You Have to Draw the Line Somewhere

People, especially kids, can say and do the funniest things at book signings.

Book signings are one of an author's tools for selling and marketing books, and for the most part they are a lot of fun. It's a great opportunity to meet the public and introduce prospective fans to your work, but sometimes you have to be careful about what you do.

Back when I was first getting started in this business I did a book signing at a historical event that school kids would be attending. They got curious and stopped my my table, and when I explained that I was an author signing my books they looked at me like I had two heads. I always hand out free bookmarks at my signings, so I gave them each a bookmark. One kid came back a few minutes later and asked if I would sign his bookmark. Being inexperienced and naive at the time I signed it, and my way of being thanked was for dozens of kids suddenly surrounding my table all demanding that I sign their book marks too. Needless to say, none bought a book as I had just killed the incentive for them to buy. It was a real learning experience for me and a mistake I will never make again.

While you always want to be on your best behavior at your book signings you do have to draw the line somewhere when dealing with the public, otherwise people can and will take advantage of you. There are some requests which you simply have to firmly but politely say no to.

At a recent book signing at a school I again had several youngsters come to my table and asking for autographs. I smiled and told them if they bought one of my books I would certainly be more than happy to sign it for them. I also offered them some bookmarks, which were, of course, not signed. Turned out they didn't want to buy any of my books--they just wanted a free autograph. So I explained that I could only give an autograph to those who purchased a book, and yes, some of them got a little ticked off, but that's too bad. I'm there to sell my book, and it's not fair to the person buying my book if someone else gets my autograph for free.

So my advice to other authors out there is to have plenty freebies; candy or bookmarks or what have you, but don't sign anything for free. Likewise parents and teachers please explain to youngsters that when an author is signing their books it is very bad manners to ask for a free autograph.

GM

Living History and Period Correct Language

One of the many controversies happening in the town of Tombstone lately has been the one of the reenactment groups coming to Helldorado who use so-called period correct language in their skits.

Spending a lot of time on Allen Street performing and signing books at these various events has given me a lot of opportunity to watch a lot of groups, and their idea of "period correct" is more like the show Deadwood. Now they're not dropping the f-bomb, but it's certainly "R" rated dialog, and yes, I've watched people's reactions, and yes, some people are offended.

The purpose of living history, first and foremost, is to educate the public about history, and that would include using as accurate of language as possible. There are, of course, some limitations. If you're doing ancient Roman living history you'll certainly be accurate if you speak Latin, but no one will understand you. So you have to modify your presentation for what is appropriate for your audience. And that's the key point here, what is appropriate for your audience.

When I first started doing living history I was working with historical museums, and most of the audiences I performed for were schoolkids. And while the museum education department had high standards for historical accuracy they were also very clear that all the performers have material that was age appropriate, and some material, despite being historically accurate, simply was not suitable for young audiences.

The Old West period occurred during the Victorian era, and this was a time when certain words were never uttered in polite company, particularly when women and children were present. I'm sure the cowboys and miners who lived in those days may have used some colorful metaphors on cattle drives and in the mines and bordellos, but NEVER in the company of women and children.

It's one thing to perform your skits for an adult audience, it's quite another when Grandma and the kids are watching. Sure, they can make their announcement at the beginning of their performance, but when you're doing street skits you don't have a captive or static audience. People are coming and going, and should Mom and the kids step out of a shop only to hear inappropriate language being shouted from street performers that they weren't expecting to hear it doesn't go over too well and they shouldn't have to put up with it.

While I'm a big proponent of the right of free speech I am also aware that with free speech comes certain responsibilities. There really is too much profanity out there, and too many kids are being exposed to things they really shouldn't be.

My thought for the day.

GM

And That's What Makes it All Worthwhile

I had to go to Casa Grande last night for a book signing at a literary night event at the middle school. (Casa Grande is a little town roughly half-way between Phoenix and Tuscon.) Book signings are one of the crazy things that come with the territory of being an author. Like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. Sometimes the event will be well attended and you'll sell a lot of books and feel like a movie star at the end of the day. Other times you'll spend a few hours twiddling your thumbs while the handful of people who actually showed up at look at you like you have two heads, and when it takes you over an hour's drive to get there you really, really hope it won't turn out to be the latter. Most of the time however I've found it usually ends up somewhere in the middle.

This event turned out to be one of the slower ones. It was from 5 to 7 pm, the time of day when most kids are home having dinner and doing their homework, so not that many showed up. There were a few teachers there, and they were all enthusiastic about my books. A few even bought some. That's always a good thing. But here's the really encouraging part. As has happened before, I found that many of today's youngsters like the old west. To them it's new and different and interesting.

Along about 6:30 I had decided to start packing up and bugging out early. One of my buddies in Casa Grande was there and we were going to go get ourselves a steak dinner. And I wasn't feeling well that day so I was anxious to get back to Tucson as soon as I could. And that's when the really good thing happened. A gentleman walks in with his granddaughter in tow and is asking where the author is.

It turns out his granddaughter is a 10-year-old budding author, and she wanted to know all about how I write my books and how I get them published. So I gave her as many tips as I good. Her little face would light up and her eyes would round like a pair of saucers. It's really kind of neat seeing a kid get all excited like that. We hear so much in the news about all the really rotten kids out there that we forget about the good ones, like this young budding author. I'm sure she would have loved to have hung out with me for the entire evening, but before long it was 7 o'clock and time to shut down. Before they left her grandfather bought her a copy of Billy the Kid and the Lincoln County War. I'm sure she'll treasure that book for years to come. That little girl made my trip from Tucson worthwhile.
GM