As a newbie author, I had nightmares about the booksigning event where people who entered the store avoided making eye contact while detouring way around my table. If, that is, anyone entered the building at all.
Thankfully my first official author event was in a friendlier environment. My friend Jessie Gunderson invited me to present and sign Rainbow’s End at a party her mom would host on May 20. While still a very small gathering, those who attended were genuinely interested and didn’t avoid eye contact!
My hostess, Donna, spread out enough food for a small army while we chatted over the kitchen peninsula. Before the allotted time arrived I’d realized the starting point for my planned talk was in the wrong place.
I talked to my small audience about what geocaching is, and how my co-authors and I had created a fictional church outreach event with a geocaching hunt at its heart. They wanted to know how the stories had been created, and how they were linked together. They were curious about other books my co-authors had written, and a few personal stories about all of us.
I’d created a few ‘treasure’ postcards that I gave out. We read the verses together and talked about them. And then we had some more snacks and I signed books for them and for friends that hadn’t been able to attend.
Would I have liked to see a roomful of 30 women, all holding out their wallets? Of course! Maybe I’ll get a chance soon to do another party and that will be the case. But honestly, it was a great introductory event for me, helping me understand the author’s role in this type of get-together.
Thanks to Jessie and Donna for having me! For more photos of the event, click here. While you’re on my Facebook author page, why don’t you give it a ‘like’ if you haven’t already?