An Author's Guide to Surviving a Signing

Courtesy of Lisa Gray

So the launch of The Time to Kill took place at Waterstones in Argyle Street, Glasgow on the evening of 29th June. It went really well, thanks to some skilled questioning by fellow author Douglas Skelton and a great turnout from supportive friends, readers and bloggers.

After the excitement had died down, it got me thinking that one of the things I’ve learned since the publication of my first novel, The Killing Season, is that there’s a lot more to a signing event than, well, signing.

There are many different formats to author appearances, from panel discussions with other writers, to Q&As, to solo ‘An evening with…’ style events. There are some features common to almost all, though, and like all good boy scouts know, it’s important to be prepared.

With that in mind, here are my eight top tips for surviving a signing:

1. Expect the unexpected

A lot of times, you’ll be asked the same questions:

“Where do you get your inspiration?”
“Did you always know you wanted to be a writer?”
“Do you put people you know in your novels?”

In my experience, though, there’s always an unexpected question at every event. Like the opening question from a book group I attended: “What is wrong with you?”

2. Water

If it’s an event that involves you giving a reading or talk, and / or answering questions, one thing is guaranteed: you’ll be doing a lot of talking, and it helps to keep your voice lubricated.

3. Keep the reading short

I’ve been surprised to find that some authors absolutely hate giving a reading. Having done a few myself now, I understand why – reading your work out loud in front of an audience is a completely different skill from writing it. It’s a performance. Given that writing is a fairly solitary profession, it can be disconcerting to have an entire roomful of people staring at you.

I don’t love readings, but I don’t hate them either, and I think I’m getting better at it with practice. Besides, the reading is a pretty effective hook to hang the rest of the event on, and it gives you a chance to showcase some of your best work.

Unless you’re a gifted performer (and even then…) my advice is to keep the reading short. The last thing you want is a portion of your audience falling asleep. 3 minutes is ideal, 5 is probably the maximum.

Courtesy of Gordon from the Grab This Book blog

4. Ask the audience some questions

This was a great tip given to me by Sarah Ward, and it works a treat. Try asking the audience a few general questions near the start. What kind of genres do they read besides crime? Do they prefer to read on paper or ebook? Stuff like that. Nothing challenging, like asking for their 12 point plan to bring about world peace.

It warms them up and gets them used to a bit of back and forth. This pays dividends when you’re looking for their questions later on.

5. It’s nice to split the work

An interview is a good format - having someone conversing with you about your book and asking some more structured questions about your work. Douglas was great a couple of weeks ago, and at my previous launch, Craig Robertson even sprung a surprise quiz on me, which I failed miserably. It’s fun to have another writer or journalist on stage with you, not least because it halves the amount of time you’ll be speaking.

Courtesy Gordon again! 

6. You can’t predict how well-attended a particular event will be, but it doesn’t really matter

I’ve done events with over 100 people and events where only 3 people have turned up, and thoroughly enjoyed both. You can tweet and blog and Facebook about upcoming events to your heart's content, but you will never know what the turnout will be like until you get there.

The bottom line is, if one person shows up, they’ve made an effort to be there, so you have to show them a good time. And besides, that person might tell a bunch of their friends how great your book is. And how unfazed and down-to-earth you were about the fact that nobody showed up.

7. Bring a pen

Kind of obvious this one, but it’s difficult to sign a copy of your book without one. It’s your call what type of pen to use – a good old fashioned Sharpie is my standby – but I’ve seen authors use bespoke stamps and different coloured pens to be a little fancier. The most important thing is, make sure whatever you write with uses permanent ink and won’t smudge.

8. Always, always, ask how the person you're signing for spells their name

Even if the person tells you they’re called Tom, there’s a chance their name may actually be Thom.

That's it for now. If you came along to the launch, thanks again. If you missed it and would like to come along to a future event, check out my events page where you'll find details of my upcoming whereabouts from the Harrogate festival to an Oxfam bookshop.

And if you'd like me to come and speak near you, just ask your local library or bookshop to get in touch, I love to go to new places.