Phew, that’s another signing over with. I arrived late because of road works in Chester I hadn’t expected, but soon established two sets of my books on the table set up for me near the book. Location advantage: everyone coming into the shop saw me; disadvantae: With the air temperature outside at 6C I soon developed hypothermia. Shivering within a few minutes of setting up, i set off for the Starbucks within the store for a hot Americano. The queue there made me think there was another road works at the counter but eventually I had a bucket of coffee, Starbucks call regular. On my way back to the refridgerated table my daughter met me and said there was a crowd at the table and to hurry up!
There was a crowd too. Thanks so much to Silky (John Silkstone) who’d driven since yesterday to attend my signing. Also there was Gladys Hobson and her charming husband, Ralph, who’d journeyed from Cumbria for the weekend. Then there was my daughter, son-in-law, and a mystery woman lurking nearby. I was so busy signing, my pen ran out of ink – or it was protesting because I never made it write more than one signature an hour before. Expecting a slow session I’d brought my Sony Vaio with the intention of writing another chapter of Xaghra’s Revenge, but I was pleased beyond expectations at these internet friends coming to see me. Gladys and Silky are both with me in the Beyond Hill yahoo group: a group of former clients of the defrocked Hill & Hill Literary Agency. Ironically Gladys is also a member, though inactive, of a great ideas4writers website and forum. So is Brian Lux, I mentioned yesterday, who was signing his books in the childrens section of Borders.
- Geoff Nelder at Borders
My daughter took this snapshot. Note my laptop on which I did manage to write about 500 words in between signing 18 books – 16 copies of Exit, Pursued by a Bee and 2 of Escaping Reality.
Very cool to see someone I sort of know doing a book signing. 🙂 Also cool to see what you look like, now 😉
18 books isn’t bad for one sitting, yeah? 🙂 Congratulations on a crowded table! 🙂
Hi Geoff:
Glad the signing went reasonably well. Actually that would be a huge success in comparison with my signings here. Interesting that you mention writing another genre to increase public interest.
I would get more people to readings here in Western Canada if I wrote westerns. Actually, my alternate world soft SF would do better in UK than it does here — if only I could figure out how to promote at a distance. The stories almost all have England featured — even tho’ it’s called Lingdon in the novels. My latest even features the scenery along the Exe where I lived as a little tacker, but except for the city called Isca, I don’t identify it.
I’m angling to get a real-life cowboy (and writer and singer) to join our local writing group. All I need to do is get his first novel published and then I could take advantage of the crowds when we did signings/reading together.
Chris H.
The funny thing is, Chris, at British conventions and writers’ courses, the general assumption is that it is easier to sell our SF to Americans than to our British public. In general fantasy sells 4 times better than science fiction in the UK; the difference being much less in North America. Note that my Exit, Pursued by a Bee is published by a Canadian publisher – Double Dragon Publishing.
Good luck with your hunt for a cowboy to join your writing group. If I hear of one living in Western Canada I’ll point him in your direction.
Cheers
Geoff