I had my first ever book signing on Sat Aug 4th. I set out for the book store terrified, but the moment I stepped in the door, terror turned to joy and the day was wonderful.

Saturday Aug 4th I had my first book signing at Seven Rays Bookstore in Syracuse, NY.  They were the first bookstore to pick up my novels Son of the Star and Shadows of the Anunnaki and they were the first to organize a book signing. 

I had never done anything like this before and I was so terrified on the drive to the bookstore I was nauseous.  However, the co-owners (mother/daughter) Betsy and Chrissy were so welcoming and sweet, that my nerves disappeared almost from the moment I stepped inside the store. 

While I had done a significant amount of presigning promo work, I literally had no one come to see me.  However, I had read numerous tips on doing a booksigning and followed as many as I could, including not just sitting there but getting up and moving around to interact with the customers in the store.  I'd had bookmarks made up for Shadows and I passed those out to anyone who would take one (free). 

I've learned a couple of things.   Book signings are a LOT of work and they're expensive.  However, just because your book is sitting on a shelf does NOT mean people will pick it up to read it.  If they don't know you, they're probably less likely to take a chance on your book.  I'm hoping that now that people have seen my face (hopefully with a friendly smile on it) and have interacted with me even briefly, they'll be more likely to take a chance on those books I have sitting on the shelf.