Sunday, January 18, 2009

Small towns make for good signings

I took part Saturday in the second annual author signing at the Manchester Coffee County Public Library in the small town of Manchester, TN, around 70 miles south of Nashville. I was one of twenty-four authors, including five from my Sisters in Crime Chapter in Nashville. It was a cold, blustery day, but a nice crowd of readers came out.

I sold enough books to make the trip worthwhile. What was more interesting, one of the librarians told me a lot of their patrons work at Arnold Air Force Base nearby. She had been telling them about my books, which feature retired Air Force Lt. Col. Greg McKenzie. The library is buying all of the books and expects them to circulate well.

I had a similar experience at this signing to one I had the previous Saturday at the Trousdale County Historical Society. A couple of older men told me all about a famous unsolved murder in the area. Apparently people in small towns take pride in their murderous pasts.

Both signings went well. These types of appearances have several advantages. You get to tell lots of new people about your books, and you can go there and get back home in one day. That makes them less expensive.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad for you. I can imagine, yes, in a small town a signing is more of an EVENT and would attract people. Also small town folks are (at least tend to be) more friendly and talkative to people they don't know.

Jean Henry Mead said...

Yes, small towns are a great place for a signing. My first signing was in Riverton, Wyoming, where I sold 40 books. They treated me like a celebrity. :) I never sold that many in a large town.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your pleasant book signing experience! I wish mine were that good.

Connie Arnold said...

Yes, I agree that small towns can be great places for book signings. I've never had a signing with other authors, but sounds like yours was a good experience.

Chester Campbell said...

Yes, the small town atmosphere is good for new or relatively unknown authors. People are friendly and they like to chat. Connie, I usually stay away from multiple author signings in bookstores. I rarely sell more than a few books in that scenario, but events like this one usually turn out good.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Sometimes just spreading the word to a whole new batch of people makes it worthwhile. But you are right - small towns are more receptive! So glad you experienced success this weekend!!

L. Diane Wolfe
www.circleoffriendsbooks.blogspot.com
www.spunkonastick.net
www.thecircleoffriends.net

kriswaldherr said...

This post is too true! The signings I've had in big cities are often less sparsely attended -- just one of many authors stopping through, alas.

Chester Campbell said...

I don't do "events" in big cities, Kris, just signings. I've had good luck where the traffic in a store is good. I've also had good experiences at branch libraries where they promote my appearance. When you don't have a "name," every stop can be different.