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I lurk on the forum Murder Must Advertise (I recommend it for mystery authors!). Recently I read a story about a book signing at Starbucks that inspired me and generated a lot of discussion as well. I popped an email off to the gentleman who created the stir, Michael Murphy, and asked if he would do a Guest Post. He graciously agreed to do so. The following is what he has to say:

“Sorry it’s taken so long to get back with you about my very fist book signing for my debut novel, Try and Catch the Wind.

Cheryl, I decided to inquire about doing a Starbucks booksigning, because I’d spent considerable time there relaxing and working on my manuscript. The manager knew I was a writer and before the book came out, I discussed with her the possibility of a signing. She was enthusiastic and secure enough in her position to make the arrangements with me without having to run it up her chain of command. We gave her a poster of the event which she put on her front door.

The book signing was part of an overall PR campaign. I was successful in obtaining an interview from the local weekly paper, the Glendale Star (Arizona)

Local author publishes first in mystery series
“Michael Murphy moved to Glendale in 1954 as a young boy, attended Glendale High School, graduated from Cortez High in 1968, and majored in journalism at Arizona State University. But he did not pursue a writing career after graduation…” [I include these as sample, ed.]

and the local daily, The Arizona Republic.

AUTHOR PUBLISHES 1ST NOVEL 02/17/2007
“Michael Murphy is a numbers man by day, but he pounds away on his keyboard by night. The Glendale resident just published his first novel, Try and Catch the Wind, with five more scheduled for publication …”

Both articles mentioned the book signing. Utilizing guerilla marketing tactics, my wife made up flyers and hung them on doors around our neighborhood. We also posted announcements at local grocery store community information bulletin boards. 

The Starbucks book signing was on a Saturday and by arrangement from 10 am to noon. We attracted approximately 100 visitors to the booth and sold 31 books in the two hours, and gave away bookmarks. My wife had made a display board with a sell sheet, copies of the newspaper articles, reviews of Try and Catch the Wind, and summaries of my two upcoming books. You can view the board [Other photos as well!].

Many attendees said they’d read about the book signing in the newspaper. The manager was pleased. A week later she told us she did a thousand dollars more in business than she normally does. She also wants to do more to help market it the next time, such as passing out flyers to customers a couple of weeks before the event.

As I mentioned, this was part of an overall PR campaign. My wife has done a terrific job of producing PR materials, some of which I’ve mentioned. The most effective is a tri-fold brochure.

Michael Murphy
Try and Catch the Wind, Wings ePress
Suspense is just a click away…

My thanks to Mike for his post. You might also want to view his Book Trailer