Talk to the author
It's happened to me quite often: I'm in a bookstore, and an author is doing a signing. It's an author I know nothing about, and I'm pretty darned sure I won't buy his or her book. So I avoid the signing table. The last thing I want is someone pressuring me to buy a book I have no interest in.
Well, never again. Having been on the other side of that interaction, let me offer a request on behalf of bookstore-appearance personnel everywhere: please, talk to the author!
He -- and if I'm using the male pronoun here, please understand it to stand for the first-person pronoun -- won't be terribly offended if you don't buy his book. He may not even have the skill to lay a heavy sales pitch on you (he is, after all, an author, not a salesperson). But he would really like somebody to talk to.
The signing (where the author sits behind a table of books for two hours) is a far more difficult event than a reading (where the author makes a speech about or reads from the book), unless you have terrible stage fright. Whether you're doing a reading for one person or 100, you can give pretty much the same spiel; it takes up a good chunk of time and the rest can be devoted to questions.
But at a signing, if only one person shows up -- or if 100 show up in the first hour, but none in the second hour -- the author is stuck sitting at a table alone. With a bunch of copies of a book he doesn't need to read. Time drags.
At the best stores -- which in my experience have always been the independent bookstores -- the staff is there with him, chatting about the book or drawing him into their other conversations. But even these can run dry sometimes.
So my new pledge is that when I see an author sitting alone at a signing table somewhere, I'm going to go up and talk to her. I may ask obvious questions ("What's the book about? Who published it?"). And I may walk away empty-handed without saying anything more than "Thanks for telling me about it." But if the author I've talked to is anything like me, she'll be grateful nevertheless.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Well, never again. Having been on the other side of that interaction, let me offer a request on behalf of bookstore-appearance personnel everywhere: please, talk to the author!
He -- and if I'm using the male pronoun here, please understand it to stand for the first-person pronoun -- won't be terribly offended if you don't buy his book. He may not even have the skill to lay a heavy sales pitch on you (he is, after all, an author, not a salesperson). But he would really like somebody to talk to.
The signing (where the author sits behind a table of books for two hours) is a far more difficult event than a reading (where the author makes a speech about or reads from the book), unless you have terrible stage fright. Whether you're doing a reading for one person or 100, you can give pretty much the same spiel; it takes up a good chunk of time and the rest can be devoted to questions.
But at a signing, if only one person shows up -- or if 100 show up in the first hour, but none in the second hour -- the author is stuck sitting at a table alone. With a bunch of copies of a book he doesn't need to read. Time drags.
At the best stores -- which in my experience have always been the independent bookstores -- the staff is there with him, chatting about the book or drawing him into their other conversations. But even these can run dry sometimes.
So my new pledge is that when I see an author sitting alone at a signing table somewhere, I'm going to go up and talk to her. I may ask obvious questions ("What's the book about? Who published it?"). And I may walk away empty-handed without saying anything more than "Thanks for telling me about it." But if the author I've talked to is anything like me, she'll be grateful nevertheless.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Travelmates
A big stretch of the book tour is over, and one of the interesting aspects for me was how I felt so close to so many people I never saw.
Take Colin Simpson, for example. The Wyoming senate candidate had some very funny things to say about Wyoming travel. I don't agree with all of Simpson's positions -- though I've met him and like him very much as an individual -- but his cell-service comments struck magnificently close to home.
Also chasing me around Wyoming was mystery novelist C.J. Box. "Free Fire" was so boldly featured in every bookstore I was in that I finally had to sneak at least a chapter, amongst my own activities, and I was suitably impressed.
I think I was in Bozeman when I read this fun interview with Neil McMahon when he was in Seattle. And finally, there's Jeff Hull. He missed my talk in Missoula last week, but I'm hoping to catch him in Red Lodge this Friday, June 22, at 5 pm.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Take Colin Simpson, for example. The Wyoming senate candidate had some very funny things to say about Wyoming travel. I don't agree with all of Simpson's positions -- though I've met him and like him very much as an individual -- but his cell-service comments struck magnificently close to home.
Also chasing me around Wyoming was mystery novelist C.J. Box. "Free Fire" was so boldly featured in every bookstore I was in that I finally had to sneak at least a chapter, amongst my own activities, and I was suitably impressed.
I think I was in Bozeman when I read this fun interview with Neil McMahon when he was in Seattle. And finally, there's Jeff Hull. He missed my talk in Missoula last week, but I'm hoping to catch him in Red Lodge this Friday, June 22, at 5 pm.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Interviews
One of the greatest thrills in publishing a book -- and one I hadn't really anticipated -- is having a serious, issue-laden discussion with a thoughtful reader. I was delighted by the questions Jenny Shank asked about "The Cowboy Girl" in this online interview, and I hope my answers were as provocative as I meant them to be.
Also on the interview front, though we didn't have enough time to get into the meat that Jenny did, my interview with Wyoming Public Radio aired yesterday. (By chance, I was just finishing a run, started the car, and heard, "Perhaps the most notorious woman in Wyoming history...") The podcast is available here.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Also on the interview front, though we didn't have enough time to get into the meat that Jenny did, my interview with Wyoming Public Radio aired yesterday. (By chance, I was just finishing a run, started the car, and heard, "Perhaps the most notorious woman in Wyoming history...") The podcast is available here.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Reading "The Cowboy Girl" in a book club
Last month I had the first experience of participating in a book club that had read "The Cowboy Girl: The Life of Caroline Lockhart." I think it was as fun for me as it was for the readers.
It's true that I had some familiarity with this club -- it's in my hometown. But it's an all-women's club, so I had never attended, and indeed a special dispensation had to be made for the author. I tried to speak only when spoken to.
One thing that made the session especially fun for the participants was the Book Club Questions posted here on the website. One of the members had printed them off, cut them into tiny strips, and handed them out. Club members randomly read a question, and discussion ranged from 10 seconds to 15 minutes, with laughter of course frequently included.
What made the session fun for me was not just that I could watch readers go through the same sets of reactions that I had in researching and writing the book. It was also that these folks got to share those reactions, and immediately disagree about them. A couple of the readers had big problems with Lockhart; others were willing to defend her. Many made frequent parallels to today's hot political topics (sexism, abortion, and homosexuality, to name three).
There were also -- and here's where the laughter particularly increased -- some rather gossipy discussions of Lockhart's personal life. One of the members seemed rather embarrassed for me.
"Don’t apologize," I responded. "You're talking about issues of how people see the moral choices in their lives, issues that occupied me in writing the book as well. Look at the question I put first on that list!"
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
It's true that I had some familiarity with this club -- it's in my hometown. But it's an all-women's club, so I had never attended, and indeed a special dispensation had to be made for the author. I tried to speak only when spoken to.
One thing that made the session especially fun for the participants was the Book Club Questions posted here on the website. One of the members had printed them off, cut them into tiny strips, and handed them out. Club members randomly read a question, and discussion ranged from 10 seconds to 15 minutes, with laughter of course frequently included.
What made the session fun for me was not just that I could watch readers go through the same sets of reactions that I had in researching and writing the book. It was also that these folks got to share those reactions, and immediately disagree about them. A couple of the readers had big problems with Lockhart; others were willing to defend her. Many made frequent parallels to today's hot political topics (sexism, abortion, and homosexuality, to name three).
There were also -- and here's where the laughter particularly increased -- some rather gossipy discussions of Lockhart's personal life. One of the members seemed rather embarrassed for me.
"Don’t apologize," I responded. "You're talking about issues of how people see the moral choices in their lives, issues that occupied me in writing the book as well. Look at the question I put first on that list!"
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Touring
Many writers will tell you how miserable the book tour is. And while it certainly has its trying times, I have long reflected on the journal kept by novelist Charles Frazier as he toured in support of "Cold Mountain" in 1997. (Can you believe: ten years ago?)
Frazier wrote that he came to a great appreciation:
I had hoped that I would find the same thing. And indeed I have. When you do a book tour -- especially the sort of quirky, regional, independent-laden tour that I am now in the middle of -- you meet lots of people who love books. They love books so much that they open bookstores, or take jobs in them. I have had a few weeks now of visits to such bookshops as The Thistle in Cody, Second Story in Laramie, and the Montana Book Company in Helena.
I'm not trying to claim that I have a deep connection to Charles Frazier. I'm pretty sure that the only reason amazon.com is pairing our books is that Thirteen Moons (which I haven't read) has not sold as well as expected. But I did absolutely love -- and try to emulate -- his attitude toward the book tour, everything from taking the dog on part of it to this sense of its valuable philosophy:
That was the biggest hope for my own tour: that I would be able to see it as akin to the many driving vacations I have taken across the West over the years. And while I occasionally found it difficult (especially after a poorly-attended event) to switch out of tour mode and into vacation mode, the transition worked wonderfully for me last weekend. I took a long way home, through the Bighorn Mountains, on a road I hadn't traveled in many years. It was a beautiful, colorful spring day, and I was headed home, but none too fast.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Frazier wrote that he came to a great appreciation:
I have a week of such visits to wonderful independent bookshops like Burke's in Memphis, Square Books in Oxford, Lemuria in Jackson, Quail Ridge in Raleigh. Old-fashioned stores, at least in the sense that they seem to mirror some part of their owners' personalities and that the staff members know many of the books on the shelves and many of the customers who walk through the doors and try hard to match the two successfully, which must be something like spending your day arranging blind dates.
I had hoped that I would find the same thing. And indeed I have. When you do a book tour -- especially the sort of quirky, regional, independent-laden tour that I am now in the middle of -- you meet lots of people who love books. They love books so much that they open bookstores, or take jobs in them. I have had a few weeks now of visits to such bookshops as The Thistle in Cody, Second Story in Laramie, and the Montana Book Company in Helena.
I'm not trying to claim that I have a deep connection to Charles Frazier. I'm pretty sure that the only reason amazon.com is pairing our books is that Thirteen Moons (which I haven't read) has not sold as well as expected. But I did absolutely love -- and try to emulate -- his attitude toward the book tour, everything from taking the dog on part of it to this sense of its valuable philosophy:
With the exception of the interviews and bookstore visits, I've spent a lot of summers rather like this one over the years, winding thousands of miles onto the odometer of my car. Driving all over the country. Back and forth countless times to the Rockies, the Northwest, the Southwest, the canyon country of northern Mexico. Taking days to cross a fascinating place like northern Nebraska on two-lane roads.
That was the biggest hope for my own tour: that I would be able to see it as akin to the many driving vacations I have taken across the West over the years. And while I occasionally found it difficult (especially after a poorly-attended event) to switch out of tour mode and into vacation mode, the transition worked wonderfully for me last weekend. I took a long way home, through the Bighorn Mountains, on a road I hadn't traveled in many years. It was a beautiful, colorful spring day, and I was headed home, but none too fast.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
Check out NewWest
Darn it, I hope this link doesn't now seem tainted! I've been meaning for a few weeks to cite the reinvigorated Books section of www.newwest,net. During a time when so many newspapers are cutting down on book coverage, Jenny Shank has taken over editing this online resource, and managed to make it rather provocative.
In two recent cases -- a consideration of the new Sherman Alexie novel, and a review of some western short stories -- I even felt compelled to add my voice to the comment section.
But the Law of Threes suggested that I should wait for one more great example of what Jenny was doing with the site. And now the third example I cite is the one that's going to seem self-serving.
It's a great review: knowledgeable, specific, creative. . . as one friend of mine said, "She actually read the book!" Another said, "It makes me want to read The Cowboy Girl all over again."
So I'm not urging you to visit NewWest Books because the reviewer liked my book. I'm urging you to visit because the reviewer is in many ways proving herself thoughtful, energetic, independent, and wise.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
In two recent cases -- a consideration of the new Sherman Alexie novel, and a review of some western short stories -- I even felt compelled to add my voice to the comment section.
But the Law of Threes suggested that I should wait for one more great example of what Jenny was doing with the site. And now the third example I cite is the one that's going to seem self-serving.
It's a great review: knowledgeable, specific, creative. . . as one friend of mine said, "She actually read the book!" Another said, "It makes me want to read The Cowboy Girl all over again."
So I'm not urging you to visit NewWest Books because the reviewer liked my book. I'm urging you to visit because the reviewer is in many ways proving herself thoughtful, energetic, independent, and wise.
I'm always interested in feedback, via info at johnclaytonbooks dot com
