It was a Saturday afternoon. I walked into Chapters and saw the table sitting off to the right. A stack of my books along with a really nice frame of a poster the store had put together sat along the table. Within a few moments, I had found someone who was working there and said “I’m him” as I pointed to the book. The fun started shortly thereafter.
I had never done a book signing before. I had signed plenty of yearbooks over the years. I’d signed a few t-shirts and other weird swag during my magazine and band days. But this was something else entirely. I had no idea what to expect.
For starters, Chapters did a wicked job. The display was just right and they had really done a good push on the event much like they do for all of their signings. I was really happy to see how good they are at supporting local talent. It felt awesome.
It started off a little slow but people were coming and asking questions and were curious about the book. Gave away a bunch of bookmarks which I suppose in some way act like a bit of advertising.
But before I knew it, people I knew started showing up. I had an old manager from a job 14+ years ago that I hadn’t seen in almost all that time come in to get a book. I was totally blown away and surprised to see him but he picked up a book and was more than excited to get a copy signed.
Many friends and family members popped in to say hi, congratulate me, or pick up books. Even friends of my wife came by and picked up a few copies.
My aunt and uncle from Perth Andover made the drive down to Moncton to come get some copies. I never expected to see them come for it but sure enough there they were. Big thanks to them. But then I got an even more shocking surprise. My former aunt-in-law and grandmother-in-law showed up and picked up copies themselves. I hadn’t seen one of them in countless years. It was an incredibly sweet gesture for them to come out and see me on such a great day.
But at the end of the day, I was most surprised by running into a waitress and me and the wife’s favorite restaurant. She had seen me and recognized me and came over to chat. She made some comment about how we were into the restaurant so often she should repay us. So she picked up a book and that was it. Very cool.
As someone who was really nervous about the whole thing, I have to say that it turned into an amazing day. Can’t wait to see what comes next.
