(A) Never trust that a bookstore will do sufficient advertising. A lot of them just put a sign in the window and nothing more. Make sure they mention the signing in their monthly notices to customers, and have a notice on their website with a graphic of the cover. (almost all specialty stores have web sites these days.) The graphic can easily be lifted from Amazon.com. Or just go to the local Kinko's and get a shot made.

(B) So be sure to place a notice in Locus and SF Chronicle yourself.

(C) Send a letter to every SF club in the area for them to mention in their monthly club zine. A lot of the SF clubs have e-zines and accept email notices, which saves a lot of time. Just do a web search. Also, RPG clubs, SCA, etc., depending upon your subject matter. Be sure to check: www.Fandata.com

(D) No email to individuals. No matter how incredibly polite you word the email, somebody will be pissed off and report you for spamming.

(E) Send letters to every radio station and newspaper in the area. "Sex, danger, thrills abound as local author signs at local bookstore..." blah-blah-blah, you know the angle to play up. Give them a sound-byte to use. The radio stations and newspapers only occasionally run with the story unless you have a hell of a hook, but they sometimes do, and that increases your draw of people tremendously.

(F) Stop by the book store the weekend before your signing to make sure they have a prominent notice up, find out where you will be sitting, etc. Have some printed slips with you to insert into any and all of your novels on the shelves "Author book signing next week, (date) (time)." Keep it small and precise. (Here I cheat a touch on the larger stores, Borders, B&N, etc, and turn all of my books face out, instead of merely spine out to increase visibility.)

(G) Bring helium balloons on the day of the signing to attach to the front of the store. They're dirt cheap and attract a HELL of a lot attention from the walk-bys and inside the store too.

(H) Bring along supplies: such as an emergency table cloth. I have done signings where the store could not find their tablecloth. That bit of cloth makes a folding card table appear so much better. Simply keep it in your car just in case.

(I) Bring along cover flats to decorate the table, (especially if you have any from your next book coming out), and buy a plastic name plate. Once again Kinko's can make one of these for only a few bucks and they last for the rest of your life. This impress lots of folks (especially fans at convention signings) and adds a nice professional touch. Well worth the minor expense.

ADDENDUM: Since I have an odd last name that people constantly misspell, this saves me a ton of grief. I often use it on panels at cons.

(J) Bring breath mints! A first signing can make you nervous and nothing is worse than having the readers flinching away every time you exhale.

(K) Bring a decent pen. Not a cheap Bic which can glop and get ink all over the place.

(L) Dress to impress. Unless your novel is about grunge punk, then get a little dressed up. This also impress the readers.

(M) Brace yourself for absolute nobody at all to arrive. Sometimes the universe gets in the way with bad weather, new road work, a president get assassinated, whatever. Its just a fluke and means nothing. When that occurs, you sign all the books in stock, smile to the staff, tell jokes on your way out and leave in good humor. Remember: unless this is the only book you ever plan to write, then you may be back at this exact same store, with the exact same staff, next year. Leave them with a good impression.

(N) None of this matters a tinker's damn if you have a NY Times best seller. If not, then promote, promote, promote!

Good luck on your signing.

Nick Pollotta