October 15th, 2008

I’ve written twenty-two books and am still trying to navigate my way through the publicity maze. Some of the highly publicized signings I’ve done at big stores like Barnes & Noble in Reno, Nevada resulted in only two interested parties purchasing books. Conversely, I’ve done signings for book clubs where there was no notice but word of mouth and several people have shown up and many copies of the books were sold. Sometimes my website will get hundreds of hit’s a day and other times less than fifty. I do like speaking to book clubs, civic organizations, history groups. That’s seems to always go well no matter how the events are publicized. I do feel a bit like a Ginsu knife salesman at a county fair at times. I wheel my posters, books, postcards, etc. into the event and set it up, shove the empty boxes under the folding table, rearrange my business cards and wait. People stop by to chat about the material or buy a book. Most are very nice, but I have met the occasional odd duck. For instance?one man picked up a copy of the book Pistol Packin’ Madams and began talking with me about the subject matter. As the conversation wound down he asked me, “How much?” I explained to him that the bookstore had their own mark up for the book and he’d have to ask them the price. He then told me that he wasn’t talking about the price of the book. Somewhat taken aback, I then had to explain that I wasn’t a hooker, but the author of the title. What made the exchange even more perplexing was that I was dressed in a floor-length, pioneer costume, complete with a bonnet and high-button shoes. Are there a lot of soiled doves running around these days dressed like Laura Ingalls from Little House on the Prairie? And if so, who does their publicity?