Are Book Signings Becoming a Thing of the Past?

Book signings are not as common as they once were, and there're basically two major reasons for this. First of all, bookstores are not supporting them as they once did. Shop owners usually say that they don't find the signings profitable enough unless they are done by a top-selling author with a great deal of name recognition. Yet, part of the reason they don't do well is that the stores are not promoting them at all. I can't see why selling something like 25 - 50 books that they would not have sold otherwise would not be profitable if they only do in-the-store and free advertising. Has greed taken over so much that if they can't make huge sums they don't want any?

The second reason is that many authors have decided only to publish in ebook or audible formats and not in print. I don't understand this either. Why eliminate a large chunk of your potential readers. I have a good number of people who tell me they still only read print books. Admittedly, many of these are older adults, but they spend more  money on books than the younger generations. Although I have built my market and do sell many more ebooks than any other format, about a third of my sales still come from my paperbacks.

Another reason I like book signings is the one-on-one contact with readers. I like to see their excitement when they buy a new book or sometimes a complete series. I like to talk about my writing with them, answer their questions, hear what they have to say, and see their expressions. Just recently, a man discovered what "Tucker's Barn," inscribed on an antique gun he had bought, meant. It was the first name for Lenoir, North Carolina, a fact in my first novel, Cleared for Planting. He bought three copies of this novel and three other books. I just came from a book signing at the North Carolina State Baptist Convention where I not only sold a lot of books, but I enjoyed meeting and talking with hundreds of readers. I think book signings are a win-win situation for everyone. They may be dying out, but I, for one, intend to keep signing books as long as I can.

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