Book Signings: Fun and Financially Rewarding!

Friday, July 17^th found me holding a series of book signings locally, which were an extremely enjoyable experience. The events at Village Books in Bellingham, Washington and The Tattered Page bookstore in Mt. Vernon, Washington are over and it was a blast. The staff at Village Books were amazed that we sold some books there at the first book signing. They said that was highly unusual for a new author and they asked for an additional six books and asked me to autograph them. There was a fairly good turn out considering that it was a Friday night and the weather was brilliantly warm and beautiful. Village Books is located in a tourist district of town an easy walk to beautiful beaches, boardwalks, parks, and historic attractions so we (the bookstore staff and I) were pleased to have as many people show up as they did, about sixteen.

The Tattered Page staff in Mt. Vernon were equally welcoming and helpful, setting up a table and comfortable chairs next to the entrance to their store. They supplied a table with homemade cookies, lemonade, coolingly refreshing iced tea, and asked if any other location would be more comfortable and if they could supply anything else we might need. The book signing started off with a bang as I met a couple of customers who inquired after the book, expressed enthusiasm, and purchased a copy each. My wife and I handed out most of our stock of bookmarks to customers as they entered the store and passersby on the sidewalks outside. We received a great deal of interest about the book from people as varied as an airline pilot from New York on vacation with his family to a neuro-physiologist and his masseuse girlfriend. I also collected a number of interested customers' email and physical addresses so I can keep them posted about progress on the sequel to The Antiquarian Chronicles and other of my books that I hope to see published.

Pam and Ellen, the owners of The Tattered Page came over after the book signing and complemented me on a successful event. They said they were suitably impressed because most authors that hold book signings at their store simply sit at the table and wait for people to come by and make inquiries. I enlisted the aid of my wife (an excellent salesperson in her own right!) in handing out bookmarks while I mingled with the bookstore customers and initiated conversations, offering them cookies, juice, tea, and asking them questions about themselves and their particular reading preferences. We did succeed in selling some books there and they sounded enthusiastic about me coming back for another book signing in the future.

All in all, book signings turn out to be at least as much fun as writing a book because of all the interesting people one will, almost certainly, meet. And selling your very own book is just an added bonus!