Bookseller Debbie Meredith

by Joan


I’d like to thank Joan and thap gump for having me as a guest blogger. It is a pleasure to be here!

My name is Debbie Meredith and I am a romance book addict. Do I have any desire to be cured of this malady? No thank you!

I’ve been reading romance for almost 40 years and have seen many changes in the genre over the years. Trends have changed and now instead of the “bodice ripper” that we expected in the 70’s we have a large variety of sub genres to choose from. Romantic suspense, paranormal, historical, contemporary, books with romantic elements, mysteries, there is something for everyone and they definitely suit my every mood. The variety and the knowledge that we will get that happy ever after is the why I love to read and recommend the romance genre.

I am fortunate enough to be able work part time for a local independent bookstore and I can honestly say that I love every minute of it. As the romance manager and author liaison I have the pleasure to arrange and host author book signings. We have had many best selling authors at our store including J.R. Ward, Teresa Medeiros, Elizabeth Bevarly, Lori Foster, Patricia Rice, Shiloh Walker, Lora Leigh, and many more. I love the excitement that comes from meeting and chatting with the authors and the reactions of the fans that come to the signings. When possible, we offer the chance to share supper with the authors after the signings. This seems to be a fan and author favorite event.

(Debbie with authors TL Gray and Sara Reinke. Deb is second from right)

We enjoy promoting the author signings. We send out press releases to all the local and surrounding area newspapers. We’ve had several articles published about the store signings. We make bookmarks and posters and take them to several key spots to post for the event. Bookmarks are placed in all the new and used romance books several weeks prior to the signing so that any customer has all the information ahead of time. We often put inserts in the shopping bags of our customers. Even if that person doesn’t read romance they may know someone else that does. We have a wonderful electronic marquee that we post book covers and signing information and that goes a long way to inform the public about the signing. I love decorating the store to reflect the special event that the author book signings really are.

One of my favorite things to do for the signings is to make goodie bags filled with author promo goodies. Bookmarks, note pads, pens, whatever promo materials the authors share with us, we put in the bags and share them with our customers that come to the signings. It gives a lot of exposure for many authors at one time and I love introducing new authors to our customers.

For over four years I’ve done the web site for the store, including monthly romance previews, lots of author interviews, a few reviews and announcements for store activities. Many of you know my online persona of BookstoreDeb. Now I have my own web site, http://leahsliterarylair.com/ where I continue the tradition of interviewing awesome authors, book previews, reviews, book excerpts and recommendations and author promotion. I also have a blogs and My Space accounts under both the BookstoreDeb and Leah’s Literary Lair names.

What do you expect or hope for when you go to an author signing? What do you think could be improved to make the author signing more pleasurable? I’d love to know your thoughts on this matter.

Tell me what authors you would like to meet and what draws you to their writing. I always enjoy learning about new authors!
One lucky BB will win a $10 gift card from Borders to find a new author to enjoy!
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