Please enjoy this encore post on preparing for book events, originally published October 2016.
So now your book is being published and you’re overwhelmed in general about things, and in specific about this event, and WHEN WILL THE HELPFUL EVENT WIZARD SHOW UP AND HELP YOU?
The wizard is in, friends, and it’s time to roll for initiative.
First, as a shiny new author, you should rethink how you look at events. It’s not just a single blip on your calendar and done. It’s a continuum. Your book event is like the first date in a long and fruitful relationship with a particular bookstore. Many authors have their first book events at their local bookstore, so this is a vital relationship.
And much like dating, debut book events can be confusing and stress-inducing. So where does a new author start?
Before the Event
If you’ve never seen a book launch or a reading, go to a few. If you’re lucky enough to have a local indie, go to the one that will be hosting you. Check out the space. See how they run events and what they do to promote. Talk to other author friends and ask about their first book launch—they might have tips. Don’t have a bookstore near you? Some post videos of their events online.
Don’t have a local indie or author friends? Don’t panic. You can reach out to the bookstore you’ll be visiting—or to your publicist if you have one. Is there anything you need to know about the space? I host events at my local independent bookstore, Third Place Books, and I know that our Events Coordinator sends out an information packet to publicists and authors. If you’re lucky enough to get something like this read it carefully. If you have questions, ask. Don’t just call up the bookstore and ask a random employee—ask the point of contact for the event. That way you know that you’re getting up to date (and correct) information.

Communication is key. If you have plans, run them by your publicist or event coordinator. Want to bring cake? Have a raffle? Bring Morris Dancers? A three piece band? Wine? Eight other authors? ASK. There might be very valid reasons why these things won’t be okay. Lack of a liquor license, for example. Not enough space for the Morris Dancers. They might not want the ink for your Japanese calligraphy station near their rare and collectable books. (You think I’m pulling these examples from thin air, don’t you?) Don’t assume they’ll have plates, forks, knives, etc., and plan to set these things up and clean up anything you brought once your event is over. Keep in mind that while this is a huge milestone for you, to the bookstore it’s a smaller piece in a larger event schedule. Of course they want to do everything they can to make your event a smashing success, but they might have to spread their attention to four other events that week… as well as possible off-site events, and the daily workings of a bookstore.
Have a presentation? Make sure they have the capabilities for it (like a screen, a projector, and sound) and see if you need to bring any particular dongle. (I can almost say dongle without laughing. Almost.) I would also think long and hard about whether or not you actually need that presentation. Unless your book has a highly visual element, I’d skip it.
Do your own outreach before hand. Hit social media and make sure you tag the bookstore involved. Don’t swamp your Twitter feed—a good suggestion is a week before, a few days before, and day of. Let readers know if they can preorder their books with the bookstore—my bookstore will also put books on hold for you. This not only makes sure the reader gets copies of the books they want, but let’s the bookstore know that people are planning to attend! Bookstores order books for events based on projected attendees, noise, and sales if the author has more than one title. For small and first time events, our store orders in around twenty copies on average. Despite all preparation and experience, stores can be blindsided by events. They might not know that you have a huge local fan base, family, book clubs or knitting groups attending. Let them know so that they can order accordingly.
Come prepared—bring your notes, pens, any bookmarks or swag, and a copy of your book with the pages marked for a reading, even if you don’t plan on reading. As an author, I’ve shown up to events before where I find out that they’ve presented it as a reading and I’ve had to scramble last minute and it’s terrible. Practice your reading or presentation before hand so you’re comfortable with it. And keep your reading short—best reading advice I got from my MFA professor? “If you don’t have them after five minutes, you’re certainly not going to have them after twenty.” You’re giving them a taste, not the whole menu.
Event Day
Make sure you have all your panicked ducks in a row. Hit social media. Double-check your bag to ensure you have all your gear. Then make sure you have the contact info that you need and that you know where you’re going and how you’re getting there. For example, my bookstore has three locations. They are a lengthy drive apart and Seattle traffic is like something out of Dante’s Inferno. Save yourself a panicked phone call to the bookstore staff, okay?
Arrive twenty minutes early at least. Have a presentation or set up? Give yourself more time. You can’t control everything, so if you are running late, call the bookstore. When you get there, introduce yourself to someone on staff and find out where you’re supposed to be. Treat the staff and host with respect—and even if the host says something factually incorrect, don’t interrupt their introduction. You can always say something when it’s your turn if you deem it necessary.
Details may vary, but the basics of a successful bookstore event are generally the same. You arrive before the event and introduce yourself. Touch base with the host and go over any last minute details. After the host introduces you, give your presentation, staying within the time you’ve been allotted and making sure you leave a little time for Q&A. (Don’t be upset if people don’t have questions. Not everyone likes to discuss things in front of a crowd, so they’ll save it for your signing.) Thank the bookstore and the attendees and hand things back over to the host. They will then instruct people on how the signing will go. Sign books. If there are any left over, offer to sign stock for the bookstore. And you’re done! Celebrate as you see fit.
Things don’t always go smoothly. Bookstore run out of books? Offer to sign bookmarks for people, drop by and sign stock later if you can, etc. For the love of all that is just and good, don’t tell your audience to go to Amazon. Just don’t. That’s like going to your mom’s for dinner and telling your dad that you could get cheaper meat loaf at the restaurant down the street. Amazon isn’t hosting you, but the bookstore is. If you send all the readers to buy their books elsewhere, you’re not going to have a bookstore to read at next time. You’re focused on sales, and I get that. No one is saying don’t bring up Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indiebound, or eBooks ever, just time and place, you know?
Because there is an…
After the Event
Remember earlier when I said the event isn’t a blip, but an ongoing relationship? Like many industries these days, bookstores are well connected. Booksellers go to conventions and author meet and greets. They start Facebook pages where they can talk shop. They connect on social media. And they talk and exchange information. That includes which authors they love more than anything, and which authors were hard to handle. They’ll mention who screamed at them, and which books they are never, ever going to hand sell again. Most independent bookstores have healthy ties to local libraries, too, and booksellers and librarians are often at the same events, which means how an author presents themselves spreads beyond the bookstore community.
Like I said earlier, things happen during events and not everything is going to go smoothly. If you have a complaint, mention it to your publicist later. They often check in with the event staff to see how things went. Your publicist can then decide if they want to bring up your issue, and whether or not they want to continue to send authors to that particular store. I don’t recommend screaming at your event host. Ever. This solves nothing and no one likes to be yelled at. The person hosting you is often just there to host and might have no idea what you’re talking about anyway.
Thank the bookstore. They spent a lot of time setting up chairs, writing introductions, and getting the word out. This sells books, sure, but it also does what booksellers do best—connect readers to the books and authors they love. You can thank them on social media, in person, or you can even send a thank you note.
Your goal, as an author, is to try and make a lasting connection with the bookstore. Make them talk about your event and you (in a good way) long after you’re gone. This book might be your baby and the event your big day, but for the bookstore it’s just another Wednesday night. Your book is just another book in the hundreds of new books they’ll see that year. Try as they might, they just can’t read them all. Events help your book stand out a little. They let you to connect to the staff. As a bookseller I’ve sold a ton of books that I haven’t read, but know about because of events I’ve hosted. I can talk knowledgeably about the book and author. I’ve also sold books based on the sentence, “You know they’re local, right?” The wonderful souls that support their local bookshops also want to support local authors.
Your event is the first step for you to larger things, and a healthy relationship with your local bookshop can lead to future events and many copies sold.
Lish McBride currently resides in Seattle, spending most of her time at her day job at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park. The rest of her time is divided between writing, reading, and Twitter, where she either discusses her desire for a nap or her love for kittens. (Occasionally ponies.) Her debut novel, Hold Me Closer, Necromancer was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults and was a finalist for the YALSA William C. Morris Award. Her other works include Necromancing the Stone, Firebug, and Pyromantic.
The power of the “The Dunwich Horror” is maintained in the second half and for once Lovecraft doesn’t drag things out past the revelation.
Worrying amounts of analysis: at Lovecraftian Science.
Just thinking: it seems to be the case that Derlethians generally read Mythos stories before Lovecraft’s originals: some kind of survey is needed…
Add to the list of things which strangely concern me: the kerning on August Derleth’s name on that book cover.
This was posted to the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society Facebook page yesterday — somebody’s been working on a model of Wilbur Whately.
Model of Wilbur
For me, the second half doesn’t quite live up to the first. A lot of that is probably the things that Ruthanna mentioned, like the distancing of the narrative from the final battle. Still, there are a couple of good lines in there, although they do reflect poorly on the Dunwich inhabitants. First we have: “There were even bold souls who proposed an offensive expedition down in the glen, though they did not venture to set an actual example to the still reluctant majority.” And then after the MU team shows up HPL notes: “It was one thing to chase the nameless entity, but quite another to find it.” Frankly, I can’t really blame the poor benighted hicks. I’d be pretty damn reluctant, too. And in many ways, they have a better concept of what they’re up against than the professors. Armitage may know in his head what he’s facing, but they feel deep down in their bones.
I had a friend who lived in rural Oregon for a while, and one of the main ways to get into the next slightly larger town was Cold Springs Road. I always felt a little uncomfortable going that way.
I also find myself feeling a slight amount of pity for the Horror. It’s wailing for its father there at the end is not difficult to read as sad.
Good Omens…*shudder.* The Horsepersons have given me far more nightmares, and daytime dreads, than all of Lovecraft’s creations. They’re too darn believable.
There’s definitely an Apocalypse-Rapture flavor to the ambition of cleansing the Earth of humans to make way for the righteous. It reminds me of the MaddAddam Trilogy more than anything else, with Wilbur as Crake. *shudder* Yet his diary remains a thing of beauty, and one of my favorite Lovecraft passages.
I have albinism, albeit only retinal, which makes me appreciate Lavinia even more. Represent!
“Entertaining guests of the Deep One persuasion”? Sign me up! Though my envy of their aquatic-ness might reduce my enjoyment somewhat.
I was recently directed to The Toast’s “Texts from H.P. Lovecraft.” If you missed them, they’re hilarious: http://the-toast.net/2015/08/24/texts-from-h-p-lovecraft/ His thoughts on sex are included.
They keep flying into things. Terrible depth perception.
@@.-@ – Funny poem but I’m getting tired on people making fun of HLP’s supposed dislike of sex. What puzzles me the most, many people who do so are left-wing/progressive and really should have known better. Recently I’ve seen one Alan Moore interview where he listed Lovecraft’s hatred/fear of sex alongside with his fear of women and other races. The hell? And it’s not the first time I see such approach. I mean, analysis of his attitude towards sexuality as weperceive it is fine and necessary, but implying that asexuality is abnormal is another matter.
@1 – And now I’m wondering why I didn’t visit this blog before in spite of being aware of its existance. Really excellent stuff.
Ruina @@@@@ 6: Yeah, asexuality (if he was in fact ace) was not really at the center of Lovecraft’s problems. I think it’s easy for people to lump it into the whole LOVECRAFT AFRAID OF PEOPLE script, which is in broad strokes pretty deserved, but in the details can start to make fun of him for things that are actually perfectly reasonable.
FWIW, my speculation about Lovecraft’s sexuality (which is as uninformed as anyone else) tends to run in the direction of “too repressed to identify orientation,” which is unfortunately a thing that happens. A discomfort too vast and overwhelming to have any idea what might be underneath. And like many of his other fears, projected onto everyone and everything around him.
Lovecraft’s handling of sex was still, of course, loads better than that of many other male writers of his generation–several of whom made the unfortunate decision to actually write about it.
I don’t think Lovecraft was asexual. Deeply repressed, yes, and possibly with a low libido, but not asexual. One factor, of course, was his upbringing. Apparently pretty puritanical and Victorian. Maiden aunts and all that. He was probably also deeply affected by the idea of heritable madness and the fact that both his parents were institutionalized. In an era where sex eventually meant children, he likely was wary of passing on his “taint” (all of which lies at the heart of “The Shadow over Innsmouth”). But I keep coming back to Sonia’s description of him as an “adequately excellent” lover. Sure, she had to initiate it, but I don’t think an asexual person (especially a male) could regularly perform to that standard.
@9 I also doubt he was asexual. He even explicitly mentioned he could enjoy heterosexual sex at least in one of his letters (of course, it could have been a lie, but we can’t know this). However, from what I’ve read about asexuality, I’ve got an impression that some asexuals can perform sexually and even enjoy sex but lack sexual desire towards anyone, so argument about incapability can be disputed. I’m not an ace so I can’t give clearer picture here. As for children and “genetical taint”, well, birth control did exist in that time. Besides, “heritable madness” doesn’t quite apply to his situation – it seems both his parents got mentally ill because of external factors, and there weren’t other mentally ill people in his family. I don’t know whether he figured it out though.
“Maiden aunts”. Well, technically, no. Lilian and Ann both got married quite late for their time period, but they had been married.
@6-10:
Once more we delve into singularly unnerving territory: http://www.hplovecraft.com/study/articles/hpl-sex.aspx