Book Signing Events

Book signing tip

Last week we hosted a Meet the Authors/Book Signing for Two Wins for Wiley. This was our first book signing and it was exciting, overwhelming and a bit nerve wracking. A book signing is a chance to meet parents, children and book lovers. It is also a big deal and requires a great deal of planning. Thankfully, we are very organized as you can read here. Being organized is only one part of a successful book signing. Read on for our book signing tips.

Spread the word

Spread the word by promoting your book signing event early and often. You do not want to be there all alone.  We created several posters and we sent individual invitations to family and friends. Announcing the event on social media well in advance gave people a chance to plan. We invited our subscribers and those who were on our launch team. We. submitted a press release to local media as well.

Books

This may seem obvious, but you will need to have copies of your book to sell. You will need copies to display and to sell. How many books? The number of books you need will depend on the expected number of attendees. Since our event was small we anticipated 30 attendees and we had between 15-18 attendees. Remember to order your books so they arrive in plenty of time for your event. We ordered our copies from KDP and the expected date was three weeks out. Books can be heavy, especially hardcover books, so consider how you will get them to the venue.

Set up

Once you know the venue and how the tables are set up, you are ready to think about your table. Our book signing was in my daughters office. We used one of her treatment rooms for the book signing. This gave us plenty of space for our table, books, swag, and refreshments. I brought the table and tablecloth from home. Next month I will be participating in an author event where they are supplying the tables and tablecloths. I will be sharing a six foot table with another author which means I must find the best way to utilize my space.

Swag

Do your homework to find out what swag will be most successful for you. Choose swag that is useful and conveys information about your book. For our book signing we had bookmarks created. Bookmarks are not only useful, they are long lasting. We also created coloring sheets for the children who attended. They loved getting a bookmark and a coloring sheet to take home with their new book.

Business

A book signing is time to sell books. We had a chart that listed the prices which included tax for each book. If you bought both Two Wins for Wiley and Gertie Saves the Day we offered a discount price. We also needed to decide how our customers would pay for the books. Credit cards and cash worked best for this event. If you decide to collect cash you will need to have some money with you to be able to give your customers change. We had $50-$60 in tens, fives and ones. If you are accepting credit cards be sure that your devices are charged and bring a charger along. Be sure to get the venue code for the venue’s internet for your transactions.

Actually signing the book

I have a list of quotes that I use for signing a book. Some quotes I use are: Happy Reading, May your life be full of great stories or Thanks for loving my stories. Ask the person to confirm the name they want the book addressed to and how to spell it. I like to add the date and my signature. Remember to take your time when writing to avoid mistakes. It is also a good idea to bring a few pens with you. I always like having a back up pen.

Refreshments

Not all venues will allow food, or balloons or banners. You will need to check this in advance of your book signing. We thought it would be a good idea to have some water bottles, some small candies and cookies for our guests. The cookies were a huge hit with the children, as well as the adults! Refreshments encouraged people to stay and talk about the book, writing, and children.

Enjoy yourself

Smile, mingle, take selfies with your fans. Make the most of the experience. Build your network, learn from other authors, use the opportunity to talk to your readers and find out about them and their reading habits. Have fun!

Now its up to you …

This is not an extensive list of things for a book signing. These are some things we have learned from our experience. Are you getting ready for a book signing? Do you have questions about book signings? Please feel free to leave a comment or a question. I will be happy to help!

Requests …

I am so glad you’re here and I thank you for taking the time to read this post. I am grateful that I can share my writing journey with you. 

I’m looking forward to helping you as a children’s book writer in any way that I can. Speaking of helping — please leave a comment below and let me know what questions you have about picture book writing. This will help me to tailor my posts to your needs. 

Know someone who would be interested in this content? Please forward this blog post to them and encourage them to subscribe to my newsletter. Check out my new updated website for several FREE resources for childrenparents and teachers, librarians and homeschooling families.

I am now booking author visits for 2023. In the past few weeks we have been to 8 schools to share Two Wins for Wiley. The children were very receptive to Wiley and his decision to try acupuncture. We have had some great conversations with teachers and librarians about the importance of books like this. Please consider an author visit and book early!

One last request … 

You can really help this author by leaving a book review on Amazon or Goodreads. You can leave a review for Gertie Saves the Day here or here. Two Wins for Wiley here or here.  Reviews can be as easy as 2-3 sentences and should take about 30 seconds to leave and would make a huge difference for me. Need help? Click here.

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