I’ll head out to Washington D.C. in a few days to attend RWA’s national conference. One of the highlights is the “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing – which is a fancy way of saying a huge-ass booksigning – on Wednesday night.* The room is packed with authors and readers. People buy tons of books and all of the proceeds go to charity. It’s your basic win-win situation.
Every time I think about booksignings I remember this Writer Dos and Don’ts entry Meg Cabot had on her online diary a few years ago. It just makes me smile. My favorite part is this:
2) DON’T BE A WEIRDO
If there is anything that burns me up more than an author who makes no effort to look nice for his or her readers, it’s authors who act all weird because they think people in the “creative arts” are “special.”
I am not talking about throwing on a tiara and a feather boa, either. I am talking about authors who pretend their books aren’t written by them, but by their characters. As in, “I didn’t want to kill off So-and-So, but Name of Main Character insisted on it! There was nothing I could do!”
I realize that some readers love hearing this kind of thing—that you, the author, are just a puppet whose strings are pulled by your characters. Because it makes it seem like the characters are real, and people want to believe characters they love are real.
But I fear that some authors say things like this so often, they are actually starting to believe it. I know this because authors are saying it to ME, in private conversations, with no readers present.
And I find myself going, “Uh-huh. Really? Your characters actually talk to you? That’s so interesting, because you know, I made my characters up, so they can’t talk to me, because they ARE NOT REAL.”
*The booksigning is open to the public, so if you’re in the DC area you should definitely head on over. The information is here.
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Hee! I have to agree with this one. When the characters are in complete control, I worry about the author’s stability.
I’ve also heard that you should stay glued to your seat at the booksigning. I was guilty of leaving my table last year to meet authors, buy books, and squee. It wasn’t like I had a line waiting to chat with me, but I probably should have stayed put. Live and learn.
Have fun HK.
by Jill Sorenson July 12th, 2009 at 10:07 am[So I made up the voices in my head?! Is that what you're saying? Or are you just one my characters, trying to fool me... aha!]
Seriously, with romance writing in particular, I think we need to project a warm yet professional demeanor. The boas are a little off-putting. Not to mention that some readers are actually allergic to feathers…
See you in DC, HKD!
by LA July 13th, 2009 at 11:21 amHeh. Sorry, but that’s amusing – and seriously, really common. Maybe people aren’t thinking when they’re speaking… but… yeah.
by limecello July 14th, 2009 at 7:18 am