Comments on: Booksigning Checklist

By: Nancy J. Cohen

Nancy J. Cohen — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 19:19:02 +0000

Cheryl, a raffle basket is a good idea for a joint signing with other authors. Each guest could get a free raffle ticket with a book purchase, and every author could contribute to the basket. So it could work that way, too. Depends on the venue.

By: Cheryl Norman

Cheryl Norman — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:53:33 +0000

Yes, but that was in 2007. My last event was poorly attended, unfortunately. I blamed the economy and e-books.

By: Nancy J. Cohen

Nancy J. Cohen — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:38:49 +0000

That’s a nice, giveaway, Cheryl. Did you have enough people at the signing to make it worthwhile?

By: Cheryl Norman

Cheryl Norman — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:22:44 +0000

The only thing I would add to this comprehensive list would be the optional door prize (and you covered that with “books to donate”). For instance, for a couple of my book signings for Restore My Heart (set in Louisville, Ky), I held a drawing for a basket of collectible Kentucky Derby souvenir mint julep glasses. Winners had to be present because I wasn’t about to try to ship those.

Good post, Nancy!

By: Nancy J. Cohen

Nancy J. Cohen — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:32:19 +0000

How have you done at Festivals? And do you take a booth by yourself or do you share the space with other authors? The only local festival I’d participated in had an “Author’s Row.” None of the attendees bought any books.

By: Nancy J. Cohen

Nancy J. Cohen — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:30:58 +0000

Chocolate stilettos…how cool! Do you have them made locally?

By: Nancy J. Cohen

Nancy J. Cohen — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 11:30:10 +0000

You’re right, Susan, it’s the networking that counts! I started doing cruise lectures for a while after a gig at a library. Didn’t sell many books but got great contacts. And when you’re with other authors, it’s a chance to exchange industry info.

By: maggietoussaint

maggietoussaint — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 10:57:55 +0000

Great list, Nancy. Since I also sell in nontraditional places (festivals, non-book retail locations), I also have various signs (“Books” and “Meet the Author” to hang in the vicinity. And I also offer to create a poster for the event for the location to put up ahead of time.

By: Cindy Sample

Cindy Sample — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 04:32:16 +0000

I pass out tons of bookmarks and even when I don’t sell that many books during the event, I always have a jump in e-book sales the next few days. I also bring chocolate stilettos (the weapon in my book) and that gets folks attention!

By: susan coryell

susan coryell — Thu, 12 Jul 2012 01:36:33 +0000

I find that even when I don’t sell many books, I always gain something from the event–networking just naturally happens when you’re dealing with readers and other writers (group signings). At a recent signing where I sold/signed only a few books, by talking with another author, I was able to wrangle a book review from the biggest newspaper in the area.