How Not to Run a Book Signing

For those of you not tuned into the romance world, you may have missed the big kerfluffle over the RT Booklovers convention signing.

Like some of the smaller pro-heavy cons in SF/F that are open to all, namely World Fantasy and the SFWA Nebula Weekend, there’s a huge signing called the Giant Book Fair. At 1200 people, RT isn’t that much larger than a typical World Fantasy, but it does cost about three times as much and is far more program heavy.

I’ll tell you something: on the whole, no one buys books like romance readers. No one.

Furthermore, most of their favorite authors go, and most of them want to buy and get books autographed there at the con. A lot of the writers have giveaways (like samples of a new book or glossy cover cards for indie authors), so it pays to visit all the writers you care about.

I’ll tell you that, as an author, I’ve loved these kinds of signings. They can be awesome fun. Worst case, you wind up sitting next to an interesting writer you didn’t know before, give a couple of autographs, and talk to some people.

The problem: with there being more and more romance writers, and not enough space to set them all up in. So how did they divide them up?

By whether or not the books purchased were returnable, as Courtney Milan explains.

Now, if you were looking for a book in the computer section, would you think to look in an entirely different room because O’Reilly books aren’t (or at least weren’t, back when I worked in a bookstore) returnable?

Multiply that times 1200. Now add the fact that a significant fraction of the people who are writers and signing for people publish for both kinds of presses and therefore it’s not going to be clear to the average reader who is going to wind up where.

Worse, authors had to pick whether they were going to sign one kind of book or the other. So, if like Courtney Milan, you happened to have a number of books published traditionally, you had to decide if you wanted to be in that room or the other. The one where you might be perceived as not playing for the team with your traditional publisher, or where you’re not playing for yourself or your small press for your other works. It’s a horrible situation to put authors in, let alone trying to have readers find them.

Also, to give you an idea of the size of the rooms, one writer I follow on Twitter tweeted that her signing was in row 38.

There are no easy solutions on this one. I get that.

Originally published at deirdre.net. You can comment here or there.

Equal Marriage: Are We Really Halfway There?

My friend Deana pointed out that, as of today, there are 18 states (plus D.C.) who offer equal marriage, and an additional 7 states where marriages are on hold pending appeals.

That’s half the states, folks.

Plus Illinois will start issuing licenses on June 1, and we’re expecting to hear from Pennsylvania tomorrow.

As a note, I prefer the term “equal” marriage to “gay” marriage or “same-sex” marriage as the latter two erase, among others, those who may feel like they have straight relationships, but their biology is complex.

Source: Wikipedia

Originally published at deirdre.net. You can comment here or there.