Two Book Signings...One Audience

Amy, at Women and Children First.

Friday night my friend Amy Andrews Alznauer launched her book Love & Salt at Women and Children First, a bookstore in Lakeview, and had an SRO crowd. What a thrill for Amy. I haven't read her book yet (we only recently met) tho I'm sure it's wonderful since she's a charming and intelligent person.

I was unable to attend Amy's event because I was doing my own book signing at The BookMarket in Glenview, and it turned out to be unlike any signing I've done before: NOT ONE PERSON showed up. Not a soul. Maybe all the book lovers were at Amy's.
They have these lovely, comfy chairs at The Book Market, and when I arrived I was greeted by Rick, who was managing the store that evening, and he was so hospitable and accommodating. He asked me how I wanted to set up the event and we moved these beautiful chairs around until it was a cozy, casual gathering. And then we waited.
My event was scheduled for 7:00p.
7:00 - no one.
7:10 - no one. Okay, it's only ten minutes. People never show up on time, do they?
7:20. Still no one. It was becoming abundantly clear that I was not going to have any butts to fill those comfy seats.
Don't be sad. I'm fine. Shit happens. And I always learn from these experiences.

Here's mine

Here's Amy's event.

Here's my lesson this time: I did not check with the manager of the book store to be sure she had put up the posters (that I created and sent to her), that she had gotten my books and was featuring them in the store, that she even remembered who I am.
In short, even if a store agrees to have a book event for you don't assume they give a shit. (Oh, oops, I was taking the high road here. My apologies.)