Is there anyone that can shed some light as to how a book signing works.

i.e. who sets it up? Who to contact? Do we bring our own books, table? Does it cost money?

And which companies are "easier" to work with than others.

My first book will become live in a couple of weeks so as soon as I have some in hand, I would like to start setting these up.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Or if you have any horror stories you'd like to share (good or bad), I would love to hear about them.

Thanks!
Teresa

Hi Teresa,

You call the manager or owner of the book stores you want to hold the signing in and offer to have a signing on such and such a date. Most managers are happy to set it up because it draws in business. Depending on how popular the store is, they may be booking signings as far as 3 months out. You can get the date and time set up (I usually allot 2 hours) and then send out press releases to your local papers letting them know of the signing. Sometimes they will run a little blurb in the community news section of the paper.

If your book is traditionally published, the book store will order copies to have for you to sign. All you do is show up!

If you have self-published, I believe you have to provide the copies yourself unless your publisher has agreed to let the book store send back any unbought copies.

Hope that helps.

Kelly

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

p.s. if you want to save yourself a lot of time and grief, buy Carolyn Howard-Johnsonj's book, the Frugal Book Promoter. Its like THE BIBLE of all things marketing for your book. You can get it as an e-book (which means instantly!) if you can't wait to purchase it otherwise. Go to http://www.starpublish.com/ and click under "The Star e-book store.

JJ

WOW! This is great information!

I have self published my book, so of course I must self promote. I don't have an agent that I am working with.......so I am by myself at this point. Although so far, I am doing better than I ever thought I would. I did a huge mailing acouple of weeks ago and orders are flying in through the mail and online. Of course I don't give out my personal address, as I had to open up a P.O. Box.

I found a great website to order CHEAP but fabulous postcards, bookmarks, etc. I believe i posted the website on another boomer forum but I will do so again here.

http://www.ImageMediaPrint.com

I am always skeptical to order products from unfamiliar companies but when my postcards arrived I was completely impressed with the quality!

When bringing my own books to a signing, what is the average number of books to bring?? 20? 30? more?

And do the bookstores also advertise that you will be there?

Also, once I leave the bookstore, do the managers usually keep a few on hand for potential buyers?

Teresa

B&N ordered my books from my publisher. They are usually thrilled to have a local do a book signing. It is an honor when they ask you to sign extra books because it means they think they can sell them and if they run out of books, they have you sign these little cards that you autograph and they insert them into your book.

Depending on your topic, like dv is good for October, arrange to have a short interview with a local tv show and then, announce your book signing during the interview. Also radio shows that are local. And yes, most book stores send out newsletters and will mention your book and signing.

Okay, here is my tip of the day, which makes me laugh when I do it. Once your book is on the shelves, go in and pretend to be looking at the books and place your book face out so it will be more noticeable. I know a lot of authors that do that! It's fun.

Here is a link to an article written by Jenna, founder of Absolute Write:

http://www.absolutewrite.com/jenna/promote_event.htm

An easy way to research is to simply Google "book signings", or "successful book signings". I know this sounds ridiculous, but sometimes we forget the information that is at our fingertips for FREE. There I go again with that FREE stuff.

Good luck!

Hi Dotsie........

I am game for anything "free". Self publishing can be costly.......so heck....if I can learn the in's and out's of self promoting without having to sell the shirt off of my back, I am all for that!

Thanks!
Teresa

Hi Teresa, I went to that image site but didn't see direction to the bookmarks. What should I look under? Business Cards? Thanks, L

Hi Lynn

Once you click on the website, it will say "pricing" on the upper left corner of the webpage. Click on that link and it will give you a rundown on their prices. I think they are very reasonable compared to their competitors.

let me know what you think!
Teresa