Sitting At A Card Table In Roseburg, Oregon

My sister was saying how exciting it was to have a brother on a book tour.

Well she wasn't sitting here with me at a card table in a little mall in Roseburg, Oregon. Thankfully my spouse, Gail, is with me. And even more thankfully my laptop is able to hook into a local wireless network. Whew.

Suppose to be here for THREE HOURS. I don't mind Roseburg. I really like Southern Oregon. All the trees and rivers and stuff.

But it's agonizing to be on display and no one stopping by to talk about the book. I assumed this was how it would be. Dead of summer. Spread-out ranching and lumber towns. Who exactly is the target market?

This is why authors and book store owners don't like book signings. Unless it's a famous author, well, you know what I'm getting at.

Publicists and marketing managers like book signings. They don't have to sit at the card table and any bit of publicity is good to them.

I do have to grudgingly admit that the real value is the media coverage. Getting the book mentioned in the newspapers and radio, etc. Unfortunately, the book signings come with that. And I like meeting the book store folks. They all like books so much. That's refreshing. But, MAN, it's a serious price to pay.

While I was waiting to go to the signing I stopped at a used book store. I was asking the owner about his book business and he told me the best advice he got about the business. "Don't get emotionally attached to the books. It's a business.''

Michael LaLumiere
www.whyiscraterlakesoblue.com

ps. Somebody just stopped by to talk about the book. Alas, they were elderly and the price point was too high for them.