Author Log 25

My first signing was amazing.

Hello Sweeties

I have completed my first ever book signing, and it was amazing.

Last night Mr. F collected me from the Atlanta airport after a long weekend with my bookwives and our newest friends at Get Witchy With It in Salem. I had an amazing time. I sold books and a book sleeve. I gave away so many stickers and bracelets. The best part? Someone from my newsletter (you know who you are) showed up and bought a book! I was so excited to meet her in person after all this time. Thankfully strangers also stopped and bought books, or I would have ended up under my table hugging my chicken.

One thing I wasn’t expecting was the popularity of my emotional support chicken - Eggatha Christie. I made a few posts about her before the trip on my Instagram to help calm my nerves. My daughter asked me to send her a few pictures of her doing fun things on the trip; I thought why not share those on the reader group for the signing too?

Turns out people love to follow the adventures of a reading emotional support chicken. People got so excited when they spotted her at my table and asked for selfies with her. The best part? One of the attending readers knit her a cape to go with her witch hat and gave it to me! Seriously. This wonderful woman knit my chicken a cape on the drive down.

EVERLY TAYLOR CHARITY RAFFLE

There was one shadow on the signing.

When Kat, Mariah, Sara and I got to the B&B we were staying at with Jose and Andrea Barreiro, they told us why Everly Taylor wasn’t able to make it. She was scheduled to be an attending author at the event, but her son had his legs amputated above the knee that week. It was his 13th surgery in the two weeks since a car accident that claimed the lives of two of his friends (they were all three passengers).

Before Jose finished telling us the story, we were already brainstorming ways to help them. We switched the giveaway basket that we were going to do for our readers to a charity basket for Everly’s son. We made flyers to share the story and ask for people’s support. We reached out to the other authors and vendors at the event to see if they had anything they could donate. We started with six of our books and the goodies we had brought with us on Saturday morning. By Sunday night there was over $3,000 worth of signed books, tarot decks, stuffies, calendars, games, local souvenirs, and swag.

I have always known book people are the best people, and it was proven again last weekend. In the twelve hours of the signing we raised over $1,500 for a fellow author and her son when they really needed the help.

If you want to read some awesome novels check out Everly Taylor on Amazon. Her books are in KU so you can smash as many as you want.

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I’m listening to the people. Eggatha will be featured regularly on my Instagram! Let me know if you want her to do a specific book thing and I’ll see if she is up for it.

xo,

Shelly