The day has finally arrived.

You’ve been invited or have signed up to attend a book signing as an author! You smile bigger, walk easier, and can’t wait for the event.

But wait…other than bringing your books, what else can you expect?

Here’s some tips and tricks to ensure a great signing:

• Bring Swag. This can include pens, buttons, postcards, bookmarks, any type of book related stuff. 
• Postcard Recommendation: GotPrint or VistaPrint. You can put the cover of the book on 1 side, the blurb and a place to sign on the other. 
• Bring Candy! It helps you appear more approachable and everyone loves candy!
• Bring a gift/giveaway that you can hold a raffle for at the signing. Get readers to enter their name/email on a piece of paper (this helps build your email list too!) and then the winner will get notified by email. Try and make the gift/prize relate to your book.
• Dress and act professional. Some signings go better than others, but always be professional and don’t complain.
• If the book signing is scheduled for longer than 2 hours, plan ahead and bring protein-rich snacks in a bag. I’ve attended 8 hour signings before and without granola bars, yogurt, water, etc., my equilibrium would have been shot. Prepare and you’ll be good.
• Do yourself a favor and buy one of those mini-suitcases with wheels from Wal-Mart or Target. You can fit about 30-35 books in the main and side pockets, and it’s easy to bring your books to another room in a hotel or a bookstore. 

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season :)

Besides baking green bean casseroles and preparing the turkey, I’ve been on a quest. Oh, how I wish it were a quest in some random land filled with adventure. But some days it feels like that.

It’s the quest for stock photos for the cover of my next book (Southern Ghosts Series Book 2). For those who don’t know what goes into a cover, here are some pointers:

1. Never download any image off the Internet for your own use without asking permission and/or obtaining copyright. Just because an image is on Pinterest or online does NOT mean it is free and you can use to your heart’s content. Far from it. Respect copyright and don’t steal.

How do you get images, then? Simple. Stock photo sites. A few of these are istockphoto.com, dreamstime.com, shutterstock.com, and more. Google “royalty free photos” and you’ll get a listing. Most photos run between $7 and $25 each – very worth it to not get sued for copyright infringement.

A few tips:

• Narrow your search by photos, illustrations, and by subject matter
• If you find an image you like, most sites have a link that says “find similar” – this will help you find more images along the lines of what you’re seeking
• I typically save the photo link in a Word document so I have a master list of the possible photos I want for the cover. Then I narrow my choices down to 2 or 3 and work with a graphic designer to create the cover using those images. I purchase any final images that are used.
• Give yourself plenty of time to search. I’ve often paged through 3000 stupid-looking photos to get to 3-4 that might really work.

Good luck!

Morning & happy weekend, all!

Later today, I’ll be signing books at a local library Indie Book Signing event. And that brings us to the topic of book signings. Fortunately, I’ve done a few of these in the past, at both small and large conferences, so it helps to know what to expect.

Elaine’s takeaway tips for book signings:

1. Always have plenty of swag. What is swag? Anything from buttons to postcards to business cards to *anything* cool about your books. Readers can buy your book but give them tidbits of the next books you have coming out, too. I like postcards. I use GotPrint.com to order them. Many people like VistaPrint and other services too. The cover and my name on one side, the blurb & my website on the other side. I don’t mail them, but they are great promos and are also good to “sign” when you’re at an e-book event.
2. Bring chocolate. Writers love chocolate as a general rule, and so do readers! It’s a conversation breaker, it helps people approach you as a writer and start up a conversation.
3. Dress professionally. This kind of goes without saying. It doesn’t mean you need to wear a ball gown, but don’t show up in sweats & torn t-shirts.
4. Bring a gift raffle. I learned this valuable tip from fellow author Amylynn Bright, who sat next to me at an Indie book signing once. Aside from being a really fun person in general, she kept getting all these people at her table! Everyone wanted to sign up for her newsletter and enter her raffle for a prize. She writes historical romance and had a lovely piece of jewelry for a prize. Try to find something that relates to your book to offer as a giveaway.
5. Bring a sign up sheet for names/emails. This is an ideal time to get readers to connect with you. Have them sign up for your newsletter in order to enter your raffle. Voila! Instant newsletter subscriptions.
6. Be relaxed, be approachable. Authors are introverts by nature and it can be difficult to be “out” in public doing the meet and greet. Relax, be generous with your time and information. Readers will appreciate it.
7. Schedule something fun and relaxing afterwards. You may be tired after the signing is over, allow yourself to rest and not immediately go to the next big event of the day.

Any other tips fellow authors want to share?

Hi there,

I will be busy the next week or so, and may not blog much. I’m prepping for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) which takes place in November. It’s a challenge for people to write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days. Not an easy task, but it is doable with one bite at a time.

Find out more about this challenge here. I typically do my own version of the task, and it’s inspiring to know that there are thousands of other writers are out there trying to accomplish a writing task too.

I’m busy writing the 2nd book of the Southern Ghosts Series, and I hope to release it early 2015.

Happy Monday all! This summer is going by way too quickly!

I’m blogging over at Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal (FFP) today on characters and getting them to talk to you again! Check it out here.

We celebrated our granddaughter’s first birthday over the 4th of July weekend; a great time was had by all. I will be at the RWA National Conference in San Antonio, TX, and will be signing at the Indie Book Signing there.

Have a great week!