And then there were six

A little while ago I mentioned that I was taking part in a “Meet the Authors” event at our local library.  Well, it happened last Saturday, and it was certainly an interesting experience!  I sat right near the library entrance, which meant that I became very adept at directing people to the registration desk, the children’s section and the loos – but also meant that nearly everyone who came in at least glanced at “Fatal Forgery” (which, as you know, has a terrifically strong cover).

Several people did stop to talk – a common interest is the history of policing and justice – and in the end I sold six books, which was about five more than I had expected.  The local press turned up to cover the event, and a little story about us appeared in the paper on Monday (I’m second from the right).  I haven’t seen an uptick in sales, I have to say, but slowly, slowly…

As for the bookmarks, they were very popular – although I took the precaution of only putting out a few at a time.  Three people took them as specific reminders – e.g. “My dad loves books about historical crime – I’ll give this to him” – so they might yet turn into sales.  Another of the authors was giving out toffees, which I thought was a clever way to get people to go to her table – until someone bit into one and lost part of her tooth!