rock concert. Hundreds of screaming teenage girls queued up to get their books signed. My book signing experience was not like that! But things picked up immeasurably when my daughters’ friends began arriving. That’s why careful planning and advance publicity are so important. It’s no fun sitting at a table where store customers go out of their way to avoid you so they don’t get “drawn into” a discussion with an author they don’t know and a book they aren’t particularly interested in reading at the moment.
    What made the signing special for me was that my grandchildren who live in Denver donned their “Grandpa’s Book Buddy” T-shirts and walked around the store to help promote the event. I sure appreciated their love and support.

Annie's Truth Book Signing!

I’m always thankful to everyone who comes and purchases a book or just to say hello. It's great to meet people who have read my books. Because writing is a private occupation it's wonderful to meet readers, and get to know them better.

I never know what to expect as I sit facing the front doors of B&N watching people look over with interest, look away, or do what I call the side-swipe, which is when they might be interested but not enough to come directly over. I am so grateful to have friends come and buy a few, their unconditional support never fails me, but I have to admit, when those readers come who aren’t a familiar face I know I’ve made an honest sale. I get a kick out of the entire dynamics of an author at a book signing, it’s both a humbling and exhilarating experience.

It's hard to believe that my next book, Grace Given, is almost through the editing phase and will be released in January. As I go through the edits with my editor I love going over the story all over again. I need that because when I think back to my stories, I can be really hard on myself as to how it turned out. But once I read through it and see it bloom in the editing process, I feel much better. Any one who has been harassed or knows someone who has been will appreciate this next story about turning the other cheek, which is a humbling gesture to make when there is obvious mistreatment. To see how the Amish deal with such matters is always an amazing experience for me and I appreciate them more with each book I write.

To Sign or Not to Sign . . .

In recent posts, Jillian wrote about the book festival she attended. Beth wrote about the ever changing world of publishing. And, Mike asked the all important question of “Why?” do we continue to write. I just completed a six week book tour for my debut Realms novel, “The 13th Demon” and spent many hours in book stores signing books. Was it worth it?

My very first book signing was in 2001. My co-author, Mark Sutton, and I showed up at our local Barnes & Noble and we proceeded to sign over 50 books in a two hour period. There was a line in front of our table and we both regarded the event as a rousing success. Subsequent book signings were not as successful but we sold over 25 to 30 books at each sitting.

Fast forward to 2006 and my first self published book. At my first book signing for that book at our local Barnes & Noble, we sold all of the books the store had ordered and I had to go crack open a box of 50 books I had in the car. I was stoked! Then, I showed up at my next book signing in Orlando, Florida at a major book chain store. No one greeted me on my arrival. A table was set up. I put up my sign and got out my goodies and sat down. And waited. And waited. And waited. Not a single worker at the store ever spoke to me. Not a single customer stopped at my table. It was the single most depressing book signing of my life!

Fast forward to 2011 and the release by Realms of my first real “debut” novel. Do I hold book signings? Are book signings a thing of the past with the availability of e-books? Is it worth having a book signing to make certain my book ends up on the shelf of a book store? These were difficult questions to answer. Only five years had passed since those early book signings, but marketing a book has changed significantly. With the advance of blogging and social media, is it a waste of time to have a book tour and travel long distances to hold book signings?

My first book signing for “The 13th Demon” was my “book launch” and the response blew me away. I planned this event at my church’s combination book store/coffee shop. I advertised in local Christian family magazines and on the local Christian radio station. Over 100 people showed up and I sold 91 books! I was overwhelmed by the response. But, the next three book signings ranged from 4 books sold to a dozen. Why then should an author continue to hold book signings? Here are my reasons:

1 -- I want to support local book stores. With the growth of e-publishing, local book stores are hurting and hurting badly. Customers may show up to browse books, but they end up purchasing them on their book “pads”. But, if you hold a book signing, the event hopefully will draw potential readers into the store not only for my book, but for additional purchases. I reason if the local book store sees I am supporting them, then they may be more likely to stock my book and maybe even put it on one of the “golden” tables up front!

2 -- I want to connect with potential readers and put my face and my personality behind my book. Word of mouth can increase sales. At least, I hope it does. Even if I don’t sell a book, I make myself known to anyone who approaches my table and I pass out bookmarks and tee shirts.

3 -- I want to meet people and talk to them about the issues pertinent to my books. I am not only an author, I am a physician and a trained apologist. At a LifeWay store book signing in Austin, I had the opportunity to talk to a grandmother who was distressed that her grandson was abandoning his Christian faith and she didn’t know how to answer his rather pointed and cynical questions. We had a pleasant conversation and I gave her some pointers on relating to her grandson and his growing unbelief as well as giving her some websites that would help not only her, but her grandson. She ended up buying a book for her grandson and I was able to write him a short, encouraging note in the book. I’ll never know how that situation turned out but I have to believe it was a “divine” appointment.

4 -- I want to give away promotional material. I always begin a book campaign buy having my good friend Jeremy Johnson (www.heyjj.com) design a killer tee shirt. I produce a limited number and I advertise that I am giving away free tee shirts with each book that is purchased. Now, I lose money on the tee shirts and that is a given. But, if someone wears the tee shirt to a concert or to a worship service or to a youth event, my book title and website are clearly evident. Hopefully such promotion will bring readers to my website.

So, what do you think? In view of the past three posts, where do you think an author should best spend promotional time? Do you still hold book signings? Do you think they are effective or just a waste of time? 

When Opportunity Knocks

I hope you all haven't forgotten that this is Valentine's Day Weekend. Don't forget your sweeties. Other than going out with my sweetie I have an event to attend.
Tommorow, February 12th, I will be attending Reader Appreciation Day with fellow authors at Barnes and Noble. This is an annual event. Many authors will be signing books. Alas, I have no book to sign yet, since Secrets of the Heart does not release until May 2011. But there is always opportunity if one looks for it. Here are a few things you can do even when your book isn't out there yet.

1. Get your business cards ready for distribution.
2. Ask your publisher for mock ups. Realms kindly gave me three.
3. Prepare to talk about your book.
4. Distribute a blurb about your book along with endorsements.
5. Hold a raffle. I'm going to raffle off a lovely piece of jewlery.
6. Have pieces of paper ready that people can put name/e-mail on for the raffle and tell them it's for your newsletter. Everyone may not want to do that, but the readers who are comfortable with it get a shot at the raffle.
7. CHOCOLATE. It's close to Valentine's Day and lots of us love a piece of candy.
8. A few pens for convenience. I didn't order any of those pens with my name on it.
9. Bring a camera. I just thought of this one. I'll want pictures for blog purposes.
10. Dress professionally.

I've never done this before. I'd like to know from readers and writers alike if you have any other thoughts for an event like this that might help advertise your book. Personally, I think it's more about talking and less about gadgets but I might be wrong.

I recently was blessed by two blog posts that gave me a lot of these ideas. If you go to this post on my blog  Blog Pick Friday you can easily find those posts. (I hope). Great advice.

If you are a reader that has attended an event like this or has attended a book signing what did you like and what didn't you like? What would you recommend?

If you are a writer and have done individual book signings and signings in a group as well what did you like and what didn't you like? What would you recommend?

Reader or writer, are book signings worth it? Please take a piece of chocolate as you leave the blog. :)