Anyone going to CT signing?

BevVincent

Thanks for the great report. Sounds like you had a blast!

CRinVA

Too bad all the fans that got books weren't as true to the King as your party was! Sounds like you had a moment that will live on forever in your minds and hearts! When I went to a signing in Bangor 6 years ago my friend nearly passed out hyperventillating after getting his moment of fame with Mr. King! I didn't hyperventillate, but was pretty hyped up all night as we drove back to Boston - where I then caught a plan back to Virginia!

jolycu

Oh yes, we will definitely remember it forever! I would do it again in a heartbeat! I'm going to get my pictures developed later today and will post some of the better ones. One of the owners of the store would take your camera and take the pictures for you. We had two cameras and asked him to take pictures with each one so we would have a better chance of getting a good one.



I thought Erin (one of the people interviewed in the Advocate article) was going to hyperventilate and pass out when we found out King was already in the store. She and her friend drove from Ohio and were part of the "Ka-tet of 11" as they were affectionately dubbed. They were the first group in line. Her friend cried when the first ones from the NYC interview showed up and showed off there books. It was really amazing the age spread of the people there. There were the highschool aged teenagers (I'm not counting the people who brought their kids just to get books to sell) up to 60+ crowd. Everyone got along amazingly well. I didn't hear about any problems among the people waiting. Of course, the police were there from about 10:00 pm Sunday night and I guess they had some problems with the people who showed up at 4:00 and later found out most of the tickets were already gone.



Bev, how do these signings work? Does the bookstore owner foot the cost for all the preperation, the police being there, etc? Among the three of us, we bought about half dozen other books from them and I would have bought the audio version too but they forgot to order it. We asked the owner how they were able to set this up because King doesn't do many signings and she said she's friends with the publisher and they asked her if she would like to do it. I hope they don't regret their decision! The police blocked off the parking area for that whole block and that's were we lined up for the Whelan signing. Believe me, parking is at a premium in that town! Most of it is limited to 1 hour during the day. I've never been anywhere where so many people ride bicycles, but it's understandable with the traffic and limited parking.

BevVincent

jolycu wrote:

Bev, how do these signings work? Does the bookstore owner foot the cost for all the preperation, the police being there, etc?

I'm not sure about the cost of having the police there--that might have been a community thing, but the store foots the bill for everything else, assuming that the influx of people and the publicity will benefit them either short term or long.

CRinVA

Not sure what teh profit per book is but they did sell over 200 copies of DT7! And I'm sure people bought other books while there too!

jolycu

Yes, they sold over 200 copies. From what I understand, he finished signing the first 200 early and went on to sign about 40 more for people who weren't able to get tickets. We got the three signed copies and I went back after the signing and bought one more just for reading. I put them in my carry on bag and had to tote all four around the airport, and man, were they heavy! The three signed ones were wrapped in plastic to protect them and I didn't want the baggage screeners to unwrap them when they opened our checked luggage. I wanted to be there if they felt the need to inspect them! And everyone knows how they throw your bags around. I didn't want them to get damaged! My niece got autographed copies of the last two Spiderwick Chronicles books. The authors were there last week and signed extras. Sharon bought something for her grandson and a Whelan calender, and I also bought Robin Furth's Concordance and a Whelan calender. I had him sign the Dark Tower print that's in the calender. I wish I could've bought one of the art prints he had for sell but just couldn't convince my husband to let me spend another $400+. But the one I wanted is reproduced in the calender, so I am happy.

BevVincent

Oklahoma group makes trek to signing

jolycu

Thanks for that link Bev! Trevor came and looked Sharon up when he heard there was another Okie there. We talked to him for quite awhile. He was just as excited to be there as we were.