A few weeks ago, I held my first ever author talk at my local library, a very small, but very friendly place.
All I needed was enough
courage to get through the afternoon ... and an audience.
Sadly, if I managed to
overcome my nerves, the audience did not materialise. Only three people came - and
one of them made no secret of the fact he was only there for the
librarian's offer of tea and McVities' chocolate biscuits!
Although disappointed at
first, I decided to be positive. It was after all my very first chance to
talk about myself as a writer, and the ideal opportunity to put into
practice an excellent piece of advice I had been given: to make direct eye
contact with as many members of the audience as possible. With only
three people in attendance, this was going to be easy!
So what did I learn from
the event and what would I do differently if I had the chance to do
my talk all over again?
Next time...
1. I will be been less
self-conscious and advertise the event more widely, for example by contacting local
book clubs and other libraries in the area.
2. I will prepare for technology failure and have backup visuals. My powerpoint presentation didn't run as smoothly as planned because the library's computer froze several times.
3. I will not hesitate to tactfully interrupt
people who are voicing opinions or talking about things which are not exactly relevant and tell them there will be time for questions and discussions later.
4. I will make the event a
multi-sensory occasion. If the talk is about A SPELL IN PROVENCE once again, I will have a display
of lavender sachets, scented savons de Marseille or samples of
typical Provençal products. I could even have music in the background before and after the talk.
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Of course, I could just forget all that
and make sure I have plenty of chocolate biscuits!
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I think all your 'hindsight' tips and ideas are good ones, Marie. I especially like the idea of giving a sense of Provence with lavender products ... the side effect might be that the audience would be more relaxed and compliant!
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting and for your comment, Helen. That's true, lavender is supposed to help with relaxation. The only problem would be if the audience was too relaxed and fell asleep!
ReplyDeleteThat's always a risk. I love your ideas. And chocolate biscuits always help. I have been to high-tech conferences, and do it yourself things, and technology never works. It seems to be a given. I went to an author event in the outskirts of Barcelona, and we were also three (and the author has her own radio programme and belongs to several groups of local writers). So not sure it's all that rare. It's one of the things (and personal matters) that have prevented me from pursuing this so far, but you're braver than me. Hats off.
ReplyDeleteThank you Olga. I hope I will have a few more people in the audience if I do it again. I wasn't feeling brave at all on the day!
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