Many of you came to my launch party at the Barnes&Noble in Orem, UT. It was a great turn out! Over one hundred people came and I was signing books for two hours straight! Well, I did take a small break so we could film the Harlem Shake, but besides that, I was signing books the whole time. So I suppose that should count as my first ever book signing, but I don’t feel like it was a true book signing experience.

However, the other day, I was at the Barnes&Noble in Layton, UT, and that felt like my real first book signing. You might be confused about why I feel this way. The explanation is simple: At the launch party, most of the people who came were people that I knew who were excited to buy my novel and celebrate with me. (Something I’m definitely not complaining about here!) At the book signing in Layton, I knew two people who came to support me. The rest of the time, I got to use my friendly smile and try to engage people in conversation. That was quite different from the launch party.

It was a great experience. I actually love getting to know people from all different walks of life, and now it’s part of my job to harass people who enter the store while I’ve got a signing scheduled. 🙂 I only lured maybe twenty people over to my table to talk to them. The rest had various reactions to my friendliness. Some would not look at me when I gave them salutation, but would nod their head to acknowledge me. Others ignored me completely, and some were very courteous and asked how I was doing. Maybe it’s the writer in me, but I was fascinated by the different responses people gave when I said hi and asked how they were doing. It was like being front and center to a people watching experiment. And (in true writer fashion) I started making up stories for those people depending on how they reacted to me. (I know- kind of nerdy, but totally entertaining!)

From this experience, I just wanted to relay a simple message to all readers out there: We authors are not trying to make you feel awkward. Nor are we trying to put pressure on you to buy our books. If you see us sitting at a table at Costco, Barnes&Noble, or any other bookstore, feel free to come and talk to us.

One person approached me and asked questions about my book. She was very friendly and we had a great chat about her work and family. When she saw my book was about vampires, she simply wasn’t interested. I was totally fine with that. No hard feelings – vampires aren’t for everyone. I’m still glad that she came over and we got to have a little chit chat.

I’m looking forward to my next book signing and getting to know more people It’s such a fun opportunity and I’m glad it’s a part of my job description now.

Happy reading!