Samhain Publishing Ltd Weblog

My First Booksigning – how it went from Hell to Heaven.

So, Ilfayne’s Bane is in print and ( after a little sweet talking) available through Waterstone’s, the bigger book chain in the UK. And I know the ladies in the local SFF department quite well and…so I was cheeky. Can I do a booksigning please? They were very enthusiastic, gave me lots of tips on how to make it go well. We arrange a day when the Christmas rush is well and truly on. An interview with the local paper to advertise it. Flyers etc. Manageress explains that 20 would be a good number to sell – a member of the England Cricket team did a signing a few weeks ago, and sold a few less than that in four hours. Okay, a target.

All is arranged. The day before I thought I’d just pop in, make sure everything’s all right and Disaster. Thanks to who knows what gremlins, the books haven’t turned up! Luckily I have ten at home. I’ll bring those in and when their stock turns up they’ll replace them. Okay, at least we can have a signing. Phew.

The day dawns, and I am pretty nervous. Selling things to random strangers is not a strong point of mine, and it feels a bit churlish to shout out ‘Oi, you, buy my book!’ Luckily the lovely ladies have placed me not only next to the entrance to the SFF area, but right next to the till queue. So when I mention this churlish feeling to one of the customers, three other people chime in and say ‘Well, you should say it. Tell me what it’s about and I’ll buy it.’ The spiel me and the Old Man came up with – ‘It’s like Wizards of the Caribbean’ – works wonders, or at least gets plenty of people to come and have a look and a chat. Mentioning the Epic nomination doesn’t hurt either.

And after just over an hour and a half, I sold out! Not only that, the shop ladies were so happy (especially when I got mistaken for an employee three times and managed to direct people to the books they were after. Me, spend hours in the book shop? Never! lol) and so keen to make up for the stock not being in, they’ve asked me to come back when the books turn up. Not only that, but several of those books coming in have already been reserved.

In short, thanks to the lovely ladies of Horsham Waterstone’s SFF department and their customers – especially the guy sporting a Mohican with the sides shaved into leopard spots who started a lively debate about the relative merits of epic fantasy versus urban – I actually had a great time.

And I’m looking forwards to going back just as soon as those books turn up!

You can find out more about the author and find some free reads at “her website” http://juliaknight.co.uk