Book signings
Posted by: Officer DBL on 24 March 2009
Watching Lewis on Sunday night I was reminded of the one and only time I have been to a book signing.
It was at Waterstones in Salisbury, and Terry Pratchett’s Soul Music had just been published. The signing took place in a basement section of the bookstore with Mr P behind a desk looking benevolently intimidating and the room walls were filled with silent, but intently listening fans. Before the event I had been planning what I should say, thinking that it ought to be something of substance, but as I shuffled forward with the watchful silence of the audience roaring in my ears, the best I could come up with was:
“I like your books Mr Pratchett”
before slinking away in embarrassment.
To this day my wife delights in reminding me of this whenever the subject of Mr P comes up.
How has anyone else got on at a similar event?
B
Posted on: 24 March 2009 by Ewan Aye
My sister is a writer and she often has to do book signings at a launch, and she'll be the first to say that it's a long day and a real chore, except that meeting a public you otherwise never see is totally weird. It isn't like a performing art where you have a crowd to play to, you write without seeing any feedback other than statistics, so it's an odd one and book signings are an intriguing snapshot of an otherwise faceless audience.
I once was at Harrods in the book dept browsing, like you do, when Joan Collins entered stage right and walked to a desk to do a book signing. Never before have I experienced an aura capturing the whole floor like that. The presence of this one person was so powerful, it was hypnotic. I can still remember it.
I've seen the Queen, and she doesn't have it, in fact I've seen lots of people and have never experienced anything that powerful. You could have been blindfolded and put in a box, but you would have sensed when she came in. It was totally extraordinary, almost supernatural.
Posted on: 24 March 2009 by Wolf2
I'm in LA and have met a few celebrities, most are normal people, but there are those that have the power. Paul Newman just had to focus on you and blow you away. E Taylor was that way too, with a big dose of sass, from a guy who used to wait on her at big fundraisers. I never met her.
One local guy that's on TV doing interviews I met at a pizza place. I went in to get a salad, he was talking with the owner and saying "yeah, work sometimes just isn't fun" I said " I don't want to hear that from you, you have the best job in the state, traveling where you want, meeting interesting people and it's all written off as job expenses" and then turned to look at him. He turned to me with salt and pepper hair and flashing light blue eyes and "Said Yeah I guess I do have it kinda good."
You coulda knocked me over with a feather, such power and charm focused. I try very hard to make everybody's day nicer, from Drs, nurses, bank employees, whoever I'm dealing with. I make direct eye contact first, and go from there.
Other hollywood types I hear you don't want to be around, they will remain nameless.
One friend read a story of someone with Marilyn Monroe walking in a city, nobody recognized her. He asked about that and she said " Oh you want the public Marilyn" she shrugged and started beaming with different body language and a huge crowd gathered around them.
Actors have huge powers to turn on or off the stage presence.
