I'm sure you're all familiar with SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS TALES, my collection of holiday short stories released in the fall of 2015. In early November of that year, I screwed up my courage and took a copy into a cute local bookstore, as well as the perennial Christmas shop on the main street of our little town. I chatted with the owners, left my contact information, and went home to wait, certain they would want to carry my book in their stores. Days and weeks passed without a word.
Christmas came and went, so I shrugged my shoulders and moved on. Imagine my surprise when I received an email out of the blue, a YEAR later, from the owner of the bookshop saying they'd like to carry my book for the holidays and schedule a signing for the weekend before Christmas! I rushed right in to The Pilgrim's Way with a few copies of SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS TALES for their shelves and set things up for the signing. Imagine my further surprise ten days later when I received another email asking for more books because they'd already sold several. This was getting exciting!
I fired off a press release to three local newspapers, bought peppermint and milk chocolate truffles to hand out to patrons, and tried to keep the butterflies at bay. The morning of the signing, I loaded my bag with candy and ten more copies of the Christmas book, as well as three copies each of my two female bodyguard books. Wonder of wonders, the owner had lent the copy of UNWRITTEN RULES I'd left with her to a customer who is an avid reader. The woman loved the book and told her they should stock it in the store!
I was nervous at first, but as soon as things got rolling, that melted away. We live in a tourist town, so Saturday afternoons usually bring quite a bit of walk-in traffic. Talking to strangers does not come naturally to me, but I found offering candy to everyone who entered the store a perfect way to break the ice and start a conversation. A couple of local writer friends stopped by to offer moral support, and this adorable couple came all the way from Salinas to buy my book after reading about the signing in the paper!
The signing only lasted two hours, but in that time I sold eight copies of SMALL TOWN CHRISTMAS TALES, two copies of UNWRITTEN RULES, and one copy of BOILING POINT. I consider that a rousing success. The owner seemed pleased and asked me to bring more copies of the bodyguard books because she plans to keep them in stock.
I never expected to see my books on the shelf in a real bookstore, but now I'm thrilled to be able to tell anyone I meet that they can find my books at The Pilgrim's Way in downtown Carmel-by-the-Sea. What a rush!
Alison
www.alisonhenderson.com
19 comments:
What a thrill for you! At my first booksigning, an experience author told me if I sold one book, it was a success. I think you had a wonderful success! You given me courage to take my books to our local bookstore. Thanks for sharing. Love the pictures.
Congrats, Alison. I do several signings a year and my success runs from thrilling to what a waste. But it's always an experience!
A hearty wooowhoooo! Good things come to those who wait. Congratulations on your success. You've inspired me.
What a fun book signing! Congratulations on establishing a relationship with that bookstore. Hmmm, maybe they'd want to have several of us sign at our fall retreat and make it a big, multi-author event. Advertise in the papers, etc. That would be a lot of fun! I haven't done a signing in years. My very first one back when my first book released was great. All my local friends showed up along with a few strangers, and I sold about 40 books. After that the novelty (pun intended) of "Jannine the Author" wore off and I only sold a handful of books so quit doing signings in my small hometown. I've never had one in a bookstore. Yours sounds like the perfect venue!
What a lovely experience you had. We all need a jolt to our writing egos once in a while. Go you!!!
Cool, Alison. We love our little local bookstores for their personal attention to local authors. Sounds like you've found yourself some long-time readers, too. Yay, you!
What a terrific experience, Alison! Congratulations. So happy for your success. I love indy book stores. I read they're making a come-back...hope it's true! Here's to more great times in 2017!
Diane, it was exciting, but remember, it took them a whole year to get back to me after I visited! Small business owners have a lot of balls in the air.
Brenda, I've always been impressed by the number of opportunities to sell and sign books you find in your area. I wish we had more.
Thanks so much, Margo. It was quite an experience.
Jannine, it would be great to have a group signing at the retreat, but this store is WAY too small. The table they set up for the author is about 18" square, and customers trip over each other moving around as it is.
Vonnie, you're so right. I felt like a real author for a coupe of hours, and it was fun!
Rolynn, I might have gained a fan or two, but even one makes the experience worthwhile.
Thanks, Leah. This little shop started life a few decades ago as a New Age emporium, but the original owner's son's new wife has gradually transformed it into a mainstream bookstore.
I didn't think about the size, but at the price of commercial real estate in Carmel, I should have known every inch of space would be put to use!
Congratulations, Alison!
How wonderful to hear!! Sounds like it was worth the wait!
Thanks, Donna. It was.
What fun! That was the ultimate signing experience!
OH wow, congratulations! How exciting. Isn't that such a wonderful feeling? I've had maybe one or two successful signings, and they are awesome. So happy for you!
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