Tell me about your book signings, btw. Did you have to pay those bookstores in Emporia and some place else? I know Watermark charges, but they also advertise for you...
I'm actually wondering if they charged Mike Huckabee (or his publisher) for his recent signing there...
In my experience, most stores do not require any payment out of the author. Depending on how your publisher operates (whether they offer your books through a large distributor and whether they offer returns), though, there may be some differences on how the store will work with you.
Emporia was a pretty sweet deal, as they ordered copies directly from my publisher for the signing. They took care of customer's money, so all I had to do was show up with a pen in hand and a smile on my face. In the end, they sold out most of the copies they'd ordered, and wanted a few more signed copies (which I always have on hand) so they paid me to supply them some extras. I'm scheduled to do another signing there next summer. This is the ideal situation...stores should take care of the money and getting copies of the book in.
El Dorado, I ended up having to supply copies and handle the money. The store just provided the location, and helped out in case a customer wanted to use a credit card for their purchase. Other than the credit card deal, this is pretty much how I have to handle things in the case where I have a dealer's table at a convention. Since this was a used bookstore, I sort of figured it might be this way.
I have upcoming events in Newton and OK City. Newton, I'm supplying copies of the book, but the store will be handling all of the financial transactions, and then taking out a percentage on consignment, paying me the rest. OK City, I'm still in the preliminary stages, so no idea how they'll want to handle things.
Watermark is the only store I've ever known who charges for authors to do a signing (and even that is a relatively recent change).
