Years ago, when Jason Goes to Show and Tell was published (my picture book for children) I did a lot of book signings. Some were fine, but every so often they were terrible. I would sit alone at a table with a stack of books in front of me and wait for someone to come into a book store...and wait...and wait. On some of these occasions, I would sell one book and a couple of times, none at all. Worse, customers would come up to me to ask where the Dr. Seuss or Disney books were located.
So when Wade and I decided to do book signings, I warned him that it was a "craps shoot", a roll of the dice on how well it would go. On Wednesday we had a super signing, with many people stopping by to say hello and bye books. When it was done, the four authors participating had sold 26 books, which is phenomenal.
Today, Wade and I went to the Copper Rock North to sign books. I thought we had picked a good time but the coffee shop was almost empty and certainly the few people there were not interested in buying books. I did give a couple of them the card containing our Black Coffee Fiction blog site.
Tim Meier came by and bought a book, as he should since he was mentioned twice, once in our introduction as the Fox Valley Technical College teacher who started us writing short stories and second in our acknowledgment of friends who helped along the way. We enjoyed good conversation for almost an hour. He said he would read the book and review it for Amazon.com. Reviews are a plus in selling books like ours.
After Tim left, Wade and I tallied up and realized that Tim's purchase had put us into the black. We've recouped our initial cost in self-publishing the book. From now on we'll be earning a profit.
Yes, book signings are a craps shoot, but we're going to roll the dice one more time, just before Christmas. I will go ahead and set up another signing. The date, time and location have yet to be determined, but it's our last chance because Wade and his family are moving to Arkansas in the new year.
So when Wade and I decided to do book signings, I warned him that it was a "craps shoot", a roll of the dice on how well it would go. On Wednesday we had a super signing, with many people stopping by to say hello and bye books. When it was done, the four authors participating had sold 26 books, which is phenomenal.
Today, Wade and I went to the Copper Rock North to sign books. I thought we had picked a good time but the coffee shop was almost empty and certainly the few people there were not interested in buying books. I did give a couple of them the card containing our Black Coffee Fiction blog site.
Tim Meier came by and bought a book, as he should since he was mentioned twice, once in our introduction as the Fox Valley Technical College teacher who started us writing short stories and second in our acknowledgment of friends who helped along the way. We enjoyed good conversation for almost an hour. He said he would read the book and review it for Amazon.com. Reviews are a plus in selling books like ours.
After Tim left, Wade and I tallied up and realized that Tim's purchase had put us into the black. We've recouped our initial cost in self-publishing the book. From now on we'll be earning a profit.
Yes, book signings are a craps shoot, but we're going to roll the dice one more time, just before Christmas. I will go ahead and set up another signing. The date, time and location have yet to be determined, but it's our last chance because Wade and his family are moving to Arkansas in the new year.
Too bad Wade is moving to Arkansas. Good thing we can all keep in contact over the Internet.
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