Spotted Online – TC McCarthy on Signing Books

TC McCarthy (website, Twitter), author of Germline* (which I’m currently reading; if you like military sci-fi and can handle a drug-infused and violent tale you may want to check it out), shares his thoughts on book signings in Book Signings: How Not to Garner Local Support at A Dribble of Ink.

Some people treat genre fiction as if it’s a dirty diaper – to be held at arms length and stuffed in a pail as soon as possible. At least that’s the impression I got on Friday, September 23rd. It all started when I went downtown to hand out fliers for my upcoming book signing and to let local representatives have free copies of my debut novel, Germline, because it seemed to me like civic organizations might want to help a local author.

Regardless of your thoughts on any individual author’s work, McCarthy’s post is a lesson for anyone who has ever wanted to give self-promotion a shot. I know that artists and authors often try to spread the word when they’re going to have an exhibit or a signing, and once you get past the painful knowledge that most people just don’t care about artwork in any form you can take away some ideas on how to better promote your next effort.