The Usefulness of Author Signings

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Are there any of you who feel like author signings are kind of... well... useless?

I've gone up to some of my favorite authors before. Some of them have asked me questions, some have been perky and happy and awesome while others have looked so stressed out/unhappy that I didn't want to bother them anymore than they already were. More often than not, though, I don't feel like it's worth it to go to author signings.

Sometimes, you do get speak to the author... but for like two-five minutes max, right?  What can you say in there that'll be so life-altering?  To me, it feels like authors, YA authors at least, nowadays post so much information online and/or are available via twitter, blogs, tumblers, etc. and any questions that I might have had / wanted to ask the author has already been answered.

Now, the things I read about at BEA are different.  The idea of sitting down for a meal or going to some cocktail party-- that's different, and I think that would be interesting because then I'd get to know the author more as a person.  Other than that though, I don't care about their signatures. I don't have any questions for them... and I don't feel like there's enough time in most signings to actually get to know the author. I mostly just care about and/or admire their words.

Have any of you ever felt this way?  Or, if you do like going to author signings, why do you?

3 Comments

  1. I agree with you when it's a "signing only" event, but otherwise, I have to disagree. I love hearing authors read their work and talk about it. I also like the Q&A because I think people often ask great questions and make valid points that I would never have thought of. A perfect example is when I got to see David Levithan this past weekend. He read from his new book, Every Day, and I love the book even more than I already did for having heard him read it. I also loved hearing his perspective and answers to questions that he hadn't even thought of. It brought new meaning and light to a book I had already fallen in love with. It wasn't necessarily the signing that drew me, but I saw it as an added bonus...

    Karis @YA Litwit

    ReplyDelete

  2. I agree with you when it's a "signing only" event, but otherwise, I have to disagree. I love hearing authors read their work and talk about it. I also like the Q&A because I think people often ask great questions and make valid points that I would never have thought of. A perfect example is when I got to see David Levithan this past weekend. He read from his new book, Every Day, and I love the book even more than I already did for having heard him read it. I also loved hearing his perspective and answers to questions that he hadn't even thought of. It brought new meaning and light to a book I had already fallen in love with. It wasn't necessarily the signing that drew me, but I saw it as an added bonus...

    Karis @YA Litwit

    ReplyDelete

  3. We don't have any author signings over here, so I would be thrilled if I could see my favorite author for just a few minutes ;)

    ReplyDelete

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