Etiquette At Local Signings
I haven't done a signing yet, because I don't have a published book yet. I can imagine how that stage of the process must be exciting yet also terrifying; after months of hiding in your house talking to yourself in a word processor, it's time to go out and convince members of your community to buy and read the thing! As a writer myself, I'm a) instantly drawn to book-seller tables and b) overly compassionate toward local authors. I want to buy their book even if I'm pretty sure I won't like it.
Unfortunately, some people make it pretty hard for me to keep wanting to buy their book.
I mean, really, the cards are stacked in your favour--all you have to do is be polite and engaging, and I'm gonna buy it because you're a local author. Examples of what I'm talking about are people with tables at local fairs, festivals, and markets. I live in a small state, and we get really excited about local authors.
When someone is pushy and condescending, it really raises my hackles. I want to browse in peace. I realize you are trying to sell your book, because you're sitting there with big stacks of it and giant signs. You don't have to point it out to me, especially not ten times. Certainly, tell me about your deals ("Today we're selling each successive book in the series for only $5 if you buy the first book" and such); I'm even fine with mentioning wanting to sign it for me, once. Not ten times, please. I was at a pet show recently, and I was going to try to ask about the book and the publishing, but every second of silence was filled with, "I'm here signing these. You know, I'd love to sign one for you. It's $10 for the book, and I'll sign it for you." I GOT IT THE FIRST TIME.
The other thing that irritates me is patronizing explanations. I realize that most random people browsing don't know a thing about publishing, or writing, for that matter. But I feel like if I specifically ask questions about the publisher, the self-publishing process they went through, if they are represented by an agent etc, it should be fairly obvious you don't need to explain "some people publish through big publishing houses and other people put the whole book together themselves." Uh, yeah, I just asked you how you found your local editor. Another common one for me is, "I know what a memoir means. I asked what's it about." (The answer seems to keep spinning in circles with "it's about my real-life experiences.")
To be fair, I did say I live in a small state. The writing community here is thusly small and isolated, and quite a few people simply want to tell about something interesting that happened to them, and don't particularly investigate or care about the publishing industry beyond the little local distributors and our one indie press. The percent of people walking around the county fair who write professional genre-fiction represented by a major literary agency is probably... well, less than a decimal percent. I can't blame these tiny indie authors who just want to sell their one book and get their little story out there.
But still. Please don't badger me constantly to buy your book, without even opening any sort of dialogue or asking at all about my interests or what other, similar books I may have read. That's how I end up making an excuse to leave and avoiding your area for the rest of the fair.
Unfortunately, some people make it pretty hard for me to keep wanting to buy their book.
I mean, really, the cards are stacked in your favour--all you have to do is be polite and engaging, and I'm gonna buy it because you're a local author. Examples of what I'm talking about are people with tables at local fairs, festivals, and markets. I live in a small state, and we get really excited about local authors.
When someone is pushy and condescending, it really raises my hackles. I want to browse in peace. I realize you are trying to sell your book, because you're sitting there with big stacks of it and giant signs. You don't have to point it out to me, especially not ten times. Certainly, tell me about your deals ("Today we're selling each successive book in the series for only $5 if you buy the first book" and such); I'm even fine with mentioning wanting to sign it for me, once. Not ten times, please. I was at a pet show recently, and I was going to try to ask about the book and the publishing, but every second of silence was filled with, "I'm here signing these. You know, I'd love to sign one for you. It's $10 for the book, and I'll sign it for you." I GOT IT THE FIRST TIME.
The other thing that irritates me is patronizing explanations. I realize that most random people browsing don't know a thing about publishing, or writing, for that matter. But I feel like if I specifically ask questions about the publisher, the self-publishing process they went through, if they are represented by an agent etc, it should be fairly obvious you don't need to explain "some people publish through big publishing houses and other people put the whole book together themselves." Uh, yeah, I just asked you how you found your local editor. Another common one for me is, "I know what a memoir means. I asked what's it about." (The answer seems to keep spinning in circles with "it's about my real-life experiences.")
To be fair, I did say I live in a small state. The writing community here is thusly small and isolated, and quite a few people simply want to tell about something interesting that happened to them, and don't particularly investigate or care about the publishing industry beyond the little local distributors and our one indie press. The percent of people walking around the county fair who write professional genre-fiction represented by a major literary agency is probably... well, less than a decimal percent. I can't blame these tiny indie authors who just want to sell their one book and get their little story out there.
But still. Please don't badger me constantly to buy your book, without even opening any sort of dialogue or asking at all about my interests or what other, similar books I may have read. That's how I end up making an excuse to leave and avoiding your area for the rest of the fair.
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