I’m speaking Sunday afternoon at a library in Kansas. This is a library that’s been very welcoming and really has done a lot to support me. I’m super grateful for that. This pic is from my first time there. I think I was announcing the winner of the free book when the photo was taken, and everyone was looking at the lucky winner, so crazy envious, I’m sure! ;)
But back to this next visit. By today I’ve got my talk planned out pretty well. I’ve got the books to sell and the decorations for the table. I’ve still got some media work to nail down, but I’m pretty ready to go.
Still I thought it would be neat to give you guys a chance to tell us authors what you would love to see in a book event. If an author you enjoyed was coming to your library, what would you want them to do? What would you want to ask them? Please share! I’d really love to know.
People have posted this on my Facebook profile at least four times. Honestly!
One of the silly things I’m doing on Sunday is giving away either an Amazon gift card or one of my books to whoever has had the highest fine. Sadly I’m a bit notorious for having late fees that equal the cost of a brand new book. :( Yep. Really. (No one tell my husband!) And this is a library that’s got cheap daily fines and only charges for so many days before the fines stop. We absolutely will not talk about my Chicago area library which never stopped daily fines, fines more than double what my current library charges! That was painful.
My highest library fine here in Kansas? Just about fifteen dollars. Isn’t that terrible??? Someone reading, quick! Make me feel better! Who’s had a fine like mine?
Anyway, I would appreciate some prayers on Sunday afternoon. I’m excited about this visit, but the nerves are always there. And do share what you’d love to see from your favorite authors. I’m eager to hear!
Sally Bradley writes big-city fiction with real issues and real hope. A Chicagoan since age five, Sally has been fascinated by all things Chicago (except for crime, politics, and traffic) for almost as long. She now lives in the Kansas City area with her family, but they get back to Chicago for important things -- like good pizza and a White Sox game. A freelance-fiction editor and former president of her writing chapter, Sally has won a handful of awards for Kept and another work-in-progress. Visit her online at sallybradley.com or on Facebook.
Fifteen dollars! Eek! Being the meticulous scheduler, I’ve never had a overdue book Sally, but that’s only because I write everything down in my calendar. Praying for a successful event! By the way, I love the cartoon. :)
Yipes, I don’t know if our libraries even charge you…let alone that much! If I were listening to an author talk, I would love to hear about what inspires their stories, helps them get through the days when writing is hard, and just general stuff about who they are as people. Being a Christian, I would love to hear about their faith journey. Blessings to you, will pray all goes well.
Thanks for sharing, Sally. Always interesting to learn about other regions of the country. Our local bookstores have author readings or talks. Our local libraries have lots of activities and book clubs for all ages, but seldom bring in an author and are never open on Sunday. Personally I do not like borrowing anything, even from the library. I prefer to buy the books I read. Most of my fines at the library have been small and only occurred due to circumstances, weather or a family emergency. As a retired teacher and a local role model, I would never admit in public if I had a large fine. Our family once had one at the local video store, because one of my teenagers forgot to return a video game.
Sally, you will be in my thoughts on Sunday. I understand the nerves. I am preparing a story time for a class Kindergartners at the school where my daughter-in-law is principal, and I have nerves. Enjoy your weekend.
When meeting an author, whether in person or on-line, I like to know a little about their background – where they have lived, what they have done, family, pets, etc. Then I am always interested in what inspired their story and the journey to have their story published. That is why I enjoy the Inspy Romance website and the blogs by the various authors, because we learn how the authors design their covers, write the blurbs, and are inspired to write their story. Best wishes.
The library sounds like fun. I’d love to see books they’ve written, hear about their life, win a book of course! I’ve had finesof several dollars when the kids were growing up. Now we get an email reminder and I can renew the books online, I haven’t had a fine in a while.
Sad to say my over due fines I would be happy with $15. Thanks to an old landlord renting to us though the building was going into foreclosure so we had to move quickly and stuff ended up in storage. Then my fiance at the time had a storage unit and didn’t keep up on the payments so yeah a bunch of library books both of mine and my daughter’s somehow ended in storage and since her and I have always been avid readers it was a lot of books because we went through so many so quickly. Would guess about 20-25 ended up packed and needing to be replaced when they locked him out of his storage unit for non payment. Needless to say I learned my lesson, more trips to the library is better than getting so many books at once.
My library here freezes all online check-outs if you owe over $5.00. I’m not sure if they won’t let you check out any print books or not. However, at least once a year they have a canned food drive where they let you trade in canned goods for your fine. I’ve definitely taken advantage of that. Oh, and a fine forgiveness day, where if you call or come in they will forgive your fine.
The worst thing I’ve ever had happen to a library book was I left it in the car and a crayon melted all over it…so I had to buy it….and it wasn’t even a good book!
I haven’t been to a meet-the-author event as an adult, so I wouldn’t even really know what to expect. As a kid I enjoyed having Brad Sneed and Lorna Balian come to the library. The best part was taking home their books afterward. =)
I’ve only had to pay 10 cents one time because I forgot to renew. Our library has odd hours and is only open 3 days a week so it’s easy to get my days messed up!
Isn’t the cartoon the best? It’s almost worth the fine. :D Almost!
Thanks for the prayers, Jill. Working on my program now.
Those are great ideas, Wemble. Thank you!
Renata, you are every writer’s dream! I bet your personal library must be huge.
Thanks for the tips. I’m going to go over these again and see what fits into the program.
Some of my big fines were due to the kids having lots of kids’ books out. My Chicago library charged 25 cents a day, with no cap. So when I’ve got my own four books to renew and my two kids (at the time) each had 8 books out and they were all 3 days overdue… Oy!
Oh, Cassandra! Ouch. I really hated paying a fine that was just about the price of another book. I can’t imagine how you must have felt taking care of that one!
LOL, Katy! Yes! Paying for a meh book is the worst. I just borrowed some books on CD for a road trip and I made sure I didn’t leave them in the car, just in case they melted. Didn’t want to have to buy melted discs!
Beth Erin, you and Renata and Jill are my heroes! Nicely done–and with the library closed more often than it’s open! That is impressive. For real.
Honestly, I don’t ever remember having any fines. I just read too fast to really even have a book beyond the due date anyway, lol! I’m also very blessed to live right behind our library so really there’s no excuse not to get the books or DVD’s back in time, lol! And I can always renew online if necessary. :-)
I’ve not ever met an author in person so I’m not sure what I would ask them or what kind of fun things to do. Me, I’d probably be too nervous to go up to an author I know, lol! Have fun on Sunday,Sally, hope you get to meet lots of readers and chat about whatever comes to mind! :-)
I had a few quarter fines, and we had to buy a book that my kids lost.