The Three Steps To Selling Out A Book Signing
And some unexpected but welcome springtime Scandinavian hygge apparently?
From the Writing Desk:
It’s strange—
I did some traveling this May, in particular to the amazing Storymakers conference in Utah. (If you’re looking for a great conference, I highly recommend this one.) I had friends come visit this month, which obviously meant spending full days at the Magic Kingdom. We had a heat wave here in the subtropics that got us up to the upper nineties. And yet…
Somehow May felt cozy?
I think it’s just been a month of some lovely mental decluttering?
Creatively I’ve done a bit of mental decluttering, mostly, and this month I have refocused on just one project, which now has 4500 words, which is a lot for me and my slow pace. This is my Marvel does Golden Girls project and jumping around various POVs and just letting myself be ridiculous has been a joy.
Monster Tree somehow, I have no idea how, comes out in THREE MONTHS?? Give it a look and a preorder! I’ve got bookmarks to make and order, events to plan, emails to send, and I will. But you know what? I’m feeling surprisingly zen about this. I’ve done this before. What will be will be.
Even some of the social media anxiety I’ve seen going around has mostly just flown past, because who cares about social media? (Says someone who often cares very deeply). For realsies though, I’ve started thinking more and more of social media as a place for Creative Side Projects (a la Leigh Stein) + Platform Surrogates (a la Kathleen Schmidt) and that has felt like some direction and anchoring in the midst of what is always otherwise a crap storm. Maybe I’ll write more about that another time.
Basically, with the exception of a few more travel and family/friend visits on the horizon this summer, I’m just contentedly keeping my head down in this book project (plus a couple song and video side project ideas I had, because I can’t help myself). And that’s been quite lovely!
(But Sarah, I hear someone whispering. If May was cozy and zen, what if the tide turns in June? What if that means it’s anxiety’s turn at the top of the loop next time around? To that I say shhhhhhhhhh.)
What are YOU working on?
Three Steps To Selling Out A Book Signing
A couple months ago, I was fortunate enough to be able to go do a signing at a brand new Barnes and Noble in Gainesville, Florida. This came about because I’ve gotten to know the manager here at my local Barnes and Noble, and when they were looking for authors to do signings at the new location, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was grateful it worked out.
So I packed up my signing stuff and headed north to Gainesville, and it was one of my best signings to date. It was a blast of a day, and I’ve learned some things up to now that I was able to put into practice and we ended up selling out of one book and most of another. We started with the table looking like this:
and ended like this:
All sold out of Nightmare House and most of Stars. (And then there’s my quiet middle child. Let me tell you, the difference between pitching a haunted house book and a book about depression is quite something.)
So today I thought I’d talk through what I see as the three steps to rocking a book signing that have worked well for me, in hopes that some of it might spark something that may work for you too? So here goes.
Step 1: The Setup.
Now, to be honest, a lot of this step is not really in our writerly control. A lot of it has to do with the bookstore itself—it’s location in general, your location within the store, etc. But we can do our best with whatever we’re given! If you have signs or posters (or lovely book cover blankets gifted to you from your amazing mum) then of course bring those with you to schnaz up your station. But if you don’t, honestly no worries at all. Decorations are not the most crucial part, or the make or break.
I was very lucky that a) this was a brand new store in its first opening weeks, b) it was located in a hot spot, right next to a Target, c) I was tabled right at the front of the store where people walked in, and d) it was a Saturday. All those things really helped foot traffic. These are lucky things, not things I did because I’m promotionally smart. (I is very not). If any of these things are in your control, take advantage of ‘em. But otherwise, do the best with what you’ve been given!
Step 2: The Contact
This is the part that, from what I can tell, is most intimidating and freaky to people. And for good reason! It’s awkward and extremely uncomfortable to shout out to random strangers, especially for us introverted writers. So I’m going to give you my special secret for making this part of the event less awkward and scary:
Chocolate.
That might sound facetious, but I am completely serious. Bring some of those fun-sized chocolate packages, like the big bags of it they put at the front of stores during Halloween. Bring some book marks too. Spread it out over your table. Then when people walk in/walk by, you literally call out to them, “Hi! Do you want some chocolate?”
Ok, maybe that sounds slightly evil witch in Hansel and Gretel-ish, but I’m telling you, it works. It’s so much easier to start a conversation with someone by asking them if they want chocolate (and/or a free bookmark?) then if they want to hear about your book. Bringing chocolate is truly the biggest trick I’ve found for signing success. People will still ignore you or smile and walk on by, but there are always plenty of people who will say yes to chocolate.
Step 3: The Pitch
Once you’ve got them over to your table (cue witchy cackle) I’ve found that the vast majority of the time the conversation actually flows pretty naturally. Often the other person will start it: they’ll pick up a piece of chocolate and make a nice comment about the cover, or ask “Are these your books?” That gives you an excellent segue.
If they are even more introverted and shy than you are, I might ask them what they like to read, or if they’re in the store looking for anything in particular. That also gives you a good lead-in.
I don’t force it, but if the conversation allows it (and it very often does) I’ll have my 1-2 sentence pitch ready. (“These are my two contemporary books, this one’s about a girl with a genetic disorder who makes a deal with the universe to help her sister’s baby, and this one is about two sisters on a road trip, and the younger one is setting up a treasure hunt across the country to help her older sister who is struggling with depression. Then this one is my newest, a spooky book about a girl who starts seeing things from her nightmares in real life and she has to figure out what’s going on and how to stop it before they take over.”)
And honestly that’s it! I let if flow naturally from there, and whatever happens, happens.
This is what has worked well for me and my personality, and what I enjoy and am comfortable with. If none of this sounds appealing, then good! I hope you’ve learned some things you don’t want to do, and what might work for you instead. Or maybe some of these strategies can help you feel less freaked out about your next book signing.
Either way, I hope you’ll reach out afterwards and let me know how it goes!
What I’m Reading: I had a stellar reading month, which maybe contributed to the coziness level. So I’m giving you three whole recommendations! They’re all bestsellers and big names, so I’m not giving you anything unique today, just my wholehearted agreement with the acclaim these books have received.
A Gentleman In Moscow. Absolutely luminous. The twists and the ways things developed were a trip. I’m actually not usually a fan of long time-span novels, but in this one it really, really worked. One of my favorite protagonists I’ve read in a long time.
The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared: This one was sent to me by one of my best friends who is studying to be a geriatrician and who I’ve bonded with over our love for old people (don’t judge me and my friends we’re delightful okay?) and you guys, this one was an absolute romp. Basically Forrest Gump if Forrest was Swedish, entirely unfazed by anything, a centenarian, and a demolisions expert who may or may not have given both the US and the USSR the atomic bomb.
A Man Called Ove: Another book by a Swedish author, so maybe what I really learned this month is that I need to move to Sweden? (Smorgasbord is a Swedish word, after all). I know everyone has probably read this book already, but I’m recommending it anyway. I have nothing really coherent to say about this book because it’s one of those that just feels like…mine, ya know? Like it really was written for me. This was a reread, or re-listen, because I discovered that the audiobook is read by J.K. FREAKING SIMMONS and I needed that in my life immediately.
What I’m Watching: Sometimes magic happens. Sometimes a friend recommends an older show and it sounds intriguing enough that you start it. And then no time and six seasons later you are fully, entirely, utterly lost, and you can’t think about anything but this broken character and the glory that is Simon Baker’s face when he’s desperate and everything is this show and where even are you and you have one season left and the only way out is through.
So I’ve been watching The Mentalist.
It’s on Hulu.
Will someone please come talk with me about this show???
Earning Money For Being Insane: Clips of this speech have been going around the socials, but if you haven’t seen the full thing, it is beyond worth watching. And only four minutes. Fredrik Backman just might be my favorite living writer? Maybe? His speech writing abilities only solidify that position.
What I’m Drawing: Let it come.
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.”
— Douglas Adams
Writing Opportunity: Do you write fairytales? Fairytale retellings? Keep an eye on Fairy Tale Magazine. It has a deadline coming up on June 24th that might be perfect for you!
Teacher or Librarian? I would love to do a free virtual Q&A with your class or book group! If you’re interested in scheduling a visit you can reach out to me via my website. Let me know how I can support you! I’ve also got free classroom resources to accompany each book. You guys are rock stars!
Thanks for coming along everyone! The Smorgasbord is a hand-kneaded, hand-shucked, reader supported publication. You can support by buying a delicious book or by becoming a paid subscriber. It seriously means the world, you shining star you.
-Sarah
Great tips, awesome video, and agree with everyone on your mum's blanket! Supercool! Thank you.
What an amazing book signing! And thanks for sharing your wealth of tips -- I'm very nervous about my debut in October, but your chocolate idea helps so much. Thanks for sharing!