Niki Anderson ~ Author & Speaker

Sometimes I'm asked, "What's it like being an author?" But I'm never asked, "What's it like doing a book signing?" Interested in the realities?

     The author, that's me, calls the bookstore and begins, "I'm the author of..." Bookstore employees are rarely impressed with the auspicious title, "the author." They know that writers are just ordinary folks. It's true. A reality of which I'm well aware.

     I choose a date for my signing and the store orders inventory from the wholesaler. I mail the bookstore a poster for their bulletin board, and call the newspaper and NPR with an announcement to air a few days before the engagement. News press realities.

     Besides the commitment for 2-3 hours of a signing, I invest travel time, prepare professional clothing, and fill a bag of items for the book table, such as seasonal décor, cat beanie babies, an ink pad and cat stamps for the children, business card holder with cards, cat confetti that I sprinkle on the page with my signature, and my favorite pens. Need I say it's humiliating to ask the bookstore associate for a pen when I've come to "SIGN books?" It's happened. More reality.

     After arriving, I arrange my books in a fanning stack and prop one upright on a stand, then settle on the provided chair which may or may not be designed for comfort. Kind employees bring me a bottle of water or treat me to a latte from their café, a reality that helps compensate for three hours in the occasional folding chair.

     Presuming I'm an employee taking a break, most patrons pass me as they head for beckoning bookshelves. Authors don't wear identifying aprons, badges, or hats. After I figured this out, I added the vanity of displaying my author photo on my table to alert buyers. It's easier than saying, "I don't work here. I'm the author of these books!"

     I study every person within walking distance of my table and sporadically speak out, "Are you a cat lover?" If not a cat lover, I'm sometimes met with an expression of disdain and a firm no. If cat lovers, they often grin, pause, and approach the table.

     I initiate conversation. "I wrote these cat books but I'd love to hear your cat story." I really would. If I'm successful, the shopper lifts a book and pans through the pages. All this effort and sensitivity with still no promise of a sale? That's the reality.

     Intermittently, I look at my watch. I reposition in my chair. I hope for a cat person with extra money to spend on my book. I wonder why it's a bad day for a signing. One time I unknowingly chose the evening of the midnight debut and bookstore party for a latest Harry Potter edition. I sold no books during my 7 to 9 p.m. slot. Nada. Reality book signings are sometimes UNreal.

     Shall I mention the financial reality? Though I conceived the book and processed words for months-on-end, I wait six to twelve months for a royalty check that pays in a lump sum for all books sold during the designated period. The reality? No money up front at book signings.

     But I continue smiling from my heart like the picture I've posted that was taken at my May signing at Auntie's Bookstore. And I keep scheduling book signings because:

     ...at signings I meet the extraordinary people for whom I write. My readers. I get in touch with their needs and experiences, and am blessed with the feedback I desperately need and deeply appreciate, especially later when I'm sitting alone in my office taping out more words.

     I meet precious children accompanied by parents on whose hands I press a kitty stamp. Or for a man over six feet tall, waiting behind a little girl, who pointed at my table and said, "I want that one." Not one of my books he said. "I'd like the purple cat stamp!"

     I visit with people like me who cherish books in general for their power to inform, transport, teach, entertain, explain, console, educate or otherwise connect with the reader.

     I rub shoulders with bookstore workers who are the most familiar with current trends in popular literature and can "talk books" like no one else. Many are instantly my friends.

     I gain person-to-person opportunity to share the truths from my books with men and women who tell me sad stories because I listen and truly care.

     And I enjoy looking at their "my cat" pictures pulled from wallets and loaded on camera phones. (I show them mine, too.)

     Given both their good and not-so-good realities, I love book signings. I'll be doing a reading and signing for my new release, Whiskers, Wit, and Wisdom: True Cat Tales and the Lessons They Teach, at Auntie's Bookstore in Spokane on Thursday, August 20 at 7:30 pm. See you there!

Autograph Dessert & Party, Sat., October 10

at Manito Golf & Country Club, 1:30 PM

Book Signing: Auntie's Bookstore, Aug. 20, 7:30 PM

About Cats page: Feline Asthma or Hairball Coughing?