The Author Guy blog by Larry B. Gildersleeve, August 9,2024

9th August 2024

Hello out there,

Welcome back. Since my author journey began eleven years ago, I’ve been a relentless student of both the craft of fiction writing and the business of marketing and selling books. One marketing endeavor has never made sense to me in terms of an acceptable ROIT — return on (the author’s) invested time. That endeavor is book readings/signings.

I have so much to learn that I try to attend as many author presentations as I can when they come to our university town. My time investment is always satisfied if I come away with just one new tidbit of knowledge or insight, and I almost always do. But what about the authors?

Even those who are household names may only draw a few hundred readers to an event, and these “name” authors are often paid substantial appearance fees because, if travel is involved, event book sales alone to every attendee wouldn’t even begin to cover expenses.

I recently attended an author event at the library in my home town – the third largest city in the state. Two bestselling authors – one was the CEO of a national writers association to which I belong, and the other has had three of her romance novels made into Hallmark Channel movies.

I got there early to get a seat upfront. I needn’t have bothered. There were only about forty or so attendees, and most seemed to be avid followers of the authors. Two other authors I recall drew a respectable 100-200 here, but of the couple of dozen I’ve attended, the average is way less than fifty.

There’s no question both authors and readers enjoy these events (I certainly do). But unless I’m missing something, and please tell me if I am, it just doesn’t make commercial sense for the time, effort and money involved for the authors.

Until next week … Vaya con Dios

Larry B. Gildersleeve