Musings on a book signing (part 2)

I’m getting ready for my first book signing for my debut novel, The Ghosting Time. It’s tomorrow…..

I’m hoping it leads to a few book sales, good networking and maybe a bit of branding visibility –intangible benefits that will hopefully pay off later. Mostly, though – it represents a start. And the first step is usually the hardest to take.

George R.R. Martin, the man behind Game of Thrones, recalled that during his first book signing, nobody showed up. When someone finally appeared, they mistakenly thought he was one of the venue employees and gave him some work to do.

Daniel Handler, author of Lemony Snicket recounted an early book signing and reading. The organizers booked a large room for him, and only two people showed up, taking their seats in the back row. After he finished the performance, they approached his desk and told him that they worked in the next-door building and only came to the reading because they hate his books.

Fortunately, I don’t have any detractors yet, so I am looking forward to several pleasant conversations and some new customers. The average uptick in sales at a book signing is four books, so I’m being cautiously optimistic. Word of mouth is key in these things and maybe I’ll catch the attention of a major publishing personality.

When Chelsea Banning, an Ohio librarian and debut author, hosted her first book signing, only two people attended. She expressed her disappointment on Twitter, stating she felt "bummed" and "a little embarrassed" about the turnout. Her tweet garnered an outpouring of support from established authors like Margaret Atwood and Stephen King, who shared their own stories of similarly disappointing signings, and gave her book a solid sales bump.

I found a great photograph taken in 1998 at one of JK Rowling’s first book signings. Just putting that out there……See you at the signing.