I once read a blog post from an author who was giving up book signings because too few people showed at signings these days. At the time I read the article, I’d only been to three book signings, none of them for me. All 
were in Memphis, a southern city of about a million people (in the metro area) and my hometown. I learned something from those three signings that I’ve carried with me and used in my own career.
The first signing I attended was to support one of my fellow RWA chapter members. She said, “Come on by (Big Name Chain Bookstore in a megaplex, regional, suburbia shopping mall) and attend my book signing.” I showed up and there she sat at a folding table with three other authors. Each had a stack of books and they were all just sitting there and chatting with one another and with whomever walked by. It wasn’t clear to me if they were selling their own books or if the books belonged to the store. Not a single staff person from the bookstore was in sight. I’m not sure if the authors sold many books or not. As a customer, I was confused and I thought this format was not very productive for my friend. (I did buy another copy of her book so she could sign it. I already had a copy from the publisher as a gift.)
The second signing was in a medium-size, independent bookstore in the affluent part of Memphis. The author (who grew up here and was well-known, although he lives in a swanky town out west now) was on a book tour to promote his second, non-fiction bestseller. The event had a beginning and an end. The author gave a talk with a slide show. He took questions from the audience. Then he signed books. The store staff was there to direct people, organize the sales and to keep people (literally) in line. It seemed to me about a hundred people showed up and they all (including me) lavished praised on the author. I thought, “This is what a book signing should be…I hope I get to have one, some day, just like this one.”
The third signing was at that same, independent bookstore with a best selling NYT fiction author, also on tour for his second book. His first book was a huge hit. I expected a turnout and event like the one from the non-fiction author. Instead, only two other people showed up beside myself. The author was gracious, funny, and generous with his time and stories. The store staff treated him as if he were a star and brought him a rack of books to sign after the event. I stayed with him (we are friends and were going to dinner) while he chatted with the staff, signing and telling story after story. Afterwards, I asked him, “How does it feel when only two people show up for a book signing? How do you keep up your energy and enthusiasm?” And this is what he said:
“Book signings are not just for the general public. They are for the booksellers. I am here to present my book to the people who are going to sell it. If you don’t have them as your friend and advocate, then you’ll never sell a book.”
This made perfect sense and I took it to heart. I declared this author to be my book tour mentor (to myself…never to his face…after all, I was about to be a grown-up author myself with a book currently in pre-production at that time). I didn’t want to have a book signing with only two people, but if I did, I had the right attitude and could turn it into a positive experience.
A year later, I started out on my own book tour. I had done my researched and targeted only southern, independent bookstores within the region where my story was set.
The first signing was not at a bookstore, but at a party in Jackson, a medium-sized southern city in Mississippi. I had partnered with a statewide non-profit foundation to have my book on-hand at their annual fund-raiser. (The topic of my book coincided with the foundation’s mission.)
(Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was so nervous about traveling to the fund raiser party and the next day’s book signing, that I forgot my hanging bag with my clothes. I didn’t notice that I had nothing to wear until I checked into the hotel and got up to my room. I had about one hour before the party to run out to the local department store to buy a dress. I felt awkward the entire evening and looked like I was wearing borrowed clothes since my shoes didn’t match and I had no accessories…a cardinal sin for a southern lady!)
Several hundred people attended the event and I sold a fair number of books. The format was that my book was on the same table with all of the other swag (T-shirts, cards, posters, etc) for the foundation. I milled around (I was also a member) and was available to sign books if the purchaser wanted it. The smartest marketing ploy was that the foundation held a silent auction. At the end of the night, when the winner (after several hours of consuming fabulous food and drink) came to the table to pay for the auction item, he/she usually said, “and I’ll take one (or two) of those books, too.” This is the same strategy retail stores use at the checkout counter. If the buyer has already spent a wheel barrel load of money on something, why not throw in a stick of gum or, in my case, a beautiful book?
The next day, I had my first in-store book signing at Lemuria Books, the local, independent bookstore in Jackson (after another slam-dunk-I’ll-take-the-first-skirt-I-see-that-fits-me shopping spree at the department store.) I went with the attitude that this was a dress rehearsal.
Only two friends showed up, but all of the booksellers were eager to hear my story. I told them that I wanted to practice my presentation and I welcomed their feedback. We gathered in a cozy corner, on a raised platform. I sat in what looked like the corner booth of a 1950’s diner and the “audience” circled around me in folding chairs. Four to six of the staff (depending on foot traffic) listened intently, asked poignant questions, told their own stories and expressed enthusiasm about selling the book. They were supportive, encouraging and made me feel as if I (and my future books) would always be welcome there. After the presentation, only one person walked in off the street to buy a book. I signed it with much gratitude. However, even though the staff only sold a few books during my event, they assured me that my book would have a long shelf life and they expected to sell many more. (I received this same message at each bookstore on my tour.)
A few days later, I journeyed to the most important signing of my tour. It is true what they say…big things do come in small packages. I drove to Blytheville, a tiny farm town in northeast Arkansas, a million miles away from the publishing world. That Bookstore in Blytheville was the only signing my publisher set up for me (I scheduled all of the others myself) and she insisted I pay homage to the bookseller. Turns out, the big New York publishers (who have a lick of sense) send all of their southern authors to this bookstore for their first signing. It is a right of passage and prepares the author for the brave new world of book tours. In fact, it was the venue for Charles Frazier’s (and many other great southern writers) first book signing ever.
The bookseller was lovely. The format is that everybody sits in rocking chairs and visits. After some visiting, wine sipping and rocking, I gave my presentation, took questions and visited a while longer. Then I received the highest honor…to take part in the ritual chair signing. Each author puts his/her mark on one of those rocking chairs. My name is next to the greatest. Again, few books sold, but I was nurtured and made a friend for life.
The Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans, Louisiana and Turn Row Book Company in Greenwood, Mississippi were much the same…casual atmosphere, fine wine and cheese (provided by the bookseller…just a given for southern hospitality…a nice surprise each time), gracious bookseller hosts, appreciative buyers, interesting people because they were interested…not a big turn out, but my mission was accomplished: to educate the bookseller, see old friends and to make new friends in the local community.
Then came the signing at that independent bookstore in my own hometown.
Both my publisher and I had been preparing for The Big Event for several months. We each had chewed our fingernails down to the quick over the fact that this particular bookstore was scheduled to either shutter its doors the week of my signing or to ride off into the sunset with a white night who was going to save it from bankruptcy. I sent out about 2000 snail mail invitations (my only direct marketing expense) to the signing; the local paper and city magazines announced the event in their publications; and over 100,000 people got the email/social media announcement. I was going to be so humiliated if I had to set up a table in the parking lot in front of a closed store and sell all of my author’s copies.
Low and behold…the white night did show up. We held the event at The Booksellers at Laurelwood (new website in progress) and I was overwhelmed with the turn out and support from my family, friends and interested Saturday afternoon shoppers. I think we sold five cases of books during the event, and I signed two more cases after it was all over.
What made the difference between this signing and all the others? I think it helps to be FROM SOMEWHERE. It all gets back to those southern roots. The author who gave up on book signings sounded as if she did not target her market. I started out with the people I know and the places that are familiar to me and to my subject matter. My goal was to establish my brand, to get my name out, to meet the booksellers, to educate them about my book and to allow them to teach me about how to promote it. John Grisham goes to every bookstore on my tour for each book he publishes, yes especially to that one in Blytheville Arkansas. We southerners appreciate humility and it goes a long way to our mutual success.
My next signing will be in Oxford, Mississippi (where it all started for great Southern literature) with Square Books. The event will be paired with a gallery opening of my photographs that appear in the book…another “two-fer” as my editor calls them. The book signing and opening will be at Southside Gallery, a few doors down from Square Books, on the square in downtown Oxford.
Tie your event into something that has benefit or meaning to the local community. Give of yourself…be of service…contribute to the retailers’ bottom line. Don’t just sit at a folding table in a bookstore in a shopping mall and expect people to know who you are and to buy your book just because it is on display. Don’t stop having book tours. Our independent bookstores are struggling too much as it is. Author’s events are attractions and contribute to the new business model of brick and mortar bookstores. These stores must adapt in order to survive. They just don’t sell books…perhaps we should call them something instead of a “bookstore” (a dying breed)…how about a “Literary Center?” The bookstore must serve as a community center…a place to share ideas…to learn and to live. Books, coffee, cafes, music, readings, art exhibitions, merchandise, dog and pony shows, whatever…mean nothing without the author, the only person who can provide the human experience of a book.
I’ve received several other requests for book signings and I intend to honor each of them…not all at once… but a few at a time…at a leisurely pace…when we have time to share a few good stories…to sit and rock and visit.
