I had a reading at Barnhill’s Books, a local wine and book shop, this weekend. It was a lot of fun. The folks there, particularly Mike and Suzette, are fantastic. They gave me two slots on Saturday. I read from Ginnie Dare in the early afternoon and from Through a Glass, Darkly in the evening. The crowds were light, thanks in part to good weather and the local county fair, but I count it a success for a few reasons.

The readings were good practice. In one case I had an audience member who was completely unfamiliar with my work. One of the books I sold was to someone I didn’t know and I was able to sign and personalize it for him. Connecting with future fans like that is something that you can’t do as well online (though it can be done). The biggest thing I got out of it though were the connections with the shop and its owners. Mike is an independent publisher at Second Wind Publishing and an author in his own right.

They will be selling e-books from their site. We talked about producing audio books for his authors. We also talked about selling e-books on physical media through the store. This is one forward thinking gent. We also talked about Flying Island Press. So while it would have been nice to sell out of books and have people lining up to hear me read, thinking long term I believe that this relationship will be a fruitful one for us both.

That will only be possible though if people support them. I know that most of you don’t live in Winston Salem. It should be noted that Barnill’s does ship books, so if you wanted to buy one of my books you’d be doing them (and their efforts with local and independent authors) a favor if you ordered from them. For that matter you could go into your own local and ask if they can order my books. I’d hope that they can. So, support your local book store if you’re fortunate enough to have one and authors like me will thank you for it!