Book Signing

Friday night I travelled to Terre Haute to do a book signing at Walden's. There were few people in the mall, but there were several old friends who stopped by to see me after they noticed an article in the paper touting the signing. It was great to see them. And thank you, Dorothy, for hosting my failure once again!

Something funny always happens at a signing, and Friday night was no exception. I'm sitting behind my little table littered with books and a guy walks up to me, shoves a book in my face, and asks, "How much is this book?"

Now, it's not even my book. It's some giant hardback that they guy has pulled off of the shelf and he thinks I work for Walden's. But I take the book anyway, open the cover, and point to the top left where the price is listed. "Twenty-five, ninety-five," I tell him. "A bargain for a book that size."

"What's them little books there?" he asks, eyeing my paltry pile of trade paperbacks.

"Wedding books for brides," I tell him.

"Wedding books?!" He laughs. "You write for the ladies, do ya?"

"Why not," I say. "Women buy 90% of the books in America. Men like us, who read, are rare."

The guy looks down at his giant volume. "No S---! I didn't know that!" He yells over to his wife, a woman who looks like Herbert Hoover, "Hey, honey, this guy says I should buy this book. Makes me a reader."

As he walks away, he has a big cheesy grin. He looks back at me and says, "Thanks, mister. Thanks a lot! The things you learn!"

Sort of brought a tear to my eye. Oh, and I did sell two books. I want to thank my parents for buying them! Turned my book-sitting into a book-signing after all.