The Multi-Author Book Signing - What you Need and How to Stand Out

Ever been to the North Central bus terminal in Mexico City? I'm not sure if it's still like this, but when I was there in 1993, once you got off of your bus and wandered outside, you were immediately bombarded by dozens of men offering you a ride into the city in their taxis. Now whenever I'm at a multiple-author book signing, I feel like we (the authors) are the taxi men haling potential readers to come check out our cabs.

Little-known fact; Van Halen's concert rider expressly forbid brown taxi-cabs within the city limits.

Here are some of the basics of setting up shop at a signing.

Aside from your books, you'll need a table. Otherwise, it gets to be a long day juggling all of those books on your lap. Most author events provide tables and chairs, but if not (and you should find this out beforehand) bring a simple, easy to carry folding table. A table cloth is a good idea, too, since some of the provided tables have seen better days. (A dental mirror comes in handy to surreptitiously check the underside of the table if you're hankering for some well-chewed gum.)

Many authors bring a dish of candy as a way of enticing potential readers. Hershey's Kisses are popular. So are fun-size candy bars or Lifesavers. Does this result in more sales? Probably not, especially since it seems everyone does this now. But it doesn't hurt.

The old basket-o-cash, however, is still popular with the crowds.

Speaking of cash, you'll need to make change, so bring some tens, fives and ones (if needed). I include sales tax in my prices and back it out later when paying taxes. That way I don't have to deal with coinage. Make sure you keep good records of your sales so you don't get in trouble with THE MAN.

Pictured: THE MAN

A fairly new development is the credit card reader app, which allows you to take credit cards via your computer, tablet or smart phone. I use a Square Reader; it charges a small percentage of the sale, but it's worth it, since some people no longer carry cash.

Bring business cards if you have them, and bookmarks, too. Signed glossy photos of you straddling a horse naked are optional.

As far as displaying your books, you can do the simple book-stack method, where you just...stack your books. I recommend some sort of plastic display thingies to prop a few books up to catch the eye. Some people have a large color copy of their book cover displayed so that it can be seen from a distance. You can add some reviews or endorsements to this to provide a little more enticement.

The 'shove-your-book-in-a-jar' method has become more and more popular over the years, too.

Don't forget to bring a pen! Bring a couple in case the one you're using runs out of ink. Or you can always just 'borrow' one from the author sitting next to you when he or she isn't looking.

Over the years, I've seen a lot of different author table displays, some great, some not-so-great. Here's the thing, though...the way you display your books isn't the most important part of enticing a reader to buy your book.

The most important things you can do are:

Make eye contact.
Say hello.
Ask them how they're doing.
Ask them what they like to read.
If your book might fit the bill, tell them about it.
Maybe they'll buy, maybe they won't. Don't worry about it. Just keep trying.

And if all else fails, jump up on your table and yell, "TAXI!"

5 Questions with John Everson

John Everson is a horror writer whom I enjoy immensely. He's won the coveted Bram Stoker Award, plus he compares his newest novel to the movie Kingdom of the Spiders (which had a huge impact on my youthful mind when I saw it on TV back in the 70s). I'm happy to have John aboard to answer my five questions!

1 – What’s your latest book about?

My seventh novel, Violet Eyes, just came out in October from Samhain Publishing. It’s a Kingdom of the Spiders kind of novel, if you remember that old William Shatner movie.  The prologue is drawn from Violet Lagoon, a short novelette that I also have out, which finds a group of co-eds on a deserted island trying to stage their own version of The Blue Lagoon, when they are rudely interrupted by odd and virulent breeds of spiders and flies.

The novel, Violet Eyes (which all these critters have!) picks up when one of the co-eds comes home and meets Rachel, a recently divorced mom who’s just moved to a small town near the Everglades with her son. The novel focuses on her, as she tries to protect her son first from her abusive ex- and then from a far worse fate as her new town suddenly becomes overrun with hungry spiders…

2 – Who’s your favorite author and/or what’s your favorite book?

I like a lot of authors for different things; I can’t single out a favorite… but there are certainly authors I come back to again and again – Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Clive Barker, Anne Rice, Edward Lee. I read a lot of Poe growing up, and I think a well-told horror short story can pack a more memorable punch than an entire novel.  I think the modern masters of the short horror form today are Gary Braunbeck, Michael Marshall Smith and Jeffrey Thomas.  As far as novels… Clive Barker’s Damnation Game… Edward Lee’s Coven… Anne Rice’s The Witching Hour. Those are three big influential books for me.

3 – What’s your favorite aspect of writing?

Finishing! There are certainly times when a scene or dialogue really clicks and you feel good about it, but most of writing is simply work. And the best feeling about work is sitting back after it’s complete and being able to say, “I did that. It’s done!”

4 – Any good anecdotes about being a writer?

I was doing a book signing a few years ago in St. Louis at a Borders Books store, and I happened to see a guy in the horror aisle holding a couple Stephen King books.  There was really nobody else around at that moment, so I walked over to him and said something like, “hey man, I see you like horror novels… I’m a Chicago horror author down here doing a signing right now over there in the front of the store, can I show you a couple of my books?” He looked at me straight in the eye and said with complete derision, “I only read Stephen King.”

Wow. King is awesome, but to limit yourself that way, to never give anyone else in the genre a chance to entertain you? That was both strange and sad to me.

5 – What was the most helpful writing advice you’ve ever received?

1) Get the story out and worry about editing it later. The hardest part is simply getting the thing roughed out, and it’s too easy to bog down in middle-of-the-book editing and worrying about whether this word or that sentence is perfect… you can get lost in that and lose your energy for the storytelling and never finish.

2) Don’t quit your day job.

5 Questions with W.D. Gagliani

I first met W. D. Gagliani at the 2002 World Horror Conference in Chicago. A funny story about that - we were both attending a party thrown by Leisure Books, and aside from the usual free booze, they were also giving away free books. I was holding one of these books and reading the back - can't remember which book it was - but as most books do, it had a number of book blurbs on the back from reviewers and authors. I had just read one of the blurbs by W. D. Gagliani, and then I looked up, and there he was, standing right in front of me! He's a really nice guy and a hell of a writer, too. I'm extremely pleased that Bill agreed to answer my five questions!

1 – What’s your latest book about?

Wolf's Cut is the 5th Nick Lupo novel and follows homicide Detective Lupo as he gets dragged into a secret mob takeover of the tribal casino near Eagle River while at the same time fighting off the surviving elements of the evil Wolfpaw Security firm and their attempted coup of the US military with werewolves and that modern nemesis, the drone. In the parallel story, we follow Lupo's father as he hunts Nazi werewolves in post-World War II Italy. Wolf's Cut will be published by Samhain in March 2014.

2 – Who’s your favorite author and/or what’s your favorite book?

I have many favorites! If I had to pick, it would be the brilliant fantasist Tim Powers. My favorite book would be one of his, and right now I'd say it's a 3-way tie between The Anubis Gates, Last Call, and The Stress of Her Regard. Technically Powers was one of the creators of Steampunk, and his work is often referred to as "secret history" as opposed to "alternate" history, but two of these novels (and many of his) I usually refer to as North American magic realism.

3 – What’s your favorite aspect of writing?

Telling a story that reminds me of what I like to read. Playing God, as it were, and creating every aspect of the story – but, paradoxically, I also love when the characters take over and deviate from my plans for them.

4 – Any good anecdotes about being a writer?

As a newly published author with a fairly widely distributed paperback novel I thought my local Barnes & Noble and Borders stores would knock themselves out hosting me in their stores. Except for about three stores (and I was friends with the managers in two of them), all I got was a collective yawn. The brush-off, the disinterested and dishonest "the manager will get back to you," and near-hostility of "we don't have the staff to bother with signings." It may not be a single anecdote, but it happened enough that it brought me down to earth quickly. No matter how many people find it cool that you've published, there are many more who are a lot more impressed if you can change the plugs on a Harley.

5 – What was the most helpful writing advice you’ve ever received?

Even though my first publisher and I came to dislike each other, I still credit them with the excellent initial editing of my first book, Wolf's Trap… and the advice they gave me: don't kill the hero. I was a bit of a nihilist and wanted a downbeat ending to my stand-alone novel… but if I had followed my instinct, there would be no Nick Lupo series. So I always recommend listening to a portion of what people tell you. They might be wrong most of the time, but they might also be right!

If I can add a second bit of advice that I've seen and taken note of, it's that you must actually finish what you start. More "writers" start novels than ever actually finish them. Be part of the second group, no matter what it takes. A novel unwritten is a novel unsold, unread, and therefore unsuccessful.

Visit Bill's Amazon Page!

5 Questions with David Morrell

David Morrell hardly needs an introduction. If you haven't heard of him, then you've surely heard of his most famous fictional creation, Rambo, from his novel First Blood. For those horror readers among you, hopefully you've read his classic The Totem. And for you writers out there, he's written the wonderful The Successful Novelist; A Lifetime of Lessons About Writing and Publishing. But enough of my babbling. I'm incredibly excited to have Mr. Morrell answer my five questions.

1 – What’s your latest book about?

My latest novel, Murder As a Fine Art, is a Victorian mystery/thriller about the infamous Ratcliffe Highway murders, the first publicized mass killings in English history. These occurred in London in 1811, three-quarters of a century before Jack the Ripper terrorized London, but the Ratcliffe Highway murders were more terrorizing because until then, no one in England could imagine something so horrific. The main character is Thomas De Quincey, who was infamous also—the first person to write about drug addiction in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater. De Quincey was obsessed with the Ratcliffe Highway murders and wrote about them at blood-soaked length, inventing the real-life crime genre in the postscript to his “On Murder Consider as One of the Fine Arts,” from which my novel derives its title. In the story, someone uses De Quincey’s essay to replicate the original murders, and De Quincey becomes the suspect. Using his unique knowledge of the murders, he sets out to find the real killer. Murder as a Fine Art required two years of research before I felt that I could make readers believe that they were truly on the harrowing, fogbound streets of 1854 London. Many reviewers praised its authentic details.

Seriously - you must buy this novel!

2 – Who’s your favorite author and/or what’s your favorite book?

The author who made the most difference to me as a thriller writer was Geoffrey Household, whose classic Rogue Male (1939) is about a British big-game hunter’s attempt to stalk Hitler at the start of the Second World War. He’s captured on the first page, and the novel hurtles onward from there. Household and I exchanged letters before he died in 1988. His work showed me how to write outdoor action.

 3 – What’s your favorite aspect of writing?

Some days, if everything’s going properly, the keyboard and the screen disappear.  I’m totally within the story and unaware that I’m writing.

Another image from Murder as a Fine Art

4 – Any good anecdotes about being a writer?

Research is a huge part of writing.  For my books, I became a private pilot (The Shimmer). I learned how to car fight at a Virginia raceway, with instructors who teach government operatives (The Protector). I learned wilderness survival from the National Outdoor Leadership School, living in the Wyoming mountains for 30 days (Testament). I learned about assuming identities from a former U.S. Marine undercover operator (Assumed Identity). I learned about being a protective agent from a former U.S. marshal who was part of the team that protected John Hinckley Jr. after he shot President Reagan (The Fifth Profession). Every novel offers an opportunity to acquire a new skill. Also it’s a hoot to be able to say that I created a character (Rambo in my debut novel FirstBlood) who became one of the most recognized thriller characters of the twentieth century, along with Sherlock Holmes, Tarzan, James Bond, and Harry Potter.

5 – What was the most helpful writing advice you've ever received?

I have several mantras that I learned from my writing teacher Philip Klass, whose pen name was William Tenn. Don’t chase the market. Establish your own voice and approach. Be a first-rate version of yourself, not a second-rate version of another writer. 

Visit David's Amazon Page

5 Questions with Mainak Dhar

Mainak Dhar is the author of the bestselling Alice in Deadland series, being made into a television series as we speak! Born in India, and now residing in Singapore, he's sold tons of books - over 100,000 his first year on Amazon. In March of this year, he even unseated Stephen King for a bit as the #1 selling horror author. I'm excited that Mainak agreed to hang out on my blog and answer my five questions!

1 – What's your latest book about?

My latest book is Phantoms of the North, the sixth in the Alice in Deadland series, which continues the adventures of Alice in the post-apocalyptic world that the series is set in. Have just started work on the seventh book in the series, and am having fun continuing it, and enjoying seeing readers experience how the characters and story evolves.

2 – Who's your favorite author and/or what's your favorite book?

Favorite author would be a tie between Tolkien and Roald Dahl. Favorite book definitely The Lord of the Rings.

3 – What's your favorite aspect of writing?

Connecting with readers whom I would never have otherwise connected with and may well never meet in real life. That's the real magic of books. Every time I hear from a reader is a real high and over the years, many of them have become more friends than readers, and a real part of my writing process, people I bounce ideas off and take inspiration from.

4 – Any good anecdotes about being a writer?

My first 'published' work was in Grade 7. I read an interview by Stephen King where he said that the moment anyone paid you a cent for your writing, you were a professional writer. I took some poems I had, stapled them together with solutions to the Maths textbook and sold them to my classmates at fifty cents a copy. I earned $12.50 – my first ever 'royalties', and came home and announced to my Mom that I had become a professional writer.

5 – What was the most helpful writing advice you've ever received?

From my Mom – “Writing is what gives you joy, so never stop writing, no matter what happens.”

Visit Mainak's Amazon Page!