Day 2 of my trip to Sumter. I waltz into Books-A-Million n the Sumter Mall (where Im doing a self-initiated book signing on Saturday at 4 pm) carrying a large, display poster of the front cover of Primary Lessons. A young man on a ladder arranging displays climbs down and walks toward me smiling, as if he knows me. Id like to see the store manager, I say. Victorias the manager, he says, as he points me to the counter where Victoria rises to greet me. Youre doing a signing here on Saturday, arent you? he asks, as he follows me. You know who I am? I ask, with disbelief. Yes, he says, still smiling. From there, everything goes uphill. Your book is Primary -- he pauses and looks at the poster, Lessons. Its around here somewhere. Just under the checkout counter, he points out two stacks of my memoir. Your book cover is perfect, Victoria says as she takes my poster. Well have to put this in the front window. Im sure it will draw people in. Ive already sold several copies of your book. Im beside myself with joy. Last summer when I first approached this bookstore, it seemed an impossible task to schedule a reading. You have to be approved by our corporate office before we can schedule a signing, a clerk told me. Once I returned to New York, I followed their on-line directives for authors in-store appearances. Their site said only books handled by their approved distributors were sold in their stores. UPNE, my distributor, was not one of their approved distributors. I refused to give up. I was a home town girl who had written a book about the town where they had a book store and I wanted to do a book signing there. I also wanted the book where for Sumterites could buy copies from a bricks and mortar store. I needed a miracle. And I got one! In September during a vanity Google search, I discovered that Books-A-Million had my book for sale on their internet store. I immediately called the Sumter store and said youre carrying my book on line. I like to come to your store and do a book signing while Im in town the week of Thanksgiving. Without hesitating, the clerk verified that indeed Primary Lessons was on their site and suggested a Saturday afternoon, November 30th date for a signing. I can get a supply of books in by then, she said. Yes, some things have changed in Sumter.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 05:03:33 +0000
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