A few weeks ago, I connected with my local librarian, the lovely Karen Waring, and she was extremely enthusiastic about the idea of hosting a local author in one of her libraries, complete with book signing event. We picked a date (20 October) and a place (Welton Library, in Welton-by-Lincoln) and even set a time (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.). We were on!

Both of us set to work publicising the event and yesterday morning, I presented myself at 9:50 a.m. to set up shop.

Was I nervous? Of course I was a little nervous. One worry was simply: would anyone turn up? And the second worry was: how would people feel about being invited to buy a book in a library, where they normally come to loan their reading material?

Well, here’s how it went.

Setting Up Shop

Books ~ check. Postcards ~ check. Bookmarks ~ check. Tasty treat ~ check. Visual hooks ~ check (1 book standing up, 1 big poster).

Taking a closer look… yes, I think this is good. Spy the fancy bookmark in the upright copy? This was a publication day present from two very special people and doesn’t it just add panache to the ensemble?

I’m ready… I think!

A big Thank You to my amazing loveahappyending friend, Sheryl Browne. I owe most of the ideas for this display, specifically the visual hooks, getting a copy of my book to stand upright, and the absolute need for a table-cloth (!) to a stellar blogpost she wrote on book signings on the Romaniacs blog. Sheryl, it worked!

The Quiet Before the Storm…

Meet the librarian: give it up for Karen!

Caught sharing a laugh off camera…  Having fun already.

A huge Thank You to Karen for her amazing enthusiasm and stellar support. It is outstanding to have a library working so hard at creating a real sense of community and at bringing authors and readers together. I feel honoured and privileged to have made friends and I look forward to many more book signings in libraries up and down the county (and beyond?). You rock!

Thank you also, of course, to Karen’s fellow librarian, Jo, for helping set up, directing people my way, taking photos, printing photos, making cups of tea and generally keeping things ticking over. You ladies are a brilliant team!

…And Action!

Yes! Readers came! My first visitor arrived at just a few minutes after 10 a.m. Witness: my first author signature in a newly-purchased reader’s copy of Sophie’s Turn. Awesome feeling!

That was fun. Let’s have another go…

Of course I’ll sign another!

Meet Some of My Guests

Honestly, I had no idea this would be so much fun! Thank you to everybody who agreed to have their photo taken and let me post it right here on my blog.

And the Verdict?

Obviously, I had a lot of fun. Huge amounts of fun, in fact. I look forward to doing it all again.

Did people come? They certainly did. I barely had a moment’s rest during the three hours. I met some wonderful people and had some fantastically interesting conversations. It was amazing.

Did I sell and sign some books? You already know the answer to that. Yes, I sold some books. Not dozens, and dozens. But more than I dared hope.

Moreover, two of my guests took a copy of Sophie’s Turn out of the library there and then in addition to the copy that had already been borrowed earlier in the week.  There are copies in circulation! And as if that wasn’t enough, I’m told that two or three people requested a loan copy today so there is now a waiting list. My heart sings.

Lessons learned. Was it a perfect event? Probably not. Here’s what I will do differently next time.

1) I will have a proper stand for my huge visual.

2) Wherever possible, I will set myself up in direct line of vision (and walking) of the front entrance. The most important tool I had to draw people into conversation, apart from the librarians’ kind assistance, was eye contact. It’s easier to make eye contact if you’re unmissably in the line of sight; therefore, in future, I will put myself there.

3) I will print out and have available for perusing some of the fabulous reviews that Sophie’s Turn has received. This will get me around the uncomfortable moment of reassuring potential readers that of course Sophie’s Turn is a fantastic read. Instead of bragging, I can just let the reviews do their work. Easy, and obvious (hindsight is always 20-20!).

So this was it. My inaugural book signing event. I am elated, excited and exhausted. I feel very fortunate to have had my first signing event in such a lovely and supportive environment, and with such enthusiastic hosts.

I hope everyone who bought or borrowed my book will enjoy it and spread the word. Thank you. And I look forward to the next event… Karen has some places and dates in mind, and I am in her extremely capable hands.

Rock On!

The re-launch comes at the end of a big, massive, four-month virtual book tour, which was a lot of hard work and a lot of fun.  I gained 17 fantastic reviews and gave over 20 interviews and guest blogs.  Visit my book tour close-out post for review highlights that help celebrate the re-launch and put it into a proper context:

This book ROCKS (and that’s not just my opinion…)!!!

Finally, to help you celebrate with me, I have initiated a special holiday promotion.  You can now download Sophie’s Turn from amazon.co.uk for only £0.86, and from amazon.com for only $0.99.  All European amazon sites retail Sophie’s Turn for Euro 0.99.  This is for a limited time only!

Come and visit me over at lovehappyending.com to join in the launch fun, and feel free to spread the word using the sharing buttons there, or at the bottom of this post.  Rock on, friends!  Thank you all for your support.  X

Dan and Sophie appear to have some kind of special chemistry going on between them, and Lou was quite intrigued by it all.  She said to me privately, “my God, there were sparks flying between them.  Never mind they’re denying everything… they’ve definitely got a ‘thing’ going on…”

Well, I never, who would have thought!  What are my lovely characters getting up to?  Visit Lou’s blog to read the latest edition of “Hiya!” and get the inside scoop on this interview.

…oh and, let’s not forget, you can also win a free Kindle copy of the book that Sophie is currently reading!  Garnering great reviews from all over the world, her favourite novel is called ‘Sophie’s Turn,’ written by an amazing new author from the UK by the name of Nicky Wells.  This competition is open internationally and runs until 10 December).  Good luck to all entrants!

A huge, big, enormous thank you to the lovely Lou for hosting this interview and give-away.  Let’s rock and roll! xx

Laurie is still in the throes of reading Sophie’s Turn, but meanwhile she is hosting me on a stop for an interview and a give-away.  Moreover, she is featuring a juicy little excerpt of Sophie’s Turn so if you haven’t read it yet, be sure to check this out….

Also find out when exactly I started my writing career, what surprised me most when writing Sophie’s Turn… and whether I have a milestone birthday coming up, and what I plan to do with it!

The associated give-away is for one Kindle copy of Sophie’s Turn and is open internationally until 6th December.  I would love to see as many of you as possible come and visit, and wish all entrants good luck as always. Rock on, folks! x   A big “Thank You” to Laurie for hosting me on her blog: I am truly honoured!

Donna blogs with a difference.  When she agrees to offer a review, she also wants to find out more about the author and always includes an author interview.  Moreover, she likes to include in her feature some of her favourite quotes from the book she is reviewing.  And the result is truly compelling.

So I am bowled over that it is my turn today.  Donna has awarded Sophie’s Turn Five Stars on Amazon and written a thoughtful and glowing review.  I am completely over the moon!  Although… on reading the first few lines, my heart sank to my knees, and I was thinking:  what have I done?!?  You’ll have to read the full review to find out why!

There’s also my lovely interview:  find out the top three things on my bucket list!  And finally, don’t miss the give-away of one Kindle copy of Sophie’s Turn.  The competition is open internationally until 22 November!

A triple whammy on this amazing day, and I have a big smile on my face.  Please do come and join me over at “My Life. One Story at a Time.”  and good luck to all give-away entrants.

Finally, a huge big Thank You to Donna for taking the time to read and review Sophie’s Turn, for all her support, and for her amazing feature of me and my work on her unique blog. x

Another week rolls in, as weeks are wont to do, and the virtual book tour for Sophie’s Turn brings you more exciting events. First of all,  there is a fabulous review for Sophie’s Turn from Kim Nash at Kim The Bookworm:  http://kimthebookworm.blogspot.com/2011_09_01_archive.html.

Next, I may be gaining a review by Jonita Fox from The Book Chick blog.  The review will feature a give-away. I also have offer a guest-blog on Jonita’s blog this week: find out more about my writing habits there!

Later in the week, I will have a spot on Sue Fortin’s new “Audience with an Author” feature at lovereadinglovebooks.  Sue is asking me some very interesting questions about writing and publishing Sophie’s Turn… Don’t miss it!

LAST WEEK saw three reviews and one interview! Find links all over this blog, but just to remind you… the reviews were by Lou Graham at www.lougrahamiiblog.wordpress.com/, Rea Sinfield at http://reabookreview.blogspot.com/, and Christy Goldstein at the Chick Lit Club at http://www.chicklitclub.com/.  The interview by Laura Williams is live NOW at the Bookworm Ink. at http://www.bookwormink.co.uk/

WOW! Thanks to all for taking part… and to you, for checking it out!

Thank you to Georgina for hosting this event… I look forward to seeing you all there!