My recent book signing at the North Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce Women’s Council turned out to be a wonderful experience. They called it “Wine, Cheese, and a Good Book.”, served wine and cheese and I did a talk on “You Are More Than Enough”. Of course, I would, that’s the title of the book. Twenty-eight people attended and we sold twenty-four books, the other four people were from the publisher’s office and Chamber staff.It was amazing who came. .. Jeanne Bennett, who was partner with Buck Ram in Personality Productions in 1963. The significance of this is…I was her secretary back then… Buck Ram is the man who wrote the songs, “Twilight Time”,”My Prayer”, “Only You” and many, many others. I hadn’t seen her in 30 years. She still looked like a million dollars and was just as charming as ever.
Nelson Sardelli was there. Nelson was a big time star in Brazil for many years and then played Vegas and Reno in the 80’s and 90’s. He was the heart throb of the city. He still looks as good as he did back then and exudes personality. He bought a book and ended up lugging it all over Italy and then came back and bought four more for gifts. He said he only started reading it because I wrote it and then couldn’t put it down. That certainly was good for my ego.
A really great looking man came in and bought a book and said he recognized my picture from one of the dating websites and then saw it in the paper and thought he should come by and get acquainted in person. Second big boost for the ego.
I really like the idea of Wine, Cheese, and a Good Book and think more book signings should include wine and cheese. I feel like it’s more hospitable to do something other than just asking people to show up and buy a book when they don’t yet know what the book is about.
I also had a great book signing at the Border’s Store in Henderson, Nevada last week. Jesse Ferrell, the author of “How You Leave Them Feeling” came in and bought a few books. (By the way, his book is fabulous!) Another one of those men from the internet dating showed up to let me know he had found a woman and it wasn’t me. But he bought a book for the woman he found! My ex-sister in law came. I was so glad to see her. She has always been one of my favorite people and we had lost touch. Various ex-models came by…people that had worked for me when I owned Universal Models fifteen years ago.
I’ve decided that book signings are the way to go to catch up with old friends and sell books at the same time. I met lots of new people as well. The store manager and staff were wonderful. The more I do book signings, the more I realize that people who manage and work in book stores are fabulous people. They are so gracious and easy to work with. The table is always set up when I arrive. My publisher, Stephens Press, furnishes posters and bookmarks and the staff has them displayed and puts bookmarks in the shopping bags for people when they buy books. They are so good about making sure I have everything I want and need to make the book signing successful.
Sometimes my assistant, Charlotte, goes with me and she walks around the store with a book in her hand and asks people if they’ve seen it yet or if they’ve met me. We’ve found that is a real boost for sales. Of course, Charlotte is very personable and loves to talk with people so she tells them all about the book and how fabulous it is. When we do back of the room sales at presentations, she sets up the table and decorates it beautifully with blue cloths and gold stars (which is my trademark, because of the story about my dad in the book). Then she talks about the book and handles all the sales.
We’ve now created a line of motivational jewelry that goes with the book… We have bracelets that say “I am more than enough”,”Purpose”, “Passion” and “Power”. We also have my signature gold star bracelet…. So Charlotte handles the sale of that as well.
This past weekend I did a book signing at the Barnes & Noble store in St. Peters, Missouri and it poured down rain just as I walked into the store, so the traffic slowed down a bit, but it was still a wonderful experience. The book store personnel were very, very nice and supportive. Several friends from St. Louis stopped by in spite of the rain. We sold a few books, got some publicity in the local newspaper, and made more new friends.
I’m looking forward to making lots more new friends this year. I find that once the book store people like me and know about the book, they make some of the best promoters you can possibly have. They recommend the book when someone is looking and asks their advice.
Someone asked me the other day if I ever get tired of signing books. My answer, “Are you kidding? I’ve waited my entire life to do this!”
Someone asked me the other day if I ever get tired of signing books. My answer, “Are you kidding? I’ve waited my entire life to do this!”
Judi Moreo
Author of You Are More Than Enough: Every Woman’s Guide to Purpose, Passion, and Power
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