Adventures in Book Signing

Okay, so my first book signing was last Saturday, and I have to admit I was nervous. And my nerves were intensified late Thursday when the bookstore owner emailed me to say that the town's "Day" (this outdoor festival they have on the very road the bookstore is on) was rescheduled to the day of my signing. She warned me and the other author that more goes on outside in the street and few people come in the stores. Well, she was right.

My daughter (4) took pictures all day including this shot of the store front.

That's right. The booths were backed up against the sidewalk, which meant traffic was going down the center of the street and not in front of the stores. Ugh. So Artie Bennett, author of The Butt Book, and I took to the streets. Well, it was hot. It was crowded. And no one cared about books when there was music, toys, and candy all around. So we went back in doors. Here we are cooling off.

Okay, the day wasn't all bad. We read to a group of kids, and we signed books of course. This little girl (below) was so cute. She's allergic to dogs but she loved my book and her mom bought it for her.

Another highlight was when multi-published author, and my friend, Wendy Mass stopped by to buy my book for her kids.

And my daughter kept a smile on my face all day, decked out in her Dash t-shirt and handing out flyers and bookmarks to people on the street. She had a blast.

So, I sold some books, got to read to some kids, and learned that signings shouldn't be planned on the same day as street fairs. Lesson learned.

Do you have any good book signing stories? If not, what do you imagine your first signing to be like?