Author Events, Book Signings, Cruises Oh My!

Hi there! Sharon Hamilton, here.

Just came back from a fantastic cruise with several great authors like Angie Fox, Heather Graham, Marina Adair, Karen Rose, Darynda Jones, Tonya Kappes, Tina DiSalvo and many others. We toured the Western Caribbean, along with nearly 100 readers. It was, in short, fantastic.

Now, let me first give a huge disclaimer. These events don't pay for themselves. Just like book signings, I never sell enough books to pay for all my fees, especially when you add in the cost of travel and event costs/swag. BUT this last cruise gave me the opportunity for 5 days to have a nice dinner with a table full of readers and other authors. These are people who worship books! They are my kind of people.

We played games during two structured "game mornings" while out to sea, and hung out in the coffee houses and lounges at various times during the event. Some authors did a scavenger hunt. Others played Head's Up and Reverse Charades, and we did a clue-like "WhoDoneIt". During the time author angels passed out book bucks so the readers could participate in a huge auction the afternoon before we left the ship.

I think treating readers to special events is a worthy cause. It is a form of giving back to all those ladies who love and help promote our books. And I got some good one-on-one that you don't get with a regular book signing, plus got to talk to authors I myself stalk.

During the cruise one new reader to me read 3 of my books. Everywhere I saw her on the ship she was reading MY BOOK! Nothing says thank you more than that...

We do a lot of things for promotion. We do cross-promotion, pay for thousands of dollars of ads and worry about who we are reaching, chasing new shiny things and windmills sometimes to excess. I like the idea of coming to the readers (within reason), when we can afford to.

I know those ladies will remember it for life, and most are itching to do another one. It's something that doesn't give a monetary return, but sometimes the return we receive in our hearts is even better.

That's me through and through.