I know that as a reader, I love going to signings of authors that I like. A signed book is a treasure that stays forever in my book collection.
I saw Hank Phillippi Ryan a couple weeks back on the second event of her tour for "The Murder List". She's always a thrill to see and she even mentioned me and the reviewing I do for Mystery Scene as an example to illustrate a point she was making in her talk. (There's video of it, so I have proof! LOL)
I just got back from a book signing at a library two towns over from where I live. The author is Jack Matthews and the mystery he was promoting was his debut novel "Arte Perdida". He put on an engaging talk about the process of researching and writing the story and I picked up a copy of the book and had it signed.
This week, I'm headed to see Brad Meltzer on his tour for his kid books, but I'm going to have him sign a couple of his thrillers and a comic trade paperback he wrote after I buy the kid book as a Christmas gift for my nephew. (I checked with the store and they said he'll sign any of his work at the event.)
I've also got plans to see William Kent Krueger and Kyle Mills when they hit stores within driving distance for me.
So does anyone else here have any book signing events in their future? Do you like to go to these events? And for those who are writing the books, how much input do you have on going out on tour to promote?
In 2018 we uprooted the family, pets and all, and moved from Chicago to Eugene, Oregon. Most of the book signings I come across here were in Portland, which is a few hours away. The last book signings I went to in Chicago were with Libby Fischer Hellmann and, in Schaumburg, with Hank Phillippi Ryan. Surprisingly, I went to the most book signings when I lived in Cincinnati - Jamie Lee Curtis' signing for her kids' book, Lori Foster (romantic suspense), Duffy Brown (cozy) and Suzanne Brockmann (romantic suspense), to name a few.
I met William Kent Krueger at Malice Domestic, a small mystery conference where I met a surprising number of great authors.
Writers conferences are a great place to meet authors - I don't collect autographed editions, but I do love to meet authors. I was surprised to find a number of male mystery authors and the female-oriented Romantic Times conference.
While I haven't been to any book signings in Eugene, author Carola Dunn lives in the neighborhood. I'm working my way through her books now!