Greetings, fellow readers and writers! I'm really excited about our guest blog today because the author, Melanie Dobson, has "caught the vision" of CAN from a purely fiction perspective--meaning she not only "sees" the potential in author events rather than single (can we say "lonely"?) author book-signings, but she recently pulled together a very successful event to launch her most recent novel.
Melanie is the former publicity manager at Focus on the Family, and during the past eight years she has promoted books for multiple publishers as an independent publicist. She is the author of three novels: Together for Good, Going for Broke, and The Black Cloister (releasing in Spring 2008). So get out your reading specs and note-taking materials, ladies and gentlemen, because there's a lot of great advice in this one!
I admit it--I haven't had much success at book-signings. Even though I give away chocolates and bookmarks and a colorful marketing sheet that describes my stories, I usually end up sitting at a table by myself, trying to smile at the people wandering through the bookstore as I offer them a handful of goodies. Some people will stop and chat--a couple may even buy a book--but a two-hour book-signing seems like twelve hours when the traffic is slow and people are there to buy anything but an inspirational novel.
I'd almost given up on book-signings when our family moved to Oregon this spring. Going for Broke came out in May and, wanting to do everything I could to market the book, I took a deep breath and called our local chain of Christian Supply stores (www.christiansupply.net) to see if they ever hosted a collaborative signing of local novelists. They had never done anything like that before, but they were interested.
As I chatted with their marketing director, I offered to help coordinate the signing as well as sign my book. Then I emailed nine local novelists and explained our idea. Within days, I received nine emails back, and everyone said, "Yes!" I was stunned and excited about the enthusiasm for this day. After volleying back and forth, we ended up with seven novelists who were in town and available to sign books at Christian Supply's first Christian Fiction Day.
The store offered to supply refreshments and giveaways. Robin Jones Gunn suggested that her friend Paula Gamble play worship music in the background. Several authors volunteered to share their writing journey. Suddenly we didn't just have a book-signing--we had an event!
Christian Supply created an eye-catching poster and flyer. They bought spots on the local Christian music station. I wrote a press release and sent it out, garnering a radio interview and short article in The Oregonian. The authors put info on their Web sites. I sent out an email to our local network of ACFW members, who apparently told their friends because, on October 6, Randy Alcorn, Melody Carlson, Leslie Gould, Robin Jones Gunn, Jane Kirkpatrick, Bonnie Leon, Patricia Rushford, and I signed our novels for a group of enthusiastic fiction lovers.
The two hours flew by. It was like a wonderful party with testimonies and music and food. Not only were we busy talking with readers, we had a blast talking to each other. I don't know how many books were sold, though Christian Supply deemed the day a success. And the best part about the day--we all had fun!
For more information about my books or my writing journey, please drop by to visit me at my site (www.melaniedobson.com). Thanks!
Excellent post, Melanie!
We had an event like that in Minnesota and it was a hoot.
Having more than one author at our book signings brings so much more energy to the event. And what fun it is to be in the same boat together!
It's inspiring to see how your "little extra effort" went such a long way.
Thanks for your post.
Posted by: Susie Larson | November 21, 2007 at 06:37 PM