A Shy Introvert’s Guide to Stiefvater Signings, the Raven King Edition

maggie-stiefvater:

I did this post a little over a year ago for the Sinner tour, and I’m getting a lot of messages in my inbox that make me think I ought to share it again. I’m gonna update it for the Raven King tour, though. Here we go. 

I get a lot of questions asking me what to expect/ do/ not do at one of my signings. Many of them strike me as the questions of shy introverts — I could be projecting, as I’m still an introvert, and used to be quite shy myself, but I think not. Back in the day, I used to dread speaking on the phone and hated to go to any sort of social event where I might inadvertently violate some unspoken social code that everyone else somehow knew but I had missed. I’d do as much research as I could before the actual thing, and then, if I still couldn’t figure out if I’d feel embarrassed not knowing how to get in line or how to get a drink or where to park my car or whatever, I just wouldn’t go.

I am better now as I have gotten old and crotchety and less likely to give a damn what people think about me. But I remain sympathetic. So this is a guide to bookstore and library events** for my shy readers (and perhaps useful to not-so-shy newbies).

1. Pack all of the books you want me to sign. I’m happy to sign copies of all your other books — just remember to buy at least one from the store sponsoring the event (some of the stores will require you to buy a book to get into the signing line; they’ll announce this at the beginning or on their website). If you have a lot of books and you feel awkward about it, feel free to hang back to the back of the line. You’ll usually find a handful of other people with giant stacks and perhaps you can bond over your large collection of novels written by people with the last name Stiefvater. Or, if you’re both painfully shy, you can just stand close to each other and avoid making eye contact.

2. Arrive at the event. If you want a seat up front or to be early in the signing line, you can get there early, but you don’t have to go crazy with the earliness. I sign for everyone who comes, no matter how long it takes, so you’re not going to miss out there. Last year, the events ranged from 20-200 people, so the worst case scenario is that you’ll be at the end of that line. Usually the events last two hours from beginning to the very bitter end of the signing line.

3. Buy the book. For the painfully shy, this is also a good excuse to ask any questions you might have about the event structure. Also, sometimes the events give out numbers to attendees to reward the people who arrive first and get them closer to the front of the line. Usually if they’re going to do this, you get one of these suckers when you buy a book. If you’re confused about the format, remember that everyone else there is probably confused too, because there’s no standard-issue-book-signing-protocol, so everyone is just playing along.

4. Poof — I arrive. For the first part of my tour, I’ll drive up resentfully in a rental car. For the events from the 9th on, I’ll probably be in my yellow Mitsubishi Evo that I raced John Green in, so I will manifest in a cloud of exhaust fumes and gasoline odor. There will be this strange, awkward moment where I have to pretend like you guys can’t see me and I’ll wade through the crowd to go sit in the backroom of the bookstore until it’s time for the event to begin. I will probably be eating a chicken leg like a feral animal or picking bits of my car off myself at this point, if past experience is anything to go by.

5. I talk. Probably for twenty minutes or so, I will wax poetic about the writing of the Raven Cycle or tell you anecdotes about the writing of the Raven King or perhaps just give readers a status update on my goats. If I have done my job right, this part is entertaining. Then I take questions from the audience for another fifteen-twenty minutes. I’m happy to answer questions about any of the other books or about what it is like to be a writer/ musician/ artist/ humanoid, but if it’s spoilery, it’s better to whisper it in my ear as you come through the signing line. The only exceptions to this is are the New York City event, where I’ll be “in conversation” with my editor, David Levithan, who has been with the project from the beginning, and the BookCon event on 5/14, where I’ll be on a panel with other authors. 

6. Book huggers. Everyone who buys a copy of The Raven King at the tour events will get the custom book hugger Scholastic printed with my art on it — you don’t have to do anything special to earn one, and you don’t have to ask for it, and probably they will be set up on the table beside me for you to just take one. Before you ask, you can have one for every copy of The Raven King you buy. So that means if you want one for a friend, you’ll have to buy her a copy of the book as well. That’s just fair to everyone else who bought a book in order to get one. (and for those of you who can’t get to a tour event, do remember that if you pre-order a copy from Fountain Bookstore before April 26th, they will send you a copy with a doodle and bookplate in it).

7. Discount. Scholastic has arranged for most of the stores on the tour to offer a discount for folks wanting to get their friends into the series — everyone who buys a copy of The Raven King can also get a copy of The Raven Boys in hardcover or paperback for 50% off on the day of the event. The stores are already all set up for this and again, you shouldn’t have to do anything special in order to get it. The tour events with stars next to them are the ones offering the discount.

8. Post-it notes. While you stand in line, the booksellers will often ask you your name so they can write it on a sticky note. This is not because they want to call you later. It’s for the personalization in the book. Events are often loud, and names are hard to hear, and this makes it easier for me to not write a really embarrassing spelling of your name in your book. It’s totally okay if you don’t want your book personalized, too. Sometimes people ask me to write something long and complicated in the front and I stare at them, not because I think their face is weird, but because it’s hard to think of something clever on the spot.

9. Meeting my face. I know this can be the nerve-wracking part. Dread slowly seeps through your bones as you get closer and closer to the table where the author sits like a hulking vulture. Trust me. I know it. People often get flummoxed or embarrassed or sometimes they just stare into the middle distance as I sign. Here are some things that I like to hear if you can’t think of anything else: a) which of my books you like the best, b) where you first read my books, c) things you’re hoping I’ll write about some day. Or, if you don’t want to say anything, that’s fine, too. I will not think that you’re socially awkward. The painfully shy can always just smile and avoid eye contact and possibly slip a friendship bracelet or an index card with a song recommendation on it over the table. I’m sorry that this moment is sometimes anti-climactic, too. Because it only is a minute or two after standing in line. I try my best to make it worth it. 

10. Photos. I’m always happy to take photos with readers, so long as the flash is off. Usually there is a bookseller who can take it for you, or you can ask the person behind you in line. I have never seen anyone in line be annoyed about having to take a photo for someone else, so don’t feel bad about this. Sometimes, if we’re in a library or another building that has a closing time or there’s just an absolutely enormous crowd, the booksellers will move the line along faster by not allowing posed photos — so you’ll only be allow to snap a photo while I’m signing. Often booksellers will ask me what I’d like to do to move the line along faster — sign fewer books or take fewer photos. I always would rather make sure every book is signed, so if you suddenly hear halfway through the line that there are no more photos, this sort of time-management is generally happening.

11. Giving me things. Sometimes readers want to bring me things. I am very flattered by this, but it also makes me feel strange to accept gifts when I am giving you nothing in return but books that I hope will make you cry in public. Also, I’m always traveling by small car or plane, and so drawings and whatnot usually get crushed. And ever since I heard the story about what a deranged reader once baked into author brownies, I won’t eat any food that’s brought. So if you want to bring me something, I happily accept all friendship bracelets or leather cords and if you tie it on my wrist I’ll wear it until it falls off. That’ll be more than enough. I just like your shining faces.

12. Things not to do. Please don’t put me on the spot and ask me to doodle in your books at an event. I’m doodling in nearly 4,000 books right now before I go, and my hand is already in a very … liminal place. I’m not good at saying “no” without sounding like a jerk, and I try not to sound like a jerk in public. So I will do it for you but I will grow old as I do and my hand will ache for months after I return from tour. Related: please don’t ask me to write long sentences in your book for the same reason. Also please don’t: ask me to write something crude in your book. Please don’t ask me to record video or to sign your baby. Also please don’t come through the signing line just to be combative, because it’s weird and you’re not going to like it. 

13. Let’s just all have a good time.

14. Ta-da! It’s over! You have signed books. You have heard me talk and possibly asked me a question. You possibly have made eye contact with several other readers. You have totally survived. 

**the BookCon event on 5/14 plays by its own rules as it is but one part of a very busy conference. The signing there has time-constraints because of how many other authors are signing. It’s a scheduled hour signing and usually allows only a single book and often no photos in order to get everyone through the line.  

Here are the tour dates, in their entirety. 

4/26: Alexandria, VA. Hooray for Books, 7 p.m.*

4/28: Houston, TX. Blue Willow Bookshop, 7 p.m.*

4/29: Wichita, KS. Watermark Books & Cafe, 6 p.m.*

4/30: Denver, CO. Arapahoe Library, 2 p.m.*

5/2: Salt Lake City, UT. King’s English Bookshop, 7 p.m.*

5/4: St. Paul, MN. Red Balloon Bookshop, 6:30 p.m.*

5/5: St. Louis, MO. Main Street Books, 7 p.m.*

5/9: Cincinnati, OH. Joseph-Beth Booksellers, 7 p.m.*

5/10: Chicago, IL. Anderson’s Bookshop (Naperville), 7 p.m.*

5/11: Milwaukee, WI. Books & Co., 6:30 p.m.*

5/14: Chicago, IL. BookCon signing & panel, 11 AM & 5:15 p.m.

5/16: Detroit, MI. Barnes & Noble (Northville), 7 p.m.

5/17: Cleveland, OH. Barnes & Noble (Westlake), 7 p.m.

5/22: New York, NY. Books of Wonder. In Conversation with Editor David Levithan, 2 p.m.*

5/23: Rhinebeck, NY. Oblong Books, 6 p.m.*

5/24: Westerly, RI. Westerly Library, 6 p.m.*

5/25: Plainville, MA. An Unlikely Story, 7 p.m.*

5/26: Boston, MA. Brookline Library, 7 p.m.*

5/28: Saratoga Springs, NY. Northshire Bookstore, 5 p.m.*

6/8: Miami, FL. Books & Books, 7 p.m.*

6/9: Orlando, FL. Books-A-Million, 7.m.*

UK (please note the book huggers will not be at the UK events)

7/31: London, UK. YALC.

Manchester event to come.