This Saturday, I’ll be speaking about my book, “Killing the Immortals,” at the Decatur Book Festival. I’m actually the first speaker after the main guy in the Emerging Writers Tent (10:10 a.m.), which is for highlighting indie and small-publisher authors. I got that first spot because of my immense fame, and the crushing amount of interest in my talk. Or because I signed up first. I’ll let you decide which.
I’d love to see any of you there. It’d be great to have more than just my mom — who’s going to roll her way up there on a broken foot — and some friends who want to lend some eyeballs for support. If you want to come, definitely do it. It’s free, and there’s tons more to see and do there. Especially if you have kids. They love them some kids at this fest.
So, what am I going to be talking about? This will be my first time speaking publicly about it. I’m used to answering questions from people by now. And, I don’t know if you’d heard, but I also have a blog where I’ve written about it a lot. But talking extemporaneously about it to a group is going to be a new experience. I don’t really understand stage fright, so that’s not an issue. How do I keep them engaged, though? How do I not bore everyone away?
What Should I Talk About?
In lots of Internet sleuthing, I’ve found basically nothing written about tips for speaking to a book festival. I’ve seen lots of thoughts on how to sell your books at a festival. And, well, I wouldn’t mind selling a book for 1,000 too. The more immediate issue, though, is figuring out what I should be saying.
As such, I’m going with my gut and my (hopefully) reasonably well honed marketing experience. What do people who are interested in books — and, presumably maybe possibly, my book — want and need to hear? I’m thinking I’ll start with a short introduction into who I am, then a little background into what inspired me to write this book, where the idea came from. After that, I’ll read the full first chapter. That all should fill up my 10 minutes just about right.
Is that the right answer? While I’m not 100% sure, with just 10 minutes to talk, I think that approach makes the most sense. I get to introduce people to who I am, give them some background about the book they wouldn’t get otherwise, and then tease them with an opening chapter that pretty much sends the reader flying into the story.
Looking forward to getting out there, and interacting with some people. After the talk, I’ll spend 10 minutes signing books for my adoring fans. I hope my hand will recover from all the cramps by the time work starts back Tuesday. I’ll also have bookmarks at the ready to give away. And this will probably be the cheapest you’ll ever see my paperback book. So come spend a little bit of your long weekend with me.
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