Book Signings - an author's nightmare or pleasant dream?

Last  Saturday I, along with four other authors, gave short talks on themes in stories and signed books at our local Bereans Christian Book store.  Book signings can either be very humbling for an author or very encouraging.  Most for me have been quite humbling.  I've lost count on how many book signings I've been on. In the beginning of my career, my publisher sent me all over the place, mostly throughout California, but they also sent me to Michigan for a week and then on another trip to Minnesota.   Let me tell you, those were humbling experiences. 

Most of the time, I sat behind my little table stacked with books, smiling and trying to engage passers-by in conversation, letting them know I'm an author and what my book is about etc.. And most of the time, I sat there alone while people hurried past, averting their eyes.  There must be something very frightening about authors! I kept checking myself in the mirror to make sure my make up was in place and I hadn't grown fangs!  I remember at one point after nearly two hours of sitting there drumming our fingers and eating up all of our free chocolate, Kelly Hake and I put up a sign on our table that read "Don't feed the authors"  just for fun. We still didn't get any interest!! or laughs!! What's wrong with people? Take pity on the poor, unknown authors!

Since then my publisher has discovered the futility of book signings, and they've stopped sending me. Thank God because I was starting to get a complex and probably would have needed therapy for my low self-esteem. However, every once in a while a few of us local authors get together at our Christian Book store and have a signing. So, bearing extremely low expectations, I grab my pen, my glasses (or I can't see my own signature), put on my smile, and head on over to the shop, looking forward to chatting with my author friends more than anything.

This Saturday was no different. At least it didn't start out that way. Now, mind you, we authors aren't beyond begging or bribing. We had assembled a huge gift basket with 5 free books, candles, chocolate, and lots of other goodies to be raffled off to one of the people attending. Not to mention that each of us planned on giving a free talk on how to incorporate theme into your manuscript!  Did I mention free? Where can you get five writing lessons from five well-known authors for free? You would think that would draw a crowd.

orangelic.org

Still at half an hour after the start, we had only 1 person there.



But before you start feeling sorry for me, it wasn't a complete bust. We gathered our chairs in a circle and started our talks. Then slowly one by one, more people trickled in. One here, another there, three more (friends of one of the authors!) here, a few there.. until at the peak, we probably had about 8 or 9 people! Now, that's a crowd for a book signing.  I actually had a pretty good time. I got to chat with some really nice people, some who write and hope to get published, others who are just readers. One lady approached me carrying a copy of The Restitution and told me she first started reading my books back when my pirate series came out and she's read every one since. How cool is that?

I didn't sell a ton of books. I didn't make a name for myself in San Jose. But God was gracious as always and I had a great time with old friends and new ones. I will never complain about my life. You should have seen that deep, dark pit I was in when God reached down and pulled me out! After that, everything is gravy! I feel extremely blessed to be signing any books at all! Especially books that I have written. God is so good.

Here's a picture of the authors at the signing:  From Left to Right. Shelly Bates, Dineen Miller, ME!, Susanne Lakin, and Kristin Billerbeck.

By the way, all these author's books are fabulous!! You should check them out!   And yes, I'm short. I know I'm short. And I even had heels on!

Here's another couple shots of the actual signing.

So, what are your thoughts on Book Signings? Have you ever attended one? Do you think they are valuable? Would meeting an author be important to you?   And more importantly: DO AUTHORS FRIGHTEN YOU?