14 reasons not to be a writer... apparently

Hee. I can vouch for the signing one - it's excruciating but it does happen. Says me setting up signings....(but the shops know I know the score which helps.)
 
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I recall a piece by someone called George RR Martin. He had an early book signing, in Germany, I think. About six people turned up.

I wonder happened to him?
 
Boneman said:
At my first signing, I'll bribe all my friends to come in and buy, so I don't look a complete wallflower...
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It doesn't tend to be local early ones that are the problem - the author can generally rent a crowd - but later ones. We had the bestselling author in the UK at one and had 3 people. We drafted staff in to zip up their coats and smile sweetly. As she was the bestseller or romances for the 50-year demograph and most of our staff were schoolleavers she probably copped us. :)
 
That article was more like '14 reasons I don't like other people by an author'

I've known all the negative points about this profession since, well when I started in earnest at writing years ago - so I must be afflicted by point 14 to want to carry on. :)

Ach, I know it was a bit tongue-in-cheek and I have full admiration for someone that managed to write a biography about Simon Cowell - I definitely couldn't find the resolve to do that - even if I knew there was a ready market for it!
 
springs said:
We had the bestselling author in the UK at one and had 3 people.
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I seem to recall an article in the Economist describing a very low turnout for a book signing by Daniel Handler. At the time, he was a very successful author, using the pen name Lemony Snicket, but that didn't seem to help.
 
That article was not helpful to anyone. I could sit here and write articles with reasons not to do countless jobs. But I much prefer to think of the positives to do something, rather than dwell on the negatives.

If having poor turnout at a book signing is the worst thing you have to go through than you are doing fine.
 
springs said:
It doesn't tend to be local early ones that are the problem - the author can generally rent a crowd - but later ones. We had the bestselling author in the UK at one and had 3 people. We drafted staff in to zip up their coats and smile sweetly. As she was the bestseller or romances for the 50-year demograph and most of our staff were schoolleavers she probably copped us. :)
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When a book comes out, it is always wise to invite family and friends to your first signing event (you can usually get them to come back for subsequent books if you bribe them with a party afterwards, but not for the same book) so that you have people to talk to and it at least has the atmosphere of an important event. (And the bookstore doesn't care if all the copies they sell that day go to your relatives and friends. A sale is a sale.)

I've been told -- and you will know better than I, springs, to what extent this is true -- that for the author the value of a book signing (unless you are someone so important you can be sure of a crowd) is usually about signing books in stock (less likely to be returned if they are signed) and making friends with the staff, so they will recommend your book to customers. If you actually sell more than a handful of books, that's a bonus.

It makes me feel much better about some of my signings to know that even best selling authors have the same problems.

But Mark Robson, who used to be active here, was always able to rope in new readers, because he was outgoing and had a winning personality, so that he would address those who passed by his table and engage them in conversation. And when that didn't work, he'd go out into the aisles and offer to help people find whatever they had come into the bookstore looking for (having arrived early and memorized the layout of the store in advance) and start a conversation with them that way.

For most of us, however, a book signing can be an exercise in humiliation. Especially when the bookstore has done no promotion and they stick you at a table in a dark, dark corner. Which does happen. They'll stick you in places so hard to find, you need a ball of twine and an obliging maiden to help you find your way back out.

I have to agree with that article that being an author is not a job for those who start out with unrealistic expectations. That way lies bitterness. On the other hand, if you know what to expect, and you are writing because writing is what you really, really, really want to do for its own sake, there are rewards.
 
Local support is so important - anyone who thinks their debut book is going onto bookstores the length of the country is kidding themselves (even big 6 debuts have to sell the book to the chains.) bookshop workers are, generally, low paid and often part time. There aren't many perks. My advice, for what it's worth:

Smile and sign any stock that's there. Some people just like signed books and, if it's signed, the shop will often put a sticker on it to say it's signed, and give it a wee bit extra promo space.

Remember the staff are fitting you in around other duties. I'm not suggesting flowery gestures (they smack of desperation) but a box of biccies or chocs and a thank you in the staff canteen is surprisingly rare. These guys will be selling your book for weeks. They'll be talking to customers who want to know if there's a hot new sff book and, if they think favourably of you, they'll be much, much more likely to mention it. Plus, it's only polite.

Be prepared to work. Absolutely, what Mark was doing. Chat. Engage. Talk about other books you like. Make yourself memorable not the sad little author in the corner. Word of mouth cannot, ever, be underestimated. Sarah Ferguson , the then Duchess of York, was amazing at this - she took every kid's name there with their parents and sent a free Budgie book. Or Terry Prachett who used stamps and made it lots of fun. Also he signed bookmarks for 50p each with the discworld artwork on it - they sold like mad. Maeve Binchy stands out, too - she signed on the back wall of the alley behind the shop during a bomb scare (Belfast, tail end of the Troubles....)
 
I'm writing because I want to.

I have the luxury of a library to do it in, wonderful IT support and time. I have two fans. (Someone that asks "When will you have the next one written?" IMO is a fan). One fan would make it worth while :)
It would be nice to be published and make money too. Very nice indeed as I don't have any.
I'm finding it easier to write, and MUCH more time consuming to "proof read" marking mistakes and ideas for changes on my Kindle. I used to "proof read" about 10,000 words an hour, i.e. I was rubbish at it. The current proof reading / mark up prior to edit/re-write has taken me about two weeks to get to about 94,000 words. I can write faster than that. But I'm seeing things I never noticed on the previous seven readings of this book.

It's a good idea to have no illusions. A first draft is maybe the easiest bit once you have a bit of practice?

springs said:
Remember the staff are fitting you in around other duties.
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I'd guess you are educated in this area :)
 
Let's face it folks, there are easier way to make a living. A person has to be at least a bit deranged to even contemplating taking up writing as a career. Nuts I tell you, bonkers, crazy, harebrained (ah, scratch that), unhinged, crackers, off your rocker etc. None of us, especially the rationalist, would do this, UNLESS WE HAD TO. Heinlein said, (and I'm paraphrasing) 'You should never try to teach a chicken how to dance. Not only will it be a waste of your time, but it will annoy the chicken. Well, some chickens have to write, have to! So to my fellow chickens, good luck to all of us lunatics.
 
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