| Author |
Message |
    
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1778
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 10:00 am: |   |
I thought I'd open this thread so that we can share information and advice on signings and appearances.
After endless unanswered phone calls and emails scattered over three states I've finally got a booksigning appearance locked in for Turn Left at September and it's a good one. It's at Schuler's Books & Music Cafe in a major shopping mall just outside of Lansing, MI. They're one of the biggest Indies in the country. It's a great venue because it will be hosted by the "Get-a-clue" mystery reader's club and that will gaurantee a respectable audience.
Behler laid some nice groundwork for this by sending the store a copy of the book and telling them that I'd be in touch.
The setting for booksignings looks a lot like someone's living room complete with gas burning fireplace and upholstered furniture. I'm totally convinced that the warm ambience of the place helps the author considerably. Four years ago I actually sold fifteen copies of The Unreal McCoy at a signing here.
I'll be yakking it up on the online forums a few days ahead of the event and I'm going to see if I can't get my H.O.G. (Harley Owner's Group) chapter to announce it on their website as well.
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Stephen Lodge
Hunger Member
Post Number:
91
Registered: 06-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 10:25 am: | |
Give 'em hell, Dennis ~
Novels by Stephen Lodge:
"Shadows of Eagles"
"Charley Sunday's Texas Outfit!"
"Nickel-Plated Dream"
|
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2582
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 11:52 am: | |
GREAT, and use all the tricks you can, especially the HOG unit.... any places you can stick up posters also announcing the event would be wonderful, too....
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
|
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1779
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 01:43 pm: | |
I just got the okay from a small town coffee house to stop in and discuss a presentation there too. It's a small market but I'm going to have a good look anyway.
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Nancy Mehl
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2387
Registered: 08-2001
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2006 - 08:21 pm: | |
Good for you, Dennis. Sounds like a great opportunity!
Nancy
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
www.nancymehlbooks.com
|
Jennifer Caress
Awareness Member
Post Number:
7
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 09:25 pm: | |
Good luck- I know you will be great. Please let us know how it went. Perhaps this is a girly question, but what do you plan on wearing? I don't mean specific details, rather will you be dressing up? Dressing down?
Does the place of signing usually provide the pens or markers, or do we have to bring our own? What sort of publicity are you planning on doing for the signing? |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3186
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, March 17, 2006 - 09:41 pm: | |
I once had a (good) pen of mine stolen during a signing...
Talk about weird...
Mindsight Moderator
Check out the musings over at Aston's new blog
|
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1782
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 02:31 am: | |
Asking about what one wears to a signing is a legitimate question and it's something that needs to be considered. At writer's conferences (where there are mass signings) many authors tend to get relaxed in t-shirts and jeans while others wear suits and ties. Seems to be a personal preference thing.
At this point in my career I prefer to remain consistent and wear "Business casual" with brightly colored designer shirts, shiny shoes, and a fresh haircut. If I ever become successful enough to get a little independent it will be "Harley casual" to make a bit of a lifestyle statement.
Bring your own pens or other writing instruments and if you have visual aids like posters, check with your host ahead of time to make sure it's appropriate and to inquire about easel availability, etc. Bookstores will often have cookies and coffee available for guests on a nearby table.
The bigger venues will usually do their own groundwork. Schuler's is well connected with the local news media and always provides a sizable audience. They're pros in the signing business and quite often bring in very big names. I don't interfere with their promotional efforts.
If I do a signing at the coffee house I may run a small ad in the local newspapers and I'll make some posters on my computer and post them at local businesses and leave a few on the counter at the library.
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1510
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, March 19, 2006 - 08:07 pm: | |
The poster idea sounds terrific. When I was in college, they used to use posters to get out the word about book signings and other cultural events. Oftentimes they got a bigger response than commercial advertising.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1793
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 - 05:43 pm: | |
The county where I live consumes the upper third of Michgan's "Thumb" with Lake Huron on three sides and I'm at the very tip. The shore line is all resort sort of things with it's sandy beaches, warm - clean enough to drink water, and an abundance of Lake Trout, Salmon, and Walleyes. The center is all navy beans, sugar beets, and some large dairy farms. One thing that the county does not have is a bookstore; not a single one.
Today the main library over at the county seat (Bad Axe) called to see if I would do an "author visit" to their establishment. The director told me that in her three years of running the library she had not heard of an author appearance at any county branches.
This afternoon I stopped in for a visit and donated copies of both of my books and we chatted about strategy. She wants to run notices in the newspaper and see about other avenues of advance publicity. They have a book club that meets monthly at the library as well as a "friends of the library" group. In general, I'm being treated as a celebrity (a minor one).
There just might be something to this "Big fish in a small pond" theory.
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1832
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 09:59 am: | |
I had my appearance and signing at Schuler's Books and Music last night and everything went extremely well.
I didn't have a prepared presentation because I prefer a spontaneous encounter with my audiences. While winging it last night I stumbled on a great new concept. I have no idea where the thought came from but it was like a divine inspiration. I'll be using it again; next time with a little preperation.
I gave the audience several scenarios, some factual and some fiction to see if they could tell the difference. We sort of made a game out of it with them trying to guess which situations were real and which were myth. There was a lot of laughter and everybody seemed to want to join in.
Sold a lot of books too... (Even a handful of copies of "The Unreal McCoy.")
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2636
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 10:27 am: | |
that is so wonderful Dennis..... good for you on both books. I knew that you would be great and that the whole signing would turn out fantastic, you have the drive to make even so-so situations turm out wonderful.
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
|
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1580
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, April 20, 2006 - 07:51 pm: | |
Obviously, Dennis knows how to get the attention of his audience. When they enjoy the show, they are much more likely to purchase the book.
In the early 1970's, I had the good fortune to study under Carlos Castaneda at UC Irvine. The lecture hall was always packed. The way in which you tell a story is every bit as important as the story itself. No wonder his books still sell today.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Steven Shrewsbury
Unity Member
Post Number:
1351
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 08:51 pm: | |
If you sign a copy of your book on a college girl's breasts, make sure your wife is far away.
www.stevenshrewsbury.com
GODFORSAKEN
Behler Publications |
Fred Dungan
Unity Member
Post Number:
1587
Registered: 10-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 - 10:24 pm: | |
The wife left 25 years ago and, unfortunately, the college girls still show up at all the wrong times - proof positive that God has a master plan.
http://www.fdungan.com/vigilantes.htm |
Todd Hunter
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
3255
Registered: 02-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 23, 2006 - 01:38 pm: | |
If you sign a college girl's breasts, make sure your wife is even farther away...another state, perhaps...
Mindsight Moderator
Aston's Blog
MWWB |
Steven Shrewsbury
Unity Member
Post Number:
1353
Registered: 04-2003
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, April 23, 2006 - 03:37 pm: | |
heh
"Can u sign one for me, UP HERE?"
jeez.
www.stevenshrewsbury.com
GODFORSAKEN
Behler Publications |
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
1851
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 10:52 am: | |
I got a real cool one this morning. The Bay City Michigan library called this morning and asked if I'd participate in their "Books for Lunch" program this fall which is a thirty minute presentation followed by a Q&A session. I guess it's mostly business people and senior citizens but the kicker is that it's videotaped for the local PBS channel and then aired twice daily for seven straight days. The librarian tells me that it's a very large viewing audience and generally results in a sales spike. She also said that they're ordering my books for their libraries.
They recently had Edgar Award winning author Doug Allyn as a guest and he had great things to say about it.
This "not so big" fish in a small pond looks like it might offer a much better payoff than being lost in a whole school of fish in a vast ocean.
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2664
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, May 02, 2006 - 11:23 am: | |
that is a great spot for you and your book to be on. We have a thing called BookTalk on our PBS station that gets a lot of play every week. I know that they guy running it gets lots of info out there about books to the general public, as he is constantly being quoted.
By all means, shine your best for that interview.......
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
|
Dennis Collins
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2119
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 05:16 pm: | |
I was part of an interesting event today... It was called "Author Day" and was sponsored by the Bay County (Bay City, Michigan) library system. There were twenty six participating authors representing various genre.
Four of those authors (not including me) were published by PublishAmerica. I talked to all of them and asked for their thoughts on PA. Two of the four were newly signed and said that the jury was still out and the third one said that with good promotion she felt that she would generate respectable sales figures. The fourth guy had gotten his rights back and is now published through Lulu.com All of them agreed that the topheavy pricing presented a difficult challenge. There were some comments about the lack of editing and one guy questioned proper reporting of sales figures.
I was told that the presentation that I made back on Oct.7 (also sponsored by the Bay County Library) will be aired on the local PBS station a total of fifteen times.
It was interesting to see just how many of these writers are in the dark about how things really work in the publishing world. Most of them were under the impression that you need to pay agents to read your work and then pay a book doctor to prepare it for submission to publishers. Only one of the other authors was published through a mainstream (Berkley) house. All of the rest were POD or self published.
Dennis Collins
Moderator
www.theunrealmccoy.com
http://theunrealmccoy.blogspot.com |
Claudia Turner VanLydegraf
Mindsight Moderator
Post Number:
2889
Registered: 06-2002
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 07:44 pm: | |
Very interesting, Dennis. I hope you helped enlighten tthe one who was talking about misleading sales figures and also told the other that the only promotion she will get is through her own efforts. So that she will not be hoping and thinking that they will step up..... cause as you know, they won't.
Hope you are feeling good and things are going well in the other problem.
Claudia
MINDSIGHT MODERATOR
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page