Dear Power,
I will give you some info in pieces. Reason being is time. But I WILL respond. I will also assume you are speaking from an author's standpoint of not having an agent, or a publisher who is doing any PR work for you. Most of them don't. Or if they do, it's precious little.

Now, given all of that, one way of getting a book signing is to call your local independent book store(s) and simply ask them if they let local authors have book signings. By doing this, you are eliminating the ones that don't. There are some, believe it or not. And by calling, you are saving yourself some gas by driving around from store to store. If you live in a big town, this can be costly, time-wise, and gas-wise.

Don't give the details over the phone, just ask if they do. To me, its unprofessional to expect them to "make a deal" over the phone. Take your "yes" list and go visit each store. Take your book in hand (have several copies available to give) and ask to speak to the person who is in charge of book signings (if you haven't already gotten that info from the phone calls). I know I don't need to say this, but I will...don't wear your "I love Elvis" T-shirt, or "I'm with Stupid" one to visit the stores. You are a professional. Dress like one. Don't go overboard, but be neat and clean. Nuff said.

Have you speech ready, be friendly and upbeat, excited even. Hey, you should be! You're about to give them the opportunity to display and sell YOUR book! What could be more exciting than that, eh?

Most stores already have a set amount they will want to make off of your book(s). So if you don't agree, be ready to give an alternative.

Example: One woman who carries my books in her store said she would only take X amount of books and only make X amount off of them (which was low for her for the effort). I wanted a long term relationship with her and her fabulous store, so I thought for a minute then told her to take more of a profit, IF she took more books. She agreed...who won? We both did. She sold the books, and I got a smaller amount of profit, but I got a LARGER amount of exposure than I could have done because it was in another town, not my own hometown. Now that's not a book signing, but I may suggest one with her in the near future since she's had a taste of whether or not it generates sales.

I make my own posters (professionally done)and have everything I need for a book signing. No dates on posters so I can use them over and over. Also, get them laminated. Its cheap and washable! Table top cutsey "stuff," but not too much, plenty of books, business cards, postcards that say "thank you" bookmarks, posters with my pic and pic of the book on it, doo da...doo da. The only thing I don't have is food. This is up to each store. Its my understanding that some like it, some don't.

Forget Books-a-Million, Barnes N Noble and others if you want a book signing right away. There is a process you HAVE to go thru, red tape, and the giving of your first-born...as if that isn't enough, everything takes time...time...and more time. BUT...it can be done. I'll give you that info in a bit. More to follow.

JJ