Authors, show up!

Imagine the scene.

Three huge pavilions full of stalls and stands, with hundreds of publishing houses.

339.000 visitors in five days.

This is the International Book Fair in Turin.

It’s an event I can’t miss.

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Whenever I go to the fair, I usually ignore the big publishing houses, because I can buy their books everywhere and they don’t apply special sales for the fair. I much prefer going through the little publishers’ stands, in search of unusual books and new authors. I usually go there as a reader (a very happy and enthusiast one), but this year I decided to try a different attitude and go to the fair as a blogger. The purpose was to gain contacts in addition to a lot of new books.

I would like to have time to peruse every blurb with the same attention, but there’s no time for that. So I let my eyes wander from one cover to another until something catches my attention. There are two things that make me stop and give a second look: amazing covers (even if I shouldn’t judge a book by its cover) and an author or publisher willing to talk about his books.

If the author is there, ready to talk about his work, to explain how it came to light, I feel more disposed to buy the book itself. It seems only right to give that author a chance and, after all, that’s the reason I go there: to be fascinated and spend some money.

Sometimes my intuition is right and I find amazing novels, other times I blunder. It doesn’t really matter, because I enjoy the process a lot.

This year I met some authors and some helpful publishers willing to talk about their work. When I left, I felt richer. I had a suitcase full of books, some pictures of the event and a few contacts.

What’s my point?

This.

Authors, show up!

Go! Meet your readers in person at any chance.

The net is powerful but there is nothing like direct contact. Readers are not wicked creatures who will attack you and your work… at least, most of us are not… so SHOW UP!

We can’t wait to meet you, we need to meet you and understand something about the person behind the pages.

 


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