(Btw, I meant when my WIP is finished, not if. It’s crazy how we can read over something we’ve written several times and not catch the errors until after it’s been posted. *sigh*)

We have a very tiny island bookstore that only carries local authors and the owner often does book sales at the events and does very well. I think this little store has sold a hundred copies of my first YA novel over the last four years. A pretty impressive feat considering the average age here is 55 and we only have about twenty or thirty high school students!

Definitely agreed re: the multi-author events. I think it might be hard to measure direct impact, but in the long term, exposure to new readers (and committed enough readers that they show up to author events) is hopefully expanding their audience. I’ve seen publishers doing this to good effect as well, especially YA publishers. I’d guess adult publishers do it, too, and it’s just escaped my notice.

To be honest, I think publishers get an unfair rap for how publicity is now. When people say that publishers aren’t spending money on it and expect authors to do everything, I think they’re often implying that the publishers aren’t doing what’s best for the book and/or that they’re being cheap. The truth, though, is more complicated than that. There are substantially more opportunities for promotion now then there used to be and many of them are a) accessible to the author directly, and b) more effective when the author engages directly. Combine that with the fact that potential readers have their attention divided over a very large number of platforms so everything is more splintered than it used to be and no one platform is as effective as certain platforms were in the pre-internet age, plus the loss of substantial book coverage in the traditional media and the Oprah effect, and it’s possible to look at this shift as publishers adapting to the times and doing the best job they can for the books they work on. If getting people to read books were as easy as spending money on advertising or tours, I think we’d see a whole lot more money spent on advertising and tours.

For many authors, it brings into question whether they should self-publish because in essence they’re doing all the work, anyway. I can see their point of view, but I can also see the benefits of going the traditional route. When my WIP if finished, I will opt for finding an agent and a publisher. The contacts and knowledge an agent has is priceless and the distribution by a publisher is invaluable. Only if I fail at finding an agent and a publisher will I consider self-publishing, but first I would have to take a hard look at my manuscript and reevaluate it. The last thing a self- published author wants is a stack of unsold books in their garage or basement.

That said, I have attended events for various reasons: the author was a friend of mine, I happened to be in the bookstore during a signing, I wanted an autographed copy to give as a gift, etc., but in general I don’t go to many book events. I think self-published authors have the right idea about doing a multi-author signing. The money spent is less for each individual author, the atmosphere is livelier, and the possibility of gaining new fans goes without saying. It’s a win-win situation.

When I had my last book launch at Powell’s, Holly Cupala joined me with her new book and so it was a double YA event and it was a lot of fun. We’d both written books about homeless teens (very different flavours) too, which was just a coincidence, but it tied our event together quite well. And it helped attendance, too, to have two authors.