Author event at local business involves social networking
Last week I posted a blog about how to support your local author. This week, I thought I would share with you some photos and quips about how a local book event went.
This past Saturday, Nora LeDuc and I had a book event at Big Easy Bagel in Manchester. I have known Nora and the owners of Big Easy Bagel for years so to host event there and with Nora makes the event that much more comfortable. I also know many of the regular customers so it’s always nice to see smiling and supportive faces.
I believe that a successful event is not necessarily one in which you sell out of books, but is one in which you have fun and reach one new reader. I surpassed my goal so this was a very successful event.
In addition, a successful event benefits not just the authors, but also the local business that hosts the event. Big Easy benefited because everyone who came in to buy a book or see the authors bought a cup of coffee, a bagel, or some French fries, etc. I mentioned that win-win situation in Friday’s blog post.
To top that off, some writer friends showed up to support Nora and I so we had the opportunity to talk with people we had not seen in a while. One of those writers is Stephanie Giancola who writes a national column for Examiner.com. You can see her columns here: http://www.examiner.com/x-2533-Romance-Novel-Examiner. Between Stephanie and me, we will both write up an article (or in my case a blog post) on the event and include some pictures. This will further promote the authors, the restaurant (Big Easy Bagel), and Stephanie’s column.
This is the epitome of social networking and marketing at its best. 
The next event that Nora and I will be at together is February 13, at Toadstool Bookstore in Milford http://toadbooks.com/. Stephanie Giancola will be there as well as a few more writer friends and hopefully some friends who own www.youdontsaynotogirls.com. Afterwards we plan on celebrating the event the same way we celebrated the book event at Big Easy Bagel – with margaritas. We will be visiting the local Three Amigos in Milford afterwards. See…social networking.
