During the last week I have been able to participate in the most iconic of author events—the book signing tour. Arranged by my publisher, Cedar Fort, I have been fortunate enough to setup and sign books in the local Costco stores. Today will be my third signing in Arizona and 
arrangements are being made for a week of signings in
Utah next month. 
 
The experience is probably a little different for debut novelists than it is for more established authors simply because they have a chance that fans of  their previous books will stop by and visit. However, I suspect that the basics are the same. And I’m going to share a little bit of what I learned.  

Take someone with you. I don’t remember where I got this advice, but it was
right on the money. Having a friend along will not only help you to loosen up so you can greet the customers with greater ease, but they can act as your assistant. You need to focus on connecting with the people in the store. A helpful friend can let you do that while handling all of the other tasks that need to be done. 

Get a poster with your picture on it. It wasn’t until after my first signing that I understood the wisdom of this advice. I thought that pasting my image on a poster was an unnecessary bit of vanity. In reality, it informs the people walking by that there is an author on the premise ready and willing to sign their books. Very few people knew that I was an author. I have no doubt that more of them would have stopped and talked to me if they realized that I had written the book on the table in front of me. Even if that was for no other reason that to tell their friends that they had spoken with a real live person
of interest.  

Stand and smile. I have been to my share of trade shows and know from my experience on both sides of the table that those
people who stand and smile attract a lot more visitors than those who sit and wait for
people to stop and talk to them. It’s the difference between a joyous invitation to participate and solemn warning to be
left alone. At least, that is how it appears to your potential customers. 

Say hi. You’ll be surprised at the results. At each of my signings I sold books to people
who had barely looked in my direction. A friendly greeting, literally, turned them back around and after a fun discussion with them, they bought The Gathering. 

That’s enough author tips for the day. The important thing about my
book signings is that I had the chance to meet all sorts of
interesting people. This is the moment I had dreamed about as
a wannabe author. All of the slow moments and effort that goes into  
meeting new people is worth it when one of them stops and takes an 
interest in my book. 

If you get a chance, I hope you will stop by one of my signings and say hi. 
 

Last minute addition: I didn’t have time to post this 
before I left for today’s book signing and am glad that I had to wait. Because, it gives me the 
opportunity to talk about my 
new friend—Earl. 
 
Earl stopped by and told me that he had already read the book and liked it. Well, color me surprised. Not that he liked it, but that within the week that The Gathering has been out someone has already read it and had time to come down from Salt Lake City and tell
me about it. Alright, he didn’t make the trip to Arizona just to tell me he liked the
book. It just happened to be a happy coincidence that he was in Costco while I was doing the signing. The important thing is that I received my first, in-person feedback on the
novel. Earl said his favorite part of the book was the questions in the back. 
 
Thanks, Earl. It was a pleasure to meet  you. 

Happy Birthday to you. 

Happy Birthday to you. 

Happy Birthday, The Gathering: End’s
Beginning.
 
Happy Birthday to you. 
            
Occasionally, procrastination pays off. In this case not having a clue as to what I would post on the day that my debut novel was to be released allowed me to read my friend Shelly’sblog. She pointed out that this
isn’t the official release of my novel as much as it the birth of my brain child. Or something like that. 



As of today, you can find The Gathering on the shelves of your local bookstore. That is, if your local book store happens to be Costco, Deseret Book, or one of the independents that picked it up from Cedar Fort. 
             
Oddly enough, it has been almost nine months since I was offered a publishing contract for my literary offspring. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long. Let’s take a look.
             
Spring and early summer I spent my time telling everyone I was going to be published. Some call it bragging, but I like to think of it as . . . bragging. Then it hit me that I should finish the novel I was working on at the time before I got busy doing author stuff—whatever that might be. Despite a furious writing scheduled I fell short of finishing Exit
Stage Left.
             
August and September flew past as I studied marketing and devised a plan to get the news of my exciting new novel to as many people as possible. It was at this point that I realized that I was in over my head. I should have started forming my marketing plan as soon as I signed the contract. 
              
Then winter rolled in and I took brief breaks from setting up my blog tour, designing the marketing materials I would use, and arranging for the creation of a book trailer in order to spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year with my family. Even then, my conversations were focused on the recent marketing drive and included plenty of attempts to sucker . . . I mean joyfully coax, my family into helping out. 
             
And then, BOOM!
             
January arrived. Requests for guest blogs, author interviews, and the like dominated my to-do-list. Nor would the shoot for the book trailer be ignored. Scheduling, rescheduling, arranging last minute replacements for the extras that were forced to cancel due to personal tragedy. 
 
Whew! It made me wonder if all of this frantic work weren’t a little like giving birth. However, as I sit here today, my mind is focused on the joy of seeing the child of my imagination sitting on the store shelves.


Welcome to the world, kiddo.