Happy almost-Friday, friends! We are so close.

I’ve spent the past eight years of my career getting to work side by side with authors of every genre, bringing them into bookstores, schools, and hospitals to meet their fans and expand their readership. Over the years I’ve learned not only about what makes a book signing successful, but also a tremendous amount about the writing process, the life of a book, and the raw reality of being an unknown author. Passion, and even unarguable talent, can sometimes only take you so far. What you need is an in. A lighted pathway through the unknown.

Welcome to that rabbit hole. This is going to be a long one, so buckle up.

First contact

If you are looking into having a book signing/event, you probably already have a location or venue in mind. For first time authors it’s best to start at your local bookstore or library. I’m going to talk specifically about getting in to Barnes and Noble locations, but these same rules can generally apply to any bookstore.

Although they look similar, every Barnes and Noble store is unique and may be vastly different from another store even within the same city. There are company-wide guidelines and policies that every location adheres to, but each store has its own undeniable personality, a product of both its employees and the community that surrounds it. Why is this important? While some B&N’s may be easily accessible to authors, others may prove to be difficult for a myriad reasons. These tips can help you crack even the toughest of safes, so to speak.

Who do I need to speak to?

There used to be a position called “Community Business Development Manager”, but sadly, the company has all but eliminated the role. Our jobs were to drive sales for districts through bulk and Institutional sales, and by connecting authors with customers.

Nowadays the responsibility of a CBDM is delegated between the management team, on top of all of their already existing responsibilities. This vastly changes the game in terms of how an author gets connected with a store.

How do I effectively connect with a manager?

Since hours are always tight and tasks can stack up quicker than they can be completed, the key is to come in at the right time. There are always exceptions to the rule, but my suggestion would be thirty minutes after opening or in the middle of the day, between 3pm and 4pm, when there is likely to be two managers in the building.

Head to the Customer Services desk, and ask to speak to the Manager on Duty. Have the following information ready:

• The sixteen digit ISBN of your book (starting with 978).

• The return status of your book through your publisher (Whole Volume or Non Returnable). If you don’t know this information, the manager can look it up for you in the system.

• Whether or not you are able to provide copies of your book in the event it is coded as Non Returnable. To get around a Non Returnable block, I used to do a consignment agreement with my authors.

• What kind of promotional efforts you are making. Do you have social media accounts where you can announce your signing? Have you tried connecting with local radio stations or newspapers?

I can’t stress this enough: Don’t talk too much! Believe it or not, this isn’t the time to pitch your book or give a short speech about how many copies you’ve sold. Just have the aforementioned info ready in case they ask. Introduce yourself and say you are interested in hosting a signing. Ask if you may email your information to them.

SUPER PRO TIP: Once you have made connection through email, don’t follow up with a call. That’s right, I am telling you not to call. One more time for those in the back: DON’T CALL. A phone call always inevitably happens at the worse time; right as three employees have to go on break, right as the line is out the door and your cashier called out sick, right as the oven in the Cafe decides to catch on fire. I can’t speak for every manager, but we much prefer to handle everything through email. All the information is saved and easy to access and refer to, which helps eliminate mistakes. I had one author in my early days who claimed not to have an email and insisted on communicating through phone only. We scheduled her for a Saturday afternoon signing, and she never showed. Until the next day. On Sunday. She’d written the date down wrong and missed her own signing.

If for some reason you ABSOLUTELY feel you MUST call (the store isn’t responding to emails), please call either within the first hour of opening or again around 3pm during the changing of the guard. Keep it brief, ask if this is a good time and if not, when you might be able to call back.

When should I approach the store to schedule my event?

Our calendars can book up fast, so contact the store at least a month before you want to have your signing. This allows us to order signage and properly advertise within the store.

When is the best time of the week/day to hold an event?

This depends on several factors, but to start, ask the manager about that store’s particular foot traffic patterns. For most of the stores I organized author events in, the best times were Fridays 5pm-7pm, Saturdays 11am-1pm, 3pm-5pm, 7pm-8pm, and Sundays 11am-1pm, 3pm-5pm.

The exception to this would be if you are a children’s author. For that I recommend either earlier in the morning on the weekends or right after dinner.

Other factors to consider: Is your location in a mall? Freestanding? Near lots of restaurants? A movie theater? Scheduling your event around times like movie premieres and dinner time can have a real impact on the success.

The B&N I want to host my event in is giving me a little pushback.

That store might be inundated with authors trying to get onto their calendar, so it might help to guarantee them a certain number of sales. Even if you end up purchasing them yourselves.

After all, in the beginning, the name of the game is EXPOSURE. I would always tell my authors that even if they only sold ten books at an event, the important part is getting their name and work in front of the customers. Word of mouth is a driving force in both sales and exposure, and every conversation matters to an author trying to make it.

I hope these tips will help guide you through the daunting process of booking your author event. Tomorrow we move on to the fun stuff: my tips and secrets on how to have the most successful author event possible. Until then,

Happy Writing!

🧡