At last, I have a new book coming out, the suspense thriller Watch What You Say. And my publisher is throwing a launch party!
Saturday, October 19, 2019
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Georgia State University Perimeter Campus
2101 Womack Road, Dunwoody, GA 30338
Building NB Student Center, Second Floor
SFK Press will serve appetizers and beverages and display their entire fall 2019
catalog of books, including mine. I’ll be on hand to sign and personalize a limited run of the paperbacks—which SFK is selling at a discounted price—before the print version of Watch What You Say goes on sale to the public on November 5. “Get it sooner and get it cheaper” is the pitch, with some free goodies thrown in.
I’ve planned my speech, but I’d love your advice about whether and how much to read from the book.
Here’s my conundrum: I hate book readings. To me, there’s nothing more boring than staring at the top of authors’ heads while they read aloud. Even the ones who do it well bore me. I’ve done it at numerous book launches because it seems to be expected, but I even bore myself.
If you’re going to my book launch—and every one of you is invited!—you already know me and presumably like me, or you wouldn’t waste your time battling the traffic to show up, even with free food and drink on offer. Are you only going to decide to buy my book once you hear me read a bit of it? Probably not. Most likely, you already made up your mind to do so, otherwise why come out for the event?
If those argument align with your thinking, why do we expect authors to read at their book launches, and why do I do it even though I hate it? My theory regarding expectations is that besides wanting to hear the story behind the story, the audience wants to sample the tone or mood of the book. They hope that hearing a bit of the text will make them even more excited about reading it. Many writers are such bad public readers, though, I’ll bet I’m not the only one who’s regretted my purchase as the book’s author droned on.
I must confess to some ego-involvement, too. After spending years on a book, through countless drafts and editorial input and the leadup to publication, writers naturally want to share some of those hard-won words with their audience. “Listen, my friends, and be transported by the power of my prose, the sophistication of my syntax!” While I dislike the sound of my voice, I do get a little buzz giving an audience a sample of what I’ve created.
But how much is too much? I remember one book launch where the author read 20 whole pages. With an average of 250 words per page, that was 5,000 words we had to sit through. It took nearly a half hour to satiate his ego-involvement. I’ve never read more than a few paragraphs to my audience, scared that I’d look up and face a sea of empty chairs. This would be fitting: authors who overdo their readings don’t deserve to get Raptured.
A wise author suggested that I preface the reading by saying why I chose that particular passage, which seems obvious in retrospect but I’ve never attended a launch where somebody did this.
I hope you’ll use the Contact page and let me know (A) whether you enjoy hearing authors read a sample of their book and (B) if so, how much do you really want to hear to satisfy you that it will be a book you’ll enjoy?
Thanks for your feedback!
rebecca mealey
September 20, 2019 at 11:47 pm (5 years ago)If it were me, I’d pick a favorite excerpt of around 500 words and share that. Something compelling that reveals the overall tone of the story. Congratulations!
Lee Martin
September 21, 2019 at 2:45 am (5 years ago)I again offer my congratulations, George. Your book is on my list to buy. I regret I won’t be able to be present on the 19th. These third Saturdays always fall on my military weekend which makes me miss every meeting. I wish I could be there.
I don’t like to read from my book at book signings either, although I’ve done it a couple of times only at the book store’s request. It actually makes me feel like I’m blustering and that’s very uncomfortable for me. However, I do think audiences want to hear a taste of the book or experience a bit of foreplay (excuse the analogy) prior to buying and reading the book. If reading an excerpt is expected, you may want to get a friend, a good reader, to do so. That way, it won’t seem like an ego trip. The person could tout the book on your behalf and say all the great things about it that you may feel uncomfortable to say yourself. Then you could add some comments and answer questions about it. Just a thought.
Wishing you much success with Watch What You Say.
Lee
Buzz Bernard
September 21, 2019 at 12:29 pm (5 years ago)Skip the reading. Boring. I’d much rather hear about how the book came into being and some of the challenges you had in writing it. Give us a look behind the scenes.
Kimberly Megahee
September 21, 2019 at 4:22 pm (5 years ago)George,
I’m with you. Don’t read from your book. Better to just give the pitch for the book and why reading it will be a benefit.
Cheers and Regards,
Kim
Lee St. John
September 22, 2019 at 2:17 pm (5 years ago)Believe it or not, I am not fond of reading excerpts either. But I write humorous short essays around 600 words with a beginning, middle, and end so I do sometimes. Anyway, I am now using an opening monologue (not in my books) telling a story (not reading) to showcase what kind of writing is in the book and not reading at all unless asked..
Daisy Ottmann
September 23, 2019 at 2:29 pm (5 years ago)I agree that a) some writers are terrible readers and b) some writers really adore the sound of their own voices. I’m being made crazy by all the writers’ groups here in Florida where the only way to submit something for comment is by reading a 10-minute excerpt. I would much rather hear a writer share the kind of info you wrote about Bo’s ‘special talent’ in your previous post. As you say, most people at a launch have already made up their minds to purchase or not, but everyone seems to be want to ask a writer about inspiration. The only exception ought to be poetry–because that HAS to be read aloud to be truly appreciated.
Mike Nemeth
September 24, 2019 at 12:45 pm (5 years ago)In my experience, George, readings are best done by poets. For fiction authors it is difficult to set the context, the scene and the characters so the reading is understandable. Better to talk about why you wrote the book, what is it about (action/events) and what is it REALLY about (theme). An exception may be the killer first two/three pages of the novel.
Patrick Scullin
September 30, 2019 at 7:13 pm (5 years ago)George, if you don’t want to read, don’t. I do like the idea of talking a bit about the inspiration for the book or some aspect of your writing process.
It’s your party, read or don’t read if you want to.
Hope to be there.
Susan Crawford
October 10, 2019 at 4:41 pm (5 years ago)I guess I’m in the minority here, but I enjoy doing readings from my own books! I also like to hear authors read from theirs and often decide to buy a book on the basis of the reading. I would suggest keeping it short and picking a passage that is near the beginning, so you don’t give away too much of the plot, but not necessarily the VERY beginning. I like it when an author reads something that spotlights the ambiance of the story, the characters, and the mood. If I’m pulled in, if I love the language, I’ll buy the book even if I didn’t intend to. I was excited to read your new book, George, before publication. I loved it!