Your First Book Signing
by Weslynn McCallister
On the morning of my first book signing, I changed my clothes three times, smeared my make up, and took far longer than I had intended dressing. In my opinion, it’s important to appear as professional and well groomed as possible. I wore, and still wear a black or a white suit to most of my signings.
If your book signing is held out of town and if you do not own a GPS, be sure you know exactly where the store is. The manager or CRM will expect you on time.
Following are a few suggestions for your first booksigning:
If you are booking your own book signing rather than the publisher or a publicist, you will more than likely want to schedule it several months in advance. The bookstore may or may not advertise your signing. If they do not plan to advertise, then you must do it yourself. Notify your local newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations about your event. Tell the radio stations about your book and ask for an interview.
On the day of your first book signing, be at the bookstore at least fifteen minutes ahead of time so that you will have time to set up your table. Have a poster made of your cover, take along your business cards, brochures, and any other advertising material that you may have. If your book is a POD (print-on-demand) you will probably be asked to bring along your own copies for the signing. If it is not published by the POD method, bring along 10-15 copies just in case the book stores order didn’t arrive on time.
Start 5-10 minutes late — give people a chance to get there. The CRM or assistant manager will more than likely introduce you. If not, someone should even if it is a friend. You may type out an introduction for them to read if necessary.
Give a short talk about where you got the idea for the book, what inspired you to write it, and the synopsis. If there was anything unusual or funny that happened to you while writing it, tell your audience about it. Invite questions for 5-10 minutes.
Do a brief reading of 5 minutes or so – not too long, as you may lose people’s interest. Then, announce that you will be signing books for the next XXX minutes or while supplies last.
Finally, Move to your table. Hopefully the CRM will have provided you one with good visibility and lots of room around it, not blocked into a corner where two people standing will block all access to you. Have a stack of books next to you (not all of them — keep some of them under the table so that it looks like the supply is limited.) Have a couple of pens handy for signing.
Have your introducer announce about 15 minutes before your closing time that the signing time is almost up.
When your signing is over and you have stored all of your books and marketing materials in the containers that you brought them in, don’t forget to thank the CRM or manager of the book store for hosting the event. I almost always give a complimentary, autographed copy of my book to the CRM in gratitude for all that they have done for me and my book.
Finally, whether you have sold out or have not sold one book, remember that you are a success! You have written and finished the book of your dreams, gone through the lengthly process of publication, marketed your work, and finished your first book signing. Smile! Enjoy yourself and the people that you have met.
Weslynn