My First Book Signing...a Huge Success

BOOK SIGNING EVENT AT COLES BOOKS (Winnipeg, Manitoba)

Well, my first book signing was last night and...I sold out. About an hour into the event, I had to send a girlfriend home to get the rest of the books. It was a whirlwind scenario, let me tell ya. Coles Books staff were in awe, and so helpful. I couldn't have asked for better people. The two women just kept grinning when I came forward to give them copies to place their logo price stickers on them. Plus, they had placed a "Local Author" sicker on the front, which really seemed to grab people's attention when they walked by the table (not to mention that it was also used to conceal a visible nipple...heavens no!). They had even called Shae, the Assistant Manager, whom I had dealt with all the details of the book signing. The staff told me that they just had to share with her how well things were going, because they knew how nervous I was.  One copy sold even before I got there, and two more went within the first fifteen minutes of me arriving (I was still setting up).

Coles had arranged the signing table right in front of the store, and my novels were artistically scattered across the table. Apparently, the cover sold these initial three. Gotta love that, especially being the cover artist.

I didn't have a lot of time to speak with people about the "premise" of the novel, but I'm hoping to do so next Friday, as I have another signing date with them...if I can get more printed and sent to me before then (crosses fingers). I may have to cancel that date and reschedule if they don't arrive in time.

It was so wonderful to have another author sitting beside me, too. Kase J. Reed/Cerise Amour came up from Arizona to share the event with me. It also gave me more incentive to be open and to stand and announce myself. She was like a guardian angel, but in real form. I'll be alone for the next one, but I have a newfound sense of confidence that I can do this, and do it well.


One of my daughter's friends purchased a copy and began reading the book right then and there. She said she was hooked. When she left, she was still reading as she walked through the mall. *snickers* I did have a "young" girl read the back and ask me if it was like the Twilight series. Before I could answer, someone in the group standing by the table said, "It's even better." Gotta love friends like that. But the young girl's father was standing to the side, and I told her (more for his benefit) that the book was "adult" and it wasn't Twilight, but it was about vampires and romance. I was very worried about this happening. I had asked Coles about their policy of selling "erotic romance" to young girls, and they told me they don't censure--anyone can buy. Personally, I didn't want an irate parent calling the book store and screaming about them selling "adult" novels to their children, but Coles indicated it's up to the parents to monitor what their children are reading. They just sell the novels.

Being published in the US and trying to do this Canada is tough, but a road I'm willing to travel. I've waited four years for this; I've worked so hard and put in hours and hours in honing my writing skills, revising and editing and worrying about every paragraph. I don't want it to "pay" off in the monetary fashion, although that would be a bonus, but rather people read the novel and want more of the series.


I can do this. I know I can!

All in all, it was a huge success. My book is now out there, and hopefully, people will enjoy it. There is something so absolutely petrifying in doing this. It's like giving people access to your underwear drawer and telling them to go nuts. My greatest fear is that people will hate it. As an author, I'm sure I'm not alone in my thinking.

A picture of moi, with my granddaughter, Madison.