MARKETING WITH BOOK SIGNING SERVICES (If they don't know you have it to sell they can't buy it) Many folks have a mistaken idea that book stores will not schedule a book signing by self published authors. That is not the case at all. It is true that the publisher usually will set up a book signing and supply the store with the books at a discount, but the self published author can do the same with direct contact and furnish the books or CDs as well.. The best time to contact a bookseller for this service is right after the holiday season rush when store traffic slows down for them. January, February and March are the months book stores need help drawing customers in the door. They have plenty of established authors to do a signing over the holidays to sell the more expensive titles. When the walk in traffic dies down in January, they will sometimes jump at a chance to do a signing for a good self published book or CD product. There is still a problem for the print on demand authors. Unlike the books you have had printed in a standard small print run, the POD author can not usually afford to bring a pile of books in to sign. The best they can do is sign flyers with a photograph and ordering information on them and take orders for the books. Since the store is not making anything on the books, it is not likely they will do a signing unless you have a secondary product such as a CD they can place on your table to sell. If you are able, you could try to come up with a secondary product like mentioned here with a collection of your short stories, poetry or artwork on a multimedia CD-Rom. The CDs would only cost you a dollar each to make copies yourself and sell them for $9.95. That would allow you to offer the bookstore a 50 percent discount. You would not only make a profit yourself, you would be taking orders for your POD book. This is a good way to help sell yourself and talent while getting your name recognizable to as many people as you can. Don't be shy. Find out the name and telephone number of the manager of that store and give them a call for an appointment or go in with a sample of your product. Let them know what you have and most of all, what it will do for them with more traffic to the store and a little profit. They will listen. I have only had a book signing set up twice for a book on CD-ROM but it was profitable. You can bet this way of marketing will work for you. It was funny getting a Borders store. The store in Connecticut set it all up and ordered 20 copies in advance and took orders after they were sold, whereas the Borders in Phoenix told me these things had to be approved by the corporate office and wouldn't set one up for me. The detailed information for making your own CD can be found at this link for a Create your own fund raiser or book on CD build kit of your own. Everything you need is included in it royalty free. There is nothing else to install or buy. You get instructions music, thousands of bits of mix and match media and templates to easily produce your own products. http://artvilla.com/kedco-ap There are also selections of all time classics from "The wizard of OZ" to "The works of Shakespeare" you can include to make your CD sell better and give the reader weeks and weeks of great classic entertainment. Sincerely Elaine