Empty room: empty heart?
It is every author’s nightmare – you’re invited to an event, maybe a bookshop signing, perhaps a panel at a convention – and when you poke your head in the shop or the conference room, it’s rather empty. Your audience are a total no-show!
In this article on the publisher Tor’s website, author Lish McBride writes about something that all authors dread: No-show events.
http://www.tor.com/2017/01/30/the-authors-guide-to-no-show-events/
Have I experienced a few of these low attendance disasters myself? Fairly close, as it happens. I think the problem is that in the age of social media, most authors are only a tweet or a Facebook post away, so the draw of meeting authors in the flesh is somewhat diminished. Book signings are a particular no-show magnet … so many people are reading e-books, there’s nothing to sign anymore.
If you’re JK Rowling, of course, these rules do no apply to you! Bring a sleeping bag, a bag of sandwiches and a portable toilet. The queues are going to snake all around the city.
Category: Writer's Dojo