Our authors’ group held a “Local Color” event at the local bookstore. I was the primary mover and shaker in organizing this event. It is, apparently, getting harder to sell books at bricks and mortar outlets. Or maybe, it’s getting harder to sell books–the real item, with pages made of paper. So authors are looking for ways to generate ‘buzz.’
Admittedly it took some effort to get this off the ground. Directing authors in any concerted effort is like herding kittens. I shouldn’t be surprised. By definition, writers engage in solo efforts. Not all of them are up to public speaking. Many are unaccustomed to team building. Because of this, we ran a little short on the marketing time frame and the event was not particularly well attended. Or maybe it’s just difficult to get folks to abandon their screen time for actual human contact.
We didn’t sell a lot of books. But everyone who came loved it. Authors spoke about their stories, and their motivations. Some used the opportunity to expound on the research done for their backstory (after all, there must be some good use for all that work.) Some read poetry–their own and others’. In all, it was a captivating evening. Yet we didn’t sell many books.
Afterwards, I was cringing, wondering how my fellow authors would react. They could have been miffed that their energies were misspent. I was pleasantly surprised. Not only did everyone thank me on the way out the door, but I also received a number of emails, praising the effort and the outcome. One in particular expressed thanks at the opportunity to better get to know their fellow writers–and to hear, in their own words, about their individual paths in the writing venture. It turns out that authors are as interested in community engagement as they are in actual book sales. Many expressed interest in doing it again. Several even suggested it should be an annual event–you know, a tradition.
I am thrilled. I’m not immune to the lure of a successful book sale. But I also believe that our relationship with our readers doesn’t begin and end with the transaction. The group’s objective is to create a relationship with our community, rooted in the joy of the written word. So I’m not cringing. We’re talking about ways to expand on this experience–maybe by genre, or by theme. We’ll need to experiment with better marketing. Maybe we will do this as a tradition. I don’t know where it will lead, but I know that it starts with a wider understanding of the concept of success. And that’s a great place to start.
Bob Downes is with Scott Couturier and 3 others.
Our Traverse City Author event at Horizon Books drew an audience of mostly authors, offering some fascinating talks on local literature. I stayed for the full 3 hours and loved every presentation. There’s an amazing reservoir of writing talent in TC!
tworockchronicles 
It sounds a great event. I’m a reader not a writer and I would find it very interesting to find myself on the other side of the cover. It sounds like a success for a first event. Amelia
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Congratulations on the unexpectedly successful event (and may you have many more; ) Another aspect that might come of it – is that people of a writerly bent might like to learn more about the hows & whys of actually getting words down on the page; )
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Perhaps. And it’s still questionable whether it was a “success.” I may be dithering, by my redefinition of it. I wholly enjpyed it, as did others. In any event, I think we need to start with that. I’m tired of any venture that doesn’t start with being enjoyable and authentic.
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By “unexpectedly” successful I’d meant it exactly as by your redefinition.
Success – in my book, at least – has zero correlation with monetary ‘value’… ; )
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What a worthy event. Kudos to you for organizing it!
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