Preparing for your Booksigning

Preparing For Your Booksigning

Elizabeth Rose

Part 2

Last month we learned how to go about setting up a booksigning, and promoting it before the day even gets here. Now I’m going to tell you what to do when that long awaited day actually arrives.

The Day of the Booksigning

1)      Be rested and relaxed. The last thing you need is to be yawning when you’re sitting at the table signing your books. Get a good nights rest the night before, and don’t plan on doing errands or anything stressful or time consuming that day. If you can meditate before you go, it’ll help keep your emotions stable and you’ll be ready for whatever may happen. Take a leisurely bath or shower, have plenty of time to do your hair, and make sure your dress is ironed and your nylons don’t have runs. Take time for makeup and jewelry and a squirt of perfume. Look your best, as first impressions are lasting ones. You want to make it good.

2)      Pack your bag. In reality, this should be done the night before. Bring your own tablecloth and display. I’ve been to signings where they’ve treated me like a queen with a beautiful table, cloth, flowers, display of books, box of candy and a huge poster, all sitting up at the front of the store. Plus they’ve taken photos while I was there to place up in the store later on. Then I’ve been to signings where I’m lucky to get a table and chair at all (as you’ve seen.) So come with a table cloth, bookmarks, business cards, candy dish, bookstands so your books can be upright and look presentable, and if you want, bring some kind of display for the table. For example, when I signed my Greek myths, I brought along plastic grapes connected to leafy grapevines, which I intertwined with the books on the table. It’s nice to have levels, with some of the books higher, especially if you’re signing more than one title. A quick trick here, is to grab some of the hardcover books the store is selling and slip them under your table cloth in spots to elevate spaces. Afterwards you just put the books back on the rack. It’s nice to sprinkle sequin/glitter hearts around the table, and maybe some wrapped candy kisses as well.

3)      Come prepared with “autographed copy” stickers. The store usually has some, but they’ll most likely be big and ugly and cover much of your cover art. I have nice oval gold ones that fit on the cover without blocking out the title or my name. Bring your own pens – I like glitter ones. Know a few generic lines to sign, such as “Happy Reading,” or “All My Best” or “Nice Meeting You.” If you’re clever at making up things to go along with your theme, incorporate that into the line to add uniqueness. Always ask the customer how to spell her name if you’re not sure. Remember, it can be Chris or Kris, and Kathy or Cathie, so it’s always wise to chat and make sure of the spelling to save yourself from embarrassment or being stuck with an unwanted book.

4)      Arrive early. Don’t wait til ten minutes before your signing time to walk in that door, as I did before I learned my lesson. Plan on getting there a half hour to forty-five minutes early. This will leave time for trains, traffic jams and unexpected troubles. If you get there and things aren’t set up, you can politely volunteer to help and move things along. If you get there and everything is perfect, lucky you! You can then either chat with the booksellers and get to know them, sit down and sell books ahead of the scheduled time or walk around the store and pass out bookmarks and tell people you are an author signing her books today. Or if you’d rather not do any of these, you can linger in the bathroom fixing your hair and makeup. Either way, at least you’re there on time and will leave a lasting good impression on the booksellers’ minds.

5)      Let them know who you are. Wear a nametag that says you’re the author, or place a sign on the table saying you’re doing a booksigning today. I can’t tell you how many times people would ask me where to find a certain book, thinking I worked there. I once asked a customer (after politely telling her why I was there) why she thought I worked there and was sitting behind a table of books. She said she thought I was on coffeebreak. Customers aren’t always as aware as we’d like them to be. So you need to smile and tell them you’re doing a booksigning. I usually give out a bookmark when they come in the store, and right away I’ve captured their attention.

6)      Chat with the customers. Don’t be afraid to talk with customers. Hand them a book to look at, small talk or just ask something about them. Let them know you are human too and not to be feared. Even if they don’t buy a book, you’ve had a nice conversation. If you’re signing by yourself it can get lonely, so keep this in mind. Or sign with another author – but realize you’re then setting up competition for yourself. The customers most likely will buy either your book or your friend’s book, but not both. You’ve just lost a sale. You don’t want to ruin a friendship over sales.

7)      Sign the leftover books. Ask if you can sign the leftover books and leave them in the store for stragglers. Ask the bookseller to put them face out on the wall. It’ll make it much easier to find, or to notice, if customers are blindly looking for something to read.

8)      Smile. This may sound like something everyone should know – and it is – but so many of us forget it. Smile at your customers and they’ll be apt to smile back. Even if you’re feeling like a goldfish in a bowl, just smile and let them look all they want. Hopefully they’ll remember you and your book.

9)      Promote your next book. This is the perfect opportunity to promote your next book. Put the information on your bookmarks, and also inform the booksellers of the title and release date right away. Oh – and always try to sign more than one of your titles at a booksigning if you are multi-published. Unless you feel you need to just sell the new one, I’d say have several of your titles available. If they don’t like one, they may like and buy another. I write contemporary, paranormal/fantasy and historical. So my books will reach a wide variety of readers. Make everything available possible.

10) Thank your bookseller. Be sure to thank your bookseller, and either follow up by sending her a card, or mailing or bringing with a little token gift for all her trouble. She will remember this and want you back to sign again. Plus, since some booksellers give you gifts, it’d be nice to reciprocate. I’ve received all kinds of gifts from booksellers such as boxes of Fannie May candies, to candles to potted plants. But I still say the best gift is the huge poster I took with and framed of my signing that had my photo and bookcover on it. It was my first book and the poster was a very special memory for me.

No matter what you do or what happens at your booksigning, just remember to smile, to breathe, and to have fun!

Elizabeth Rose

Page designed and Maintained by:	©2003 Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia
Web Design by Lisa Ramaglia ~Web Pages at Affordable Prices