Sunday, April 7, 2013

My Barnes and Noble Book Signing with Jus Accardo

Yesterday I had a great time signing books with another Entangled Publishing author, Jus Accardo. We signed at the Barnes and Noble in Holyoke, Massachusetts: a two floor giant of a store with a cafe running along the side. From Derry, NH it took two hours to get there. I drove with my mom- who held the GPS and helped me with directions the whole time. (Thanks, mom) She's always been the biggest supporter of my writing.

The store traffic was slow. I'm not sure if it was the time of year- spring- or the sunny day, but the cafe- which is usually over crowded had half the seats open the whole time.

What I learned: you need tactics to get people to come over to your table. I didn't come up with any great ideas until the end, when I had the store announcer say we'd answer any questions about creative writing or publishing. Then, I thought: what if we gave stuff away- like signed postcards or stickers, or tote bags- something to have the store manager announce over the intercom like: "The next five people who go to the table will get a ..." kind of thing.

I have another signing in Manchester in two weeks, and I've ordered some prize giveaways to amp up the traffic by my table.

The best part of the day: hanging out with Jus. She's awesome. So funny and so much fun to be with. We made plans to sign again at a convention or a book fair in the future. The connections you make with other authors are invaluable. 

I'll let you know how my next signing goes and if my ideas work!

Happy Sunday!

2 comments:

Tonja Drecker said...

Sounds like you had fun despite the slower traffic. I can imagine that it was more fun with someone else there. Let us know how the next one goes!

Rachel said...

Thanks for sharing! That's a great idea, to offer publishing and writing advice. Did that get people to visit your table? I think it'd be fun to sign with another author, even if it's slow you have someone to chat with. :)