By Crystal Bowman
Now that we are emerging from pandemic isolation, it won’t be long before author book signings return to encourage face-to-face marketing. Book signings sound like fun, right? People actually get to meet a real-live author and purchase an autographed copy of their book—maybe even with a personal message written on the inside cover. So exciting! But here’s the reality—book signings can be the most humbling experience of an author’s life.
At my first book signing, I was excited to have stacks of books just waiting to be autographed and sold. However, I sold and signed three books. One to my mother, one to my sister, and one to a customer. Over the years I have had better success with book signings and have found a few ways to improve the experience.
Go where the people are.
The truth is that unless you are world famous, very few people go to author book signings. So since the people don’t come to me, I go to them. I try to schedule my signings when there are other events happening in the store. One of my best signings was when the bookstore was having a carnival for kids in the parking lot. The kids needed to come into the store to redeem their tickets for prizes and walked by my table with their parents who stopped to look at my books. None of these families came to the store because I was there. I sold lots of books because the kids and parents were already there.
Don’t limit your signings to bookstores.
Another successful signing I had was at a mega supermarket. They set me up in the kids’ section of the store where there was plenty of foot traffic. I also had my daughter with me (who was six at the time). Her blonde pigtails and sweet smile caught the attention of many shoppers who couldn’t resist buying a book from us. Some of them even ask her to sign it!
I have also had good signings at toy stores during the peak of holiday season. Having books at a store other than a bookstore makes your book stand out rather than blend in with thousands of other books.
Get a table or booth at specific festivals.
Years ago I wrote a children’s picture book about the Holland Michigan Tupil Time Festival. For a small vendor’s fee, I had a table at their marketplace where other souvenirs and novelty items were sold. My picture book was the perfect gift for Grandma and Grandpa to bring back home to the grandkids.
Invite another author to join you.
Glenys Nellist is one of my author friends who also lives in Michigan and writes books for children. If one of us gets invited to do a book signing, we often invite the other to join. It always brings more people to the store, and most of them buy books from both of us so it’s a win-win for all.
These ideas only scratch the surface when it comes to possibilities. With some creative ideas and thinking outside the box, your book signings can be a pleasant experience. You may end up having more than three people in addition to you mom and sister.
Please share more ideas for books signings. What has worked for you?
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Crystal Bowman is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 100 books for children and four nonfiction books for women. She also writes lyrics for children’s piano music and is a monthly contributor to Clubhouse Jr. Magazine. She loves going to schools to teach kids about poetry. She also speaks at MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups and teaches workshops at writers’ conferences. When she is not writing or speaking, she enjoys going for walks, working out at the gym, and eating ice cream. She and her husband live in Michigan and have seven huggable grandkids.
4The most successful book signing I had took place at a setting in my book. The heroine was an artist and I had a scene in a local art gallery/ framing store. We scheduled it for the day local artist would be displaying and doing their art in the street outside the store. The owner served refreshments inside and set me up at a table inside. As people came in to get refreshments and view the art on display there they purchased books from me. They loved the idea that I'd set the story in our town.
ReplyDeleteThat is brilliant! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteThanks for the helpful tips, Crystal. Book signings are what I dread most once the book is published but I'm determined to find creative ways to do it, and your ideas have started the ball rolling.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you will think of more creative ideas for your signings. I wish you the best.
DeleteCrystal,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great tips in this article. For a successful book signing, it is critical the author takes action to invite people in their sphere of influence to attend and not leave it up to the bookstore or library or other venue holding the event. New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber gathers your physical mailing address when you sign up for her site. When she has a signing, she sends a postcard about it to people within 20 miles of the location. Years ago I was with her in Amarillo, Texas and she had a long line of people because of her own efforts to get people there.
Terry
author of 10 Publishing Myths, Insights Every Author Needs to Succeed
That is a great idea! My daughte-0in-law posted one of my signings on Facebook and we had a huge turnout. Glad you brought that up.
DeleteThanks for your helpful suggestions. I've scheduled a book signing at a college in the area where a good bit of my story took place. The newspaper said they would do an article on me and my book about two weeks before my signing. I'm hoping all this helps. With the pandemic the past many months things have slowed somewhat. Thanks again Crystal for sharing your tips. I really appreciate them.
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome. I know my suggestions just scratched the surface so I was hoping for some additional ideas from our blog readers. Thanks for sharing.
DeleteI had bad experiences with book signing. I set up at a rather high-end gift shop. They had me in a section away from the entry way. Those that came by really didn't do any more than glance at me. I actually wished I had taken a book to read. I checked into some of the area festivals and found I could not justify the three figured vendor's fee. Because of my multiple bad experiences, I am no longer writing books. Just thought you'd like to hear about some difficult experiences.
ReplyDeleteI have had some bad book signing experiences too, but kept trying until I had some good ones. They are always unpredictable and I am sure every author has had a few disappointing ones.
DeleteWhat insightful ideas, Crystal. I'm going to print this and keep it in a folder for the future, when my WIP get published. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI wish you the best!
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