[blparent] OT: Question About Public Appearances

[Jo Elizabeth Pinto]

I’m sorry for the off topic post, but I not sure where else I can ask this question, and I know a lot of you have had experience with public speaking in various settings over the years.  I’m hoping to pick your collective brains and learn from your hard-won wisdom.  *Smile.*  I had a  book signing on Saturday for the novel I published last summer.  The novel has done reasonably well in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats, selling locally and online, but the book signing was a bust.  Part of the problem was the snowy, windy weather, and part of it was the fact that the bookstore that was hosting the event didn’t advertise well and the location was out of the way.  The event was a book fair with over sixty authors present, so my table was only one of many.  I had done a local book signing in my home town that went very well.  I advertised it in the local paper, passed out  fliers, the whole bit.  It was a fun event, and I talked to a lot of people.  So I thought I knew what to expect.  I was wrong.
Once I got out of my home town where people were at least somewhat familiar with me as a whole person and not a blind person, nobody could get past my disability.  Practically everyone who came up to my table asked me how I could write a book.  Not about the creative process, not about the story, but how I could type as a blind person, or how I could use a computer, or even how I got to the book signing.  I found myself explaining that I had learned to type when I was in the fourth grade, and that my computer was equipped with text-to-speech (screen-reading) software, and that my dad had brought me to the book signing, and we had gone out to breakfast on the way there—I barely managed not to add that I had even found my mouth with my fork and put the scrambled eggs in and chewed them up all by myself.  Sorry for the sarcasm, but I felt frustrated and humiliated by the end of the day.  My dad, who I had brought along because he would usually be very outgoing and good at working the crowd and steering people to my table, either didn’t notice what was going on or wanted no part of it because he disengaged and wandered around talking to other authors about their books.  When the friend who had agreed to do the afternoon shift with me got there, she was better than my dad had been about directing people to my table, but I still couldn’t get them past their amazement over the mundane so they would chat with me about what I was really there for.  So my question is, if public appearances are going to be worthwhile, I need to think of a way to redirect the conversation toward where it needs to go.  Maybe a humorous one-liner?  Since I can’t scream at people, you know.  I realize they mean well and it’s a matter of education, I suppose, but man, does it get old!  It wasn’t that I didn’t have a nice display.  I had visuals for the sighted people to look at with printed copies of the book reviews, I had copies of the book, I had bookmarks and business cards for them to take away.  I have assurances from people that my display looked professional, so that isn’t the issue.

To be fair, it wasn’t all in vain.  I met some interesting authors and found out about some good resources.  But overall, as with  most ventures, there are hurdles to overcome.

Thanks for letting me pick your brains!
Jo Elizabeth

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
is my newly published novel,
available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats at Amazon.com.