It’s a week and a few days until the (post-Super-Bowl, post-Ground Hog Day) February 4th release of DO OR DIE!

Whoa, I’m late posting today! Sorry about that! I spent the morning working out some of the travel details of my upcoming book tour for DO OR DIE.

I’m going to be signing books at a number of stores, starting with an event on DO OR DIE’s launch day, February 4th, at my local Barnes & Noble in Sarasota, FL.  (The event starts at 7:00 p.m.)

But then on February 8th, I’m hitting the road (with Ed and both dogs!) and heading north to Boston, visiting a variety of bookstores and writers groups along the east coast, starting in Jacksonville, Florida!  (More next week about my upcoming visits to writers groups, and the other workshops I’ll be presenting not just in February but throughout the coming year.)

Today my blog is called “Booksigning 101.”  

Some of you may never have been to a signing before, and some of you may never have been to one of MY signings before, so I’m gonna tell you how I do it.

First, I always try to make book signings as much fun for my readers as possible!  Feel free to bring friends and family, or to come alone — chances are you’ll meet like-minded readers and make new friends.

The bookseller will set up a table and chair for me (cuz it’s easier to sign books sitting down!) in a section of their store.  If we’re having a Q&A (Question and Answer) session, (and there will be a Q&A session for all of the B&N events) there’ll be chairs set up for readers in that part of the room.

When you arrive at the signing store, check with one of the clerks to find out exactly where the signing and the Q&A will be in case it’s not obvious!  It can’t hurt to arrive a little early to ensure that you get a seat!

I try to arrive at the signing store anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes prior to the start times listed on my appearances page.  (Although in both Florence, SC and East Brunswick, NJ, I’ve got rather lengthy drive times before both events, so I might arrive closer to the 2:00 p.m. start times!)

Sometimes the bookseller will pull me into the back room to sign stock when I arrive.  Most of the time, I’ll be right out there, setting up and schmoozing with the readers who have arrived early.  Sometimes, I’ll panic at the size of the crowd and start signing books, even before I do the Q&A session.

If my appearances page says the book signing is going to start at 7:00 p.m., then promptly at 7:00 p.m. we’ll begin the Q&A session.  This allows me a chance to talk to the entire group of readers and answer any questions you might have about my books, about writing, about my plans for future projects (not that I’ll say too much about that!).  We’ll talk for about 30 or 40 minutes.

Then I’ll start signing books.

Because I love to spend a little time talking one-on-one to my readers, and to shake their hands, the line tends to move rather slowly.  But I always bring my husband Ed along to help entertain the folks who are standing in line — to make it feel more like a party then, well, a line.  (There might also be copies of Ed’s legal thrillers available.  But if you want one, or if you bring your copy from home for him to sign, he’ll sign them as he “works the line.”  It’s his preference — the man likes to stay on his feet!)

(And at my event at the B&N in Raleigh, NC, my good friend and fellow writer Virginia Kantra will be at the event! The bookseller will have several of her titles available, too!)

One of the questions readers ask before a book signing is, “May I bring books from home for you to sign?”

My answer is “Yes, but…”  In the past, I’ve had no problem signing entire complete collections of my fifty-something books for readers (some readers even have multiple copies — and I’ve signed ’em all!).  In fact, I love doing that.

But some booksellers have rules about bringing books into the store, and we don’t want to break them!  (This doesn’t apply to books bought at the signing.  There’s no limit to the number of new books that you can get signed.)

My advice — if you want to get your entire collection of books signed, bring ’em, but leave ’em in your car until you’ve scoped out the situation at the signing.  If the crowd is light and the bookseller is agreeable, and you don’t mind rotating to the back of the line every five books or so, or getting bumped back in line if someone new shows up to get a new book signed, then you’re golden!

Let’s talk about the fabulous door prizes!

I always hold a “door prize” type raffle at my booksignings. I have a box that I fill with all kinds of cool stuff — some of my hard to find, original edition backlist books, maybe an interesting foreign edition, or an audio book, and everyone who attends the event gets a free raffle ticket — just for showing up!  (And this means if your mom or your daughter or your spouse comes with you, she or he will get a ticket, too!)

BUT… anyone who buys one of my books at the book signing will get an additional raffle ticket for each book they buy.  In other words, if your sister’s birthday is approaching, this could be the right time to pick up a signed paperback copy of Gone Too Far or Flashpoint for her.  And, if you just can’t wait for the signing day to buy a copy of DO OR DIE, if you MUST have it and read it on February 4th, when it first hits the stores, if you purchase it from the store where we’re holding the book signing in your area, and bring it back to the signing with your receipt (to get it signed!), we’ll give you an extra ticket for that purchase, too!

About an hour into the event, we’ll call a time-out on the signing, and start drawing raffle tickets.  The person who’s holding the first ticket we draw gets to pick one item from the prize box first.  The person who’s holding the second ticket we draw will get to pick one item of their choice from the remaining items in the box, and so on, until the box is empty.

There’s no limit to how many times you can win a prize from the box (for example, if you decide that all seven of your cousins need a new signed copy of Out of Control, well, hey, you’ll get seven extra chances to win, and you could win all seven times!) but you must be present at the time of the drawing to win.

After the event is “officially” over, I usually linger and sign all of the extra copies of DO OR DIE in the store.

So that’s how it works!  Check my appearances page — I hope to meet you at a book signing in the not too distant future!

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See you next week for the next installment in the DO OR DIE Countdown.

Read DO OR DIE’s cover blurb at https://suzannebrockmann.com/upcoming/do-or-die/

Get a signed hardcover copy via my DO OR DIE Virtual signing at https://suzannebrockmann.com/upcoming/do-or-die/dod-virtual-signing/  (Note: Virtual Signing books must be ordered by Feb. 1st!)