The Not-So-Glamorous Life
Monday, September 26, 2005 at 08:24AM Quick, right off the top of your head, how many current authors can you name? I came up with Stephen King, Dan Brown, John Grisham and Scott Turow.
And then there's that guy I really like, oh, what's his name...it's right on the tip of my tongue. Gosh, I just read his book and really liked it. It was...wait...I know it...I was just reading it in bed last night...I just can't remember the title. But it was really, really good--
Now how many current movie stars can you name, right off the top of you head? Let's see, there's Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman, Nicole Kidman, Tom Hanks, Susan Sarandon, Morgan Freeman...and the list goes on and on.
The point is, few authors have achieved movie star status. Fans aren't clamoring at their feet. The paparazzi aren't trailing their every footstep.
When you go on a book tour, you realize that if you aren't J.K. Rowling, James Patterson or Patricia Cornwell, there won't be throngs of people coming to see you.
But you hope that some will come. And that some, if not fans now, will become fans.
Those were my rather modest hopes when I traveled up to Rockford, Illinois this past weekend for the first stops on my two-month book tour.
My schedule called for book signings and talks at three libraries over two days, in towns that I had never heard of prior to my publicist telling me that I was to go to them. On Saturday, it was Loves Park and Roscoe. Sunday, it was Cherry Valley.
When I first pulled in to the Loves Park library, with my wife and toddler in tow, there was one of those How-cool-is-this? moments when I saw the sign reading "Mystery Authors September 24," knowing that I was one of those mystery authors. And then it just got cooler when, upon walking in and seeing pictures of me and my book, my two-year-old son said, "Daddy's book."
Photo couresty of Rock Valley Publishing and Margaret DowningI'd been paired for the Saturday events with fellow mystery author Libby Fischer Hellman, one of Chicagoland's more respected and successful authors. I figured that if nobody came to see me, they'd at least come to see her, right?
Wrong. A local newspaper reporter, Margaret Downing, showed -- and that was it. The good news is that Downing is a darling and writes for six (count 'em -- six) community newspapers and her story on our appearances will be appearing in three Rockford-area newspapers on Thursday.
Being on the road is a lesson in just how hard it is to sell books. The second book-signing, in Roscoe, drew a crowd of two. Although the turnout was low, the discussion was lively and interesting. And Deborah, a budding non-fiction writer, even bought one of my books (thank you, Deborah!). The other attendee, a writer of children's books, promised to buy my book at a later date.
On Sunday, I was on my own in Cherry Valley, thanks to a late cancellation of another mystery author. Unfortunately, not a soul came out in the dreary, rainy weather to see me. 
Oh, well. The weekend wasn't a total loss. I met two wonderful library directors, Ann Powell and Eve Kirk, who went to great lengths to promote my events at their libraries. Many, many thanks to them. I also met a couple of writers who may just turn into fans. Many others will get a chance to read about my book, thanks to the work of Margaret Downing. And my little boy really enjoyed hanging out in the libraries' children's sections, picking apples in Cherry Valley and swimming in the pool at the Clocktower Resort.
They say that you got to look at the business of selling books one book at a time. Well, I sold and signed one book over two days. So that's my one book. Hopefully there will be many more to come.
Next up: the 2005 Author Fair in Joliet on Saturday.
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