Things I Wish I Had Done at My First Book Signing

Don't forget the same things I did!

11/17/20234 min read

Well, I did it folks! My first book signing! And from no other than my local library!

Marketing tip of the day-Get your book in the library ASAP! The absolute best resource for self-published authors! One that took me a year to find. #facepalm.

Back to the Book Signing! After mountainous research and even more time on Amazon, I pulled off a successful table at Indie Author Day. And you can do the same! Here’s a quick list of the things I wish I had done better!

1. Take pics. And I mean a lot. Take pictures of you setting up, talking to people, speaking, etc. I can’t tell you how many teenage girls asked me to take selfies with them! The only problem? I forgot to take them on my phone! It absolutely crushes my soul that I don’t have memories of these wonderful girls to show people, print out, or even use just to prove that they asked!

2. Talk social media! It occurred to me after that I didn’t ask anyone to follow me on TikTok. (@michellemassieauthor if your interested!) I mean, come on. TikTok is my main platform for advertising, and I didn’t even mention it. I didn’t even ask them what social media they use! I have no way of finding these wonderful people and chatting them up. Right there, I missed out on potential reviews, feedback, and additional ideas. Grrr.

3. Post my social media username/handle on all my swag. I had a decent supply of author swag. Bookmarks, business cards, and stickers. (They went nuts for the stickers!) But, why, in my writer’s mind, did I not think to put my user names on all this swag?! I had a great bookmark for my first book, but no website or QR code where they could find it. I had a great business card for my first book, with a QR code where they could leave an Amazon review. But my professional business card only listed my website and professional email. UGH!!! I should have put every single one of my user names/handles on that card. Boo.

BUT! I did do a few things I am especially proud of, even a couple things the other authors forgot.

1. Stand. Don’t sit behind your table when someone walks up. It’s so much easier for someone to approach a person that looks eager to talk to them. I would sit when my feet needed a break, but pop right up when someone came near. Make them feel appreciated. Show them how valuable they are to you!

2. Practice your signature and your message. I’m sooo glad I did this. I had exactly three different messages in my head to use, but ended up using using the same one for all but one of the books. (Her friend had just bought a book so I couldn’t write the same message!) It was short, easy to remember, and made you wonder what the heck I was talking about . . . Hopefully makes poeple want to dive right into my book!

3. Take Post-Its. Another golden rule for me now. For every single autograph, I had the person write down their name for me so I would not misspell it. Those Post-It’s next turned into an easy way to count sales, and a good way to remember every single person that bought my book. I’m going to put every single one in a frame!

4. Payment. I made my YA Fantasy an even $10.00 for many reasons. Easier for people. Easier for me. Sell more books! I mainly used a Square Reader, which was not expensive to purchase and easy to use. QR codes are also a great way to link people to your Venmo account super easy. I saw one author who had her QR code available on her price sign. I also had one person send it directly to my PayPal. Have several different ways available to pay to get more sales!

5. Take a helper! More importantly, just someone to talk to when things are slow. In my opinion, better than whipping out the cell phone. Keep those things pocketed!

There it is, writers! I hope this helps your next book signing and you have as amazing time as I did!

As Always, Happy Writing!

Michelle

Questions? Comments? I Love to hear them!

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