Signing in the Rain

     What authors do to sell their books! March in Louisiana is fair and festival season, primarily because the weather usually fine, clear, warm, but not too warm. It's the best time to promote my books, too. I signed up for four events to do so, one a wonderful arts and crafts fair where I usually sell a number of books and sometimes small pieces of art. Setup must be completed by nine, and the fair runs until four o'clock.  It's a long but worth it day most years, and I don't have to pay for my space. This year, the first weekend in March was simply freezing. I bundled up, but found doing my setup too hard with gloves and was fumble-fingered hanging the art and doing my book display. I finally settled into my chair, threw a blanket over my legs, drank some of the hot tea I'd brought along, and consoled myself with a cookie purchased from one of the vendors.  Of course, customers did not venture out until almost noon when it warmed up. I had all my sales then and met a bunch of people who might buy later, but the whole time prayed I wouldn't get walking pneumonia again as I did at a chilly event in December.  Not doing anything outdoors in December again--though it can be warm here. You never know.
     Event number two took place on a week night to entertain six hundred visiting bicycle riders--who after riding forty miles really had no interest in art or reading. My husband was scheduled to set up his telescope for sun viewing. I said I'd put up my tables nearby as he usually has a line and hope for the best. Clouds closed in and threatened rain. My husband packed his telescope and helped me drag my tables under a nearby awning in front of an office in case it rained.  It did. While huddled there, again with hot tea from my thermos to ward off the damp, a woman approached and asked what I am doing there and who am I?  I replied, "Participating in the art walk and taking shelter from the rain."
     "Well, my boss wants to see some ID."  I gave her my business card.  She asked if all my info was correct. Yes. They wouldn't do me much good if it wasn't. She contacts her boss in the bowels of the office building--which is closed. He wants to see my driver's license. I get it out, and she photographs it and me. Now, I have lived in this town over thirty years and know a lot of people. First time
 I've ever been treated like a criminal, especially since I'd been asked to participate. I'd had enough and said I'd pack up and leave.  Oh, no, now I can stay.  I did for another hour. Had one sale to a rider who bought my shortest book for his wife--because he has to tote it in his backpack. Nice guy from California.  The sky grows dark again. I pack up as a misty rain falls. I do believe this is my last participation in a cycling event. Just not worth the hassle and being hassled. And by the way, public sidewalk, and I was not blocking his door or the right of way. Guy was a lawyer--figures.
     Event number three was several days later, a literary festival with fifty authors lining the main street and offering every kind of book for sale. I was set up in my paid spot between an interesting mystery writer from New Orleans with an impressive setup and tent and a self-published friend with a card table and no canopy. Not wanting a repeat of the last rainy venue, I'd brought mine. Supposedly, my tarp can be set up by one person--one very tall and strong person, which I am not. My husband raised it with the help of the fellow from New Orleans. I set up my display and waited. Some traffic, not much interest, and weather that turned cold and threatened rain. I had my first sale around noon when the hospitality committee brought us all a nice lunch of pasta and chicken salad and a cookie, but I kind of wished it were nice hot gumbo. Again, saved by that thermos of hot tea. An hour later, the wind is whipping and a drizzly rain if falling. Those without tarps pack up and go home. We were supposed to be out there until three. I call home for help getting the tarp down and begin to pack. Suddenly, two people who said they'd come back and buy later (they rarely do) rush up and buy a total of seven books. In one case, I had unpack to find the ones she wanted, but I did appreciate the sale. I'm home by one-thirty, as I think most of the writers were, and had a nice, cozy afternoon where I actually got some writing done instead of trying to sell it. 
     The last event, thank heaven, was indoors at a library. The authors were clustered in a rear meeting room which library patrons avoided. Mostly we visited each other, and some of the newly published had their families show up. For me, a three hour round trip drive and one sale, but I did hand out a lot of cards and appeared to score some sales on Amazon later. At least, I wasn't cold and damp.
      So aspiring authors, this could be your life. Think you can just stay home and write?  Nope, you have to put yourself out there to get noticed.  Be sure to buy a canopy of your own because you might be signing in the rain!

Another Book Signing - Sigh

     Face it, unless you become a famous author, your first book signing, usually at your local library or bookstore will be your best and most exciting.  Friends and family come to wish you well. Many will buy your first book to be supportive, though they may never read it.  In my case having been the former county library director, much curiosity was involved.  Thanks to the steamy cover on my first somewhat sexy book (only three flames out of five, folks), more than one person whispered that Miss Lynn is now writing dirty books.  Nope.  I'd probably sell more if I did
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     Once that first rush is over, subsequent book signings will not go as well.  It is known that libraries are the worst places to sign as people who use then will simply check out the library copy if interested and now can even borrow them temporarily on their e-readers.  Usually, many authors attend as both libraries and bookstores are being bombarded by the self-published for a venue, and so they group all of us together whether self, e-pubbed, or traditionally published for one mass signing. The bad news-lots of competition, the good-lots of authors to talk to in order to make the time pass faster and perhaps make some interesting contacts.

     I would advise writers new to this business to dress up your table a little.  Don't just sit behind a stack of books and hope.  I put out the wonderful red and black Sinners jersey my daughter got for me and display the football romances on it.  My new Mardi Gras series titles are nested in a pile of colorful beads and other throws.  A bowl of candy might help, but mostly people seem to grab and run. I do envy cookbook authors.  They always have a hook - a steaming crockpot of some dish to attract attention.  I had some excellent spicy white beans and rice at my last library signing where I sold three books, great compared to the events where I have sold none or one.  Mostly, browsers pick up my sexy book cards or my less sexy, but very pretty, Mardi Gras cards.  These might result in e-sales later, and indeed, someone bought an entire set of Sinners books in paperback on Amazon the following Monday, so not a wasted afternoon.

     I admit sometimes toying with potential customers who really don't want to buy or even hear about my books.  One lady who stopped by for a chocolate fix immediately told me she didn't read those kind of books, i.e. ones with hot covers.  She only read mysteries (I hear that one a lot), so I pointed out Mardi Gras Madness which has a mystery sub-plot and is not particularly sexy. Oh, she says, "I can only read Large Print."  I suggest she take a card for the book, and she can get it on an e-reader and adjust the print size any way she wants.  No, she doesn't have an e-reader, has to hold the book in her hands.  Having come full circle, I bid her adieu with a cheerful, "Thanks for stopping by", not adding "and eating my chocolate".  An amazing number of folks also only read historicals or non-fiction.  Since Queen of the Mardi Gras Ball is an historical, I now only have to produce a non-fiction book to please everyone.  As for myself, I read a wide variety of books.  I do think I would find literature very limiting otherwise.

More on Book Selling - or Not!

My editor warned me that libraries are the worst sites to sell books, but I went anyway when offered a free table to sign Goals for a Sinner just after Thanksgiving. I joined eight other authors, mostly self or e-pubbed, in a broad hallway between the children's department and the DVD collection. Didn't take me long to realize that people come to libraries to borrow books, not buy them. Maybe not my target audience.

Young mothers who looked like they could use a light, spicy read scurried past practically shielding the eyes of their tots from my cover of the half-naked, ripped guy that is somewhat hotter than the actual book. Whole families with DVDs stacked up to their chins for free weekend viewing stayed out in the middle of the aisle. Most of the authors sold two or three books, including one old gentleman with a self-pubbed tome of inspirational messages. He told me later that one copy was stolen, but figured the person must have needed it really badly. I sold nary a one, but at least I wasn't ripped off.

On the plus side since I was in the city, I finished my Christmas shopping afterward. That put me in the mood to do good. The next day, I went to sign up to be a bone marrow donor-and found out my bone marrow is too old. How depressing. But ever shameless, I did tell the volunteers that one of the characters in my sequel, Wish for a Sinner, had been saved by a bone marrow transplant and handed out my promotional cards. You would think after all the research I did on that subject, I would have known my bone marrow had expired. Will I get any sales from my generous impluse to help or my nerve in handing out the sexy guy cards at a charity event? Only time will tell.

Signing Books at Barnes and Noble

Really, I didn't expect to sell many books, but gee, golly, gosh, here I am signing at Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite places on earth. After a friend told me they didn't have my book and I needed to go introduce myself, I did. The manager looked over the product, checked it on the computer, probably to see if the wholesaler carried it and if it was returnable. He cordially agreed to order a few copies for the "Local Author" table and asked if I want to participate in the group signing the next week. Well, yes!

So, I donned my football jersey again and had free foam football giveaways to go with the book in keeping with the Goals for a Sinner theme. I set up my post among the other e-pubbed and self-pubbed. The Civil War books and cookbooks (free samples given) sold like hotcakes. The young man with a children's book sitting next to me must have been related to half the parish because he had a line waiting. I sold five copies to friends. My target was six. Not too disappointed. I know how these things go. I did do better than the two women with poetry and memoir offerings. And enough folks chatted with me to keep me from being bored. It was an okay experience, and I was excited to have my book in one Barnes and Noble. A caveat, since we had to bring our own books and B and N takes a 40% cut of sales, I probably made only pennies that night. Exposure is important, I tell myself.

Checking my e-mail the next day, I get a letter from the publisher who contracted the sequel warning me not to deal with Barnes and Noble. Too many returns, no enough profit. Mea culpa. Too late now.

Best Book Signing Ever

We didn't call it a book signing, but went for the autograph party because that's what it was. My children roared into town bearing with them red and black Sinners' football jerseys and two red velvet cakes, one shaped like a book with my cover embossed on it in edible film. Confused? Goals for a Sinner tells the story of a fictional football team named the Sinners whose colors are red and black. A romance evolves between a wide receiver and sports photogapher, Stevie Dowd.

So,we suited up in our jerseys, did a team hand clasp, and got started. Eventually, foam footballs bounced off the walls of the bookstore. Friends visited and stayed awhile for the fun. I did not remain behind the book table but cut cake and begged people to take it, assuring them they did not have to buy a book if they ate it. Still, no takers among strangers who entered. One old woman who came to browse looked at our frolic with disapproval. Even a group of four Goth teens passed on the cake heeding their parents' advice never to take sweets from strangers-or maybe they would have preferred blood. Don't know. We gave out extra pieces to be taken home to spouses and still had cake left at the end of the event.

Oh yes, we did sell books, at least a dozen though I lost count in the sheer giddiness of the moment. If we had sold only one copy, this still would have been the Best Book Signing Ever-family, friends, food and fun. No stuffy book signing for us. I doubt I will ever have a better one. Thanks so much to my children, my long suffering husband, and Howard and Lorraine Kingston of Books Along the Teche for making this a moment to remember.

Still more Mysteries of Amazon

Oh no! Goals for a Sinner has been discounted on Amazon, and I haven't even had my first book signing yet. That is coming up fast at Books Along the Teche in New Iberia, LA on Saturday, May 22nd, 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Come for the cake if nothing else-red and black velvet, the Sinners' colors, though my team does not wear velvet. Also, we will have a foam football toss at noon. Fun, fun, fun!

Back to Goals being discounted. But it is in such good company. Those who viewed its blurb, also looked at books by Lisa Kleypas, Rachel Gibson, and Susan Mallery. How great is that? Only one copy left. Buy, buy, buy!

Cold Feet

Lent is over. Easter is past. I've dyed the eggs, lost the egg bumping contest, and made creamed ham and eggs on toast for dinner. Several friends asked if I immediately went to Barnes and Noble to spend a fortune on books after my long book fast. Well, I did go with my son who bought a Pat the Bunny bunny for his godchild. I was tempted by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, but went away empty-handed. Maybe later.
So what did I spend my book money on? - one hundred copies of my soon to be released title, Goals for a Sinner, a big number on my credit card, though better after I got my author's discount. This is the proverbial leap of faith. If I can't sell 100 copies of my own book, who can? Our wonderful local bookstore, Books Along The Teche, is holding a book signing for me. I've already asked relatives and friends to come and just stand around so it looks like I have a crowd. I plan to make it fun by having a foam football toss. And maybe we'll have cake. People will cross a room for cake. But beneath it all is the fear than no one will buy my book except the relatives, and no one will like it if they do buy - which will make selling the sequel pretty hard. I believe this is a classic writers phobia. So, I take a deep breath and keep on writing.
What book, other than mine, finally claimed my cash after my not buying books during Lent vow ended - Fired Up by Jayne Ann Krentz. Love Jayne Ann.