Due to unexpected circumstances, I might be participating in a book signing some time early September, something I had never thought would ever happen.
Of course, being a woman first thing I called out was: “Oh my God, what am I going to wear?” As an author, the first thing I called out was: “Oh my God, what am I going to write?”
Until that moment I admit, the second question has bugged me far more than the first one, and since I am who I am, I decided to do some research on that topic. How to sign a book (when you’re the author, and you don’t want to let the reader down who bought your book).
As usually, Google provided me with several opportunities to work through many articles about that subject. Here are the most educational ones that I could find and that answered the questions I had:
Audrey Childers writes on the “Huffpost”:
As a newly published author, I had no idea how I should handle autographing my books at my first books signing. This is one of the ways that an author connects to the reader is by making the book signing a unique and enjoyable experience. You would think as an author of four books that I would have plenty of ideas. Book signings are rare face-to-face moments where you contact with your readers to help build a lasting relationship. This felt like a landmark moment in my life.
She provides us with a full list of tips and tricks, from the pen to the fan picture. The article is very helpful and also contains hints on what to write, which I had been looking for, after all, that’s what the research was for:
Health and happiness
All my best
Thanks
In gratitude
To your health
Much appreciation
Warm wishes
Best regards
Onward your friend
The article written by Audrey Childers can be read here.
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Debbie Young of the ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors) writes a blog post with a few, a bit boring tips for author signings like ‘learn from other author’s events’, ‘make the most out of the situation’, practice your signature, make sure the signing table looks welcoming, and so on. In this article, I’m definitely missing the ‘what to write’ list. But judge for yourself:
ALLi Article about a book signing. Read it here.
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Mary Robinette Kowal provides us with a blog post about four years old, in which she describes quite well what to do and what not to do on book signings. That goes from the ink of the pen to the advice to have three stock phrases ready to personalize a book. Although she does not suggest any. But her last point #10 is an enormously important subject I have never given a second thought. She writes:
Have a different signature for your legal signature. Your autograph will wind up on the internet on eBay. Having a different one for legal papers, checks, or credit cards reduces the chances of identity theft.
This is very important, and neither of us should forget about that!
I learned a lot from her article and would definitely recommend to read it, what can be done here.
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One of the first and best articles about book signings was the one I liked most. It showed me quite well what I wanted to know. I found it on the ‘Authority Publishing’ website. It gave me tips and tricks and gave me, all in all, six different points in a list which were easily described, short and impressively written and contained a list of signature phrases as well.
All my best
Thanks
In gratitude
To your health
Much appreciation
Warm wishes
Best regards
Onward
Your friend
Etc…
Just what I wanted to know. The entire article can be read here.
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As for me, reading these articles taught me a lot. Tips, tricks, hints, advice, I read what I can write, and I learned what to ask, what to take, to have fun, and where to sign. Knowing me, all this knowledge will be for nothing, I’ll be that nervous I am most likely not going to know how to spell my own name…
Don’t advertise your writing mistakes
You might have written and published a perfect book. You could be a fantastic blogger. Your poetry may be astounding.
…as a writer, I love paradox… the creative balance… peak and trough… princes and paupers… sweet and sour… I shamelessly strive for emotive expression in my novels… breathing feelings into what happens to my characters… Lawd knows, they cause me enough angst when I write about them… therefore, it should have come as no surprise to me when I embarked on the ambitious project of writing my own biography… the twin imposters of delight and melancholy currently visit with great regularity as the chapters of my life unfold on my laptop… from the outset, I decided it would not be an ego trip, cataloguing whatever achievements may have been my lot, but to attempt to balance the tome with as much gut honesty as I can muster… that’s where the pain resides… it has been remarkable how the distance of time has removed some of the jagged edges of some events I’d rather not have had happen… and equally to recognise that success is also a relative concept, which lessens with the passage of the years …
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