Yesterday I returned home from the 27th Annual Romance Writers of America conference in Dallas. I had a fantastic time. I was a Rita finalist (a BIG congratulations to the winner in my category Annie Solomon for Best Romantic Suspense. Yeah!) It’s true—it IS a huge honor to be nominated and share a page in the program with some of the most wonderful romantic suspense authors.
Highlights
Lisa Kleypas’s speech. She’s cute and sincere and talked about something near and dear to my heart, how to protect yourself from arrows shot your way. Armadillo!
Literacy signing. We raised over $56,000 for literacy. Yeah! Special thanks to the publishers who donated the books and the authors who donated their time.Publisher parties. Good food, great wine, terrific company . . . need I say more?
People. I had a fantastic time just talking to so many writers, both published and unpublished, and readers who took the time to tell me they enjoy my books. I love meeting people I only know from online groups, or to reacquaint myself with friends from previous conferences. And especially this year I loved it that all members of my former critique group were ALL at conference, including Michelle Diener from South Africa. Wow! Hey, if one of you has a picture, email it to me so I can post it later. (Yes, I forgot my camera.) Thank you for great conversation all around!
The Black Cloud
I don’t rant often, especially not in public. But something happened at RWA Dallas that deserves a rant.
Every year, publishers donate books not only for the literacy signing (where RWA members and the general public purchase books with all proceeds going to charity) but for the “publisher giveaways” where registered conference attendees can meet their favorite authors—or discover new ones—and get a free book. Publishers generally bring 50-150 books per author for the benefit of conference attendees. It’s a perk.
Like last year in Atlanta, I brought my mother to conference. My mom doesn’t write, but she’s an avid reader. She introduced me to all my favorite authors years ago and reads 4-5 books a week. She went to every publisher book giveaway, picking up books from authors she loves (Kristin Hannah, Karen Rose, Suzanne Brockmann, among many more) as well as new-to-her authors she thought she would enjoy (Annie Solomon, Monica McCarty, Jane Graves, and many—many—more. I spent nearly $70 shipping books back via UPS Ground!)
So my mom noticed something odd at the first signing. There were four people, one of whom had a bookseller badge, always the first in line. They had a bellhop cart and boxes. Empty boxes. Lots of them. When the doors opened, three of them ran inside and started grabbing books off every table. Most of the books they didn’t even want signed. Often, they took two or three of EACH book. Then they went back to the guy at the cart, dropped off the books, and went back for MORE.
There were eight publishers, if I remember correctly, including Harlequin who had more than three times as many authors as the other pubs. At an average of fifteen signing authors per publisher, plus Harlequin, that’s roughly 150 participating authors. With three people grabbing two books each (and often more), that’s 900 books. Most of the books were mass market, but there were a substantial number of trade and a few hardcovers as well, so I figured the average cost was about $7 per book.
That means they nabbed over $6,300 in books. And that’s a conservative estimate.
Okay, some of you may claim that they wanted to read all these books (and multiple copies of the same), or give them to friends, or maybe donate them to the library. I would argue that the publishers donate these books to benefit RWA conference attendees. And if they wanted to donate them to the library, they should tell the author. I had three librarians come up to me for a book they planned on putting in their stock. Yeah for them (and me!)
But I don’t think these people had any altruistic purpose. My mother overheard one of them say to the other, “It’s really easy to snatch and grab when the lines are long.” I think they plan on selling the books, denying both the publisher their money and the author their royalties. And just as bad, they stole books that RWA conference members should have had an opportunity to get as part of their conference perk.
My mom wasn’t the only one who witnessed this behavior. We discussed it with several other people who saw the exact same thing. We’ve deduced that they were likely local and loading up their car to take to their bookstore to sell for 100% profit, or to sell on e-bay. I’m not against profit. I like profit. A lot. But not at the expense of others, and especially not at the expense of authors.
Did anyone else witness this? Am I wrong to rant? Or are there others as pissed off as I am? And if one of these four people is reading this blog, would you like to explain exactly what you intend to do with all those books?
By the way, my suggestion for RWA was to assign a volunteer or staff member as security at the door for each publisher event, or several staff members to observe and intervene when appropriate. I certainly wouldn’t want RWA members to think they can’t take any book they wanted. I just want to stop those who abuse the generosity of the publishers and authors by blatant thievery.
Allison, you are DEFINITELY not wrong to rant! If they’re snatching them to resell, then I think that’s really poor behavior. I’d be interested in hearing their rationale.
by Gabrielle July 16th, 2007 at 6:24 amYou’re not wrong to rant, and after my husband talked to the very booksellers you mention and got the scoop of what they were doing, I’d already planned to write a letter to Allison Kelley at the RWA office at the very least. And they weren’t the only ones. He talked to other booksellers in the signing line, offered one of them a freebie of one of my books he had on him, and she said, “Sure. I’ll just flip it on eBay. I’m a bookseller, and that’s what I’m here to do.”
by Alison Kent July 16th, 2007 at 6:38 amOh, how despicable! That sort of behavior deserves more than rants. It smacks of theft and merits something akin to the severity of prosecution! Perhaps those “booksellers” can be identified and barred from future conventions?
by Atherley July 16th, 2007 at 7:03 amOMG, these people give decent booksellers a bad name
What nasty little parasites they are, only in it for themselves. I hope something can be done about it, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. People like this manage to find ways around the rules.
by Stacy ~ July 16th, 2007 at 7:22 amWow, what jerks. I hope they track down these people and blacklist them for any future events.
by KingM July 16th, 2007 at 8:15 amAllison, I had the true pleasure of meeting your mom at conference (she’s a really neat woman, and her pride in you just emanates off her), and I’m so glad you ranted. What they were doing is so very wrong…
by Chris July 16th, 2007 at 8:45 amI think this is more of a publisher/author issue than an RWA issue, although they’ll probably argue over it.
Kimberly Raye got to the event where she was to give stuff away a bit late, only to find her box(es?) empty. She couldn’t give away any of her own books!
Some publishers (Berkley?) had their people there helping to run their individual events, but others apparently didn’t. A bit more diligence by all concerned would prevent the abuse that several of us noticed. Once signing, most authors get “in the zone” and don’t notice anyone else, and probably need a “book wrangler”.
It upsets me that the publishers’ giveaways were “gamed” (played for suckers) to the profit of a few, but in truth, it’s not surprising. Everyone smiles when someone walks out carrying an entire box/rolling cart of books, but if you’ve got a helper(or two) hauling away a box at a time, nobody knows that you’re on your sixth full box of books. The key here is “exit and reentry” control. It would prevent the “tag team” effort that these ingenious cretins chose to profit by.
As I recall, the Goody Room had its share of similar issues. This year access to the Goody Room was unlimited, so any piles of books that wasn’t supervised were gone in a flash. I thought this was okay, but… I don’t know the author who put her custom labeled “ChapStick” tubes in the basket by the second door. I don’t use the stuff, and so didn’t look closely. I did take a picture of the basket full of them, though. The basket was full even on the second day, and then, POOF! All gone. I don’t know if the author or someone else removed them, but the basket was emptied in a 90 minute span on Friday. That’s the risk taken when put stuff in the Goody Room, I suppose. Perhaps the author came back to claim her promotion, but if so, she would have removed the basket they were originally placed in, yes?
I think the answer in the long run isn’t “tickets” which would be handed out, but something similar, but higher tech. Bar code access.(actually, RFID chip access) I realize it’s an expense to rent, train and implement such things, especially to solve a seemingly small issue such as abuse, but it might also aid in tracking actual attendance of all the events at some future conference. The conference lunches, RITA Awards, Goody Room… tracking 1800-2000 people may seem to be an unwanted pain, but that would be the ultimate solution to things. RFID chips aren’t foolproof, but this is where this is headed.
by Walt July 16th, 2007 at 9:52 amI think that’s terrible behavior! They really need cattle prods for those people. There’s something about freebie giveaways (or perceived freebies, anyway, since you’re at least paying the conference fees) that bring out the absolute greediest in people.
by Lisa July 16th, 2007 at 10:05 amGabrielle, thanks! I really don’t like public ranting on much of anything, but sometimes an issue needs to be publicized and addressed.
Alison, please also write your letter. The more of us who write, the more likely RWA will act. I honestly don’t believe they knew about it until the last day. My publicist was going to discuss it with her contact in the press office.
Atherley, I doubt we can bar anyone (and I hate banning anything) but I do think we can stop it in the future. Also, if the publishers themselves are aware of it, they can take steps to eliminate it at their individual signings.
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 10:14 am:shock:It’s sad when adults behave like untrained, unsupervised children. It forces other adults to ‘parent’ them. If they have no scruples, one would think they’d at least be interested in maintaining some form of dignity by behaving themselves.:roll:
:grin:Can anyone give me some good RWA conference stories to counteract all the horror stories in cyber-space this week so I don’t go away swearing I’ll never, ever attend?:grin:
by Kimber An July 16th, 2007 at 10:41 amStacy, you’re exactly right. I met dozens of booksellers at conference who were wonderful, loved romance and meeting authors, and are truly the best the industry has to offer. A couple bad apples definitely doesn’t spoil the bunch in my eyes.
Hi King! Yes, I think something can be done responsibly and discreetly.
Actually, thinking about Alison’s comment further about selling on e-bay . . . that’s an education issue. If in the e-bay stores they are truly virtual stores where they order books from publishers and report sales and the publishers and authors are paid, then there is no problem. If they are selling stolen or free books and publishers and authors are not receiving a dime, that’s a problem.
Hi Chris! Thank you so much. I loved bringing my mom to the conference. She had so much fun and everyone was nice to her. My local chapter even adopted her and took her to dinner one night. I’m an only child, I hope she didn’t brag too much!
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 10:42 amHi Walt: I think it’s an issue for BOTH RWA and the publishers. Why? Because RWA asks the publishers to provide this perk for the conference attendees. Publishers aren’t begging to give away their books, for the most part. Yes, it benefits us authors and I LOVE giving books away and hopefully finding new readers, but it IS a benefit of conference attendees and a program of RWA. Therefore, it’s a mutual problem and together RWA and the publishers should address it.
I agree about the goody room, BTW. In the past you got a ticket and one pass through the goody room. If the problem was volunteers (maybe we didn’t have enough this year), they can cut the hours of the room. Or hire temporary staff for the event.
Hmm, not sure I like the high tech idea. Longer lines for sure. I liked the idea of not using tickets anymore, but maybe for the special events we need to go back to them. I don’t know what the solution is.
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 10:50 amI can’t debate how a high tech system would be implemented, but I can see it’s being done now for conferences for informational purposes. [link] Doing it for access control is another matter.
Side Note: The two nice people hired to control access to the PAN functions at Union Station certainly weren’t educated volunteers — I spent twenty minutes discussing what RWA was about with them and was privately amused when I observed them attempt to stop two businessmen from accessing their private offices upstairs. They also briefly queried the male model on his way to the J.C.Penny photo shoot.
Certainly, the short term solution is to get several of the authors who would participate in the next RWA booksignings giveaway, and let their publisher know they need to have a few extra representatives on the lookout for thieves.
by Walt July 16th, 2007 at 11:44 amLisa, the thing is–I think booksellers get a reduced registration. I’m not POSITIVE about that, but they get other perks for the conference.
Kimber An, there were LOTS of fabulous things about the conference! I started off my post with some of my favorite things. I loved, loved, loved talking with people everywhere. At workshops, the bar, in line. I didn’t get a chance to go to many workshops, but I did present two workshops and thought they were well-attended and people seemed to enjoy them. Big-time authors made themselves accessible. Nora Roberts, for example, was in the bar chatting with people at least two times at peak times; I met the absolutely sweet and adorable Julia Quinn who’ll be speaking at my Sacramento Valley Rose readers luncheon in September. Umm, the Ritas were lovely and everyone was beautiful. My friend Tracy Ann Warren won best first book (yeah!) and Roxanne St. Claire, who I’m in an anthology with at the end of the year, won best novella. Yeah again! Seriously, I was thrilled for all the finalists and the winners. My chapter mate Jo Robertson won the overall unpublished Daphne (and Roxanne also beat me out in best Single Title Romantic Mystery/Suspense.)
The food was good and everyone was friendly. I heard fabulous things about some of the other workshops, like Linda Howard’s and the chats are always well-attended. (I think this year it was Nora, Suzanne Brockmann and Carly Phillips.) Editors and agents were all over the place, not just locked in their room or at their workshop. I heard of a lot of people who had full and partial requests from their editor/agent meetings and others who had them just on the fly, at a party or bar. Things like that DO happen, and it’s so fun to watch!
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 12:23 pm[...] The rant I was getting ready to vent about was already expressed this morning over at Romancing The Blog by NYTimes bestselling author Alison Brennan. [...]
by Cuppacafe » Blog Archive » Thieves at RWA July 16th, 2007 at 12:32 pmI hope they don’t ruin things for the rest of us! There’s no way I can read all the books I got, but I’m grateful. I’m hoping to give away some books on my blog (and talking about it, so the author gets some advertisement), read many of them for my personal enjoyment, and finally, my mother has a retired neighbor on a very fixed budget who loves to read, but can’t afford to buy books.
I rarely keep books (hate clutter). So I did ask some of the authors to not personalize their books to me. If I don’t like their book (however grateful I am to have gotten it), it’d be kinda sad if I couldn’t find it a happy home, hopefully one that would give the author a new and raving fan!
After all, that’s why the publisher is giving them away, right?
by spyscribbler July 16th, 2007 at 12:33 pmSpy: I pick up books every year for my best friend who loves paranormal. I often read my books and pass them to my mom or my friend. I signed books for mothers, daughters, and friends. I have no problem with that–the books are going to readers–are being GIVEN to readers. Not illegally sold. So you are definitely not doing anything wrong! Brenda Novak was picking up books for her online diabetes auction, which is wonderful–and she told the authors that. And she waited in line for the books, not running around grabbing them.
(But if you sell them on ebay, we’ll have to talk . . . )
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 12:49 pmI just wanted to comment on something along these lines. Most of the Dorchester books for the literacy signing somehow ended up in the Goodie Room. It was NOT the publisher’s fault, and the Dorchester support staff were madly trying to recover any books they could for authors to sign. But there was a mix-up, so myself and some other Dorchester authors had no books to sign. Speaking for myself, I wasn’t upset, just concerned about the loss of money for literacy. I figured the books are going to readers who really wanted them.
I did meet someone who picked a Goodie Room copy of The Sword and the Sheath and plans on reading it. I do hope that everyone who got the Dorchester books from the Goodie Room (and there were Warner books this happened to as well) plans on reading them or passing them along. Please, sell them if you must AFTER you read them.
I had a terrific conference and it was wonderful meeting so many wonderful people. I know how hard RWA staff and volunteers work at putting together the conference, so my public thanks for a great conference!
by Bonnie Vanak July 16th, 2007 at 1:03 pmOK, I admit it. I grabbed 4 copies of the same book out of the goodie room - but in my defense I gave three of those copies to other conference attendees who were attending a publisher function at the time. So if anyone sees a blog post about a greedy librarian….
Any freebies I get at conferences go to either myself, other readers I know, or the library. I was also happy to see from YA authors around this year. I picked up some books for my sister, who teaches high school English and is trying to restock her classroom lending library.
by Wendy July 16th, 2007 at 1:03 pmThis was the first year I went to one of the publisher hosted book signings. In the past I’ve been too busy to attend. I saw a few authors who I absolutely love and picked up their books. I was able to tell those authors that I love their works and was delighted to find that they had more books out.
I did pick up a lot of books at conference this year, most came from the literacy signing. I’m going to have some of my friends over for drinks and book give aways so they can be introduced to some new authors. The idea of making up a basket with some of the books is great. Maybe for Dreaming in Dallas I’ll sponsor a basket.
by Sara Thacker July 16th, 2007 at 1:19 pmWalt, I think you’re right. My publisher was understaffed, but it couldn’t be helped this time–one editor was very sick, and we only had 10 authors signing–shouldn’t have been a problem, but we all know what really happened. I’m writing a letter to RWA about it and a separate one to my publicist at Ballantine who really did a great job overall. It’s a combination of RWA and the individual publishers, IMO.
Wendy, it was FABULOUS to meet you in person!!! And I have no problem with librarians taking books for their shelves. Please do so! Hopefully new readers will find me
Sara, I picked up a lot of freebies AND I spent over $200 at the literacy signing. But many of those are for my shelf, my mom, or a couple friends I picked up for. A basket is a great idea . . . I’ll remember that! I’ve given books away in contests before, but I usually order my favorite debut authors off amazon or bn.com
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 1:37 pmDid anyone say something there? I admit I didn’t make it to as many booksigning as I wanted. And was only there from the very beginning for the St Martin’s and Bantam one because I helped set up. (grrr and I STILL stood in line for books I wanted)
But hell Avon, Berkley, St Martin’s and Bantam all had people there I am shocked all the publishers didn’t have people watching crap. OMG I would have asked them what the hell they were doing. Of course the person I saw going and picking up books from the table without getting them signed was a man and when I asked he really belonged there.
err but I am shy like that…
I have three reviewers (four if you count the lil sis who has four YA books now she can’t read yet LOL) and Lawson wanted to come sooo badly but couldn’t. Avon is one of her most favorite publishers so when I rushed in late - I asked authors to sign the book to her. I couldn’t see asking for two and getting one for myself as well.
A couple of authors (near the end) had some books left over and signed a few for give aways. The one book I knew Jane WANTED, I went and found her and we restood in line for her copy.
A st martin’s chicka (who I adore) and I stood and ‘guarded’ Lisa Kleypas’s signing because she was so worried someone would come up and grab a book while people were standing in line waiting. When it ran low she counted out and made sure no one stood in line that wasn’t aware they wouldn’t get a book (some just wanted to gush over lisa).
LOL I really guess I have no point other than those people should be tagged and not allowed to come to the conference again. What complete asshats.
by Sybil July 16th, 2007 at 2:28 pm:grin:Thanks for the positives, Allison and others! It’s interesting to know there were YA authors there too. I seem better suited to YA at this point in my evolution as an author, so I was thinking I wouldn’t qualify for the RWA.
by Kimber An July 16th, 2007 at 3:32 pmKimber An, the book which won the Rita for Best Contemporary Single Title was a YA novel, Caridad Ferrer’s Adios to My Old Life.
by Laura Vivanco July 16th, 2007 at 3:47 pmNot that I don’t agree with you that people shouldn’t be doing this, but having worked the literacy signing where I had to check and rip receipts on the way out, I can tell you that this is a thankless job. I had more than one AUTHOR be completely rude to me as they were exiting and I tried to politely check their receipts. So I can only imagine the non-fun it would be to be the one to police those booksignings. Not to mention that RWA depends on volunteers to do this sort of thing.
by Jane July 16th, 2007 at 3:47 pmYou know, Allison–how interesting that you wrote this post, because this is the first time I noticed the SAME thing and mentioned it to someone. I wondered if I was overreacting. Having read your post on this very issue, it confirms my suspicion. And that’s really awful.
by Kayla July 16th, 2007 at 4:12 pmAllison,
This happens every year at National, but from what you and Alison are saying this year was particularly egregious. I’ve made it a policy that I only take books from authors that I really like, and from a select few authors that I might want to read. But there are always a few people who spoil it for everyone else by being particularly greedy. I hope there is a way to resolve this in a good way for everyone, even if it’s limiting everyone to one book per author.
by Elizabeth K. Mahon July 16th, 2007 at 4:25 pmI didn’t see the bookseller thing, but I attended most of the publisher signings. I think I missed two. But anyway, what bothered me was when there were long lines of people waiting to have a particular author sign a book, other AUTHORS (I know because I looked at their badges) would walk to the front, snag a book and go. Which meant that people who had stood there for the better part of half an hour were out of luck when they got to the front of the line.
For whatever reason, people got it into their heads that they were too good to stand in line with everyone else.
by Sharon July 16th, 2007 at 4:58 pmI had more than one AUTHOR be completely rude to me as they were exiting and I tried to politely check their receipts.
Not saying this is the case, but the authors had a sheet of paper at their stations saying if we wanted to buy our author copies, we could hand a check to Allison Kelley on the way out the door and not have to stand in line. Yet several authors were told at the door that no one knew anything about this.
by Alison Kent July 16th, 2007 at 4:59 pmYep, we knew nothing about this. I know that there was one volunteer who was taking money from authors - either cash or check. Was it inefficient and could it have been run better? I don’t know. I spent hours on Wednesday volunteering, both setting up the literacy signing and at the signing itself and we did only what we could.
by Jane July 16th, 2007 at 5:09 pmRegarding the literacy signing, I thought the volunteers were absolutely wonderful. The lines to buy were long and some people may have gotten frustrated, but that in no way tells me that the volunteers messed up. They were ALL wonderful and I appreciate them. There’s always room for improvement in everything we do.
by Allison Brennan July 16th, 2007 at 5:23 pmI worked the signing years ago as a volunteer. It is a monstrous undertaking, and then it was much smaller than it is now!
by Alison Kent July 16th, 2007 at 5:33 pmI wasn’t saying that anyone was dissing the volunteers, I was just saying that its likely it would have to be volunteers doing the policing and that job is no fun. Of course, if people were really snotty about it, I could threaten to blog about it.
by Jane July 16th, 2007 at 5:39 pmAllison, I was in your “No Plotters Allowed” class, and it was excellent. I was also VERY excited to win a copy of one of your books as an early birthday gift!
I am just as frustrated as you are about the booksellers making off with mucho copies of books authors and publishers don’t pay for. I was also a bit incensed to watch people taking multiple copies of the same book because it was “free”. I stood in line at least a couple of times and didn’t get a book because they were gone by the time I got there. I did come home with a suitcase of books so I shouldn’t bitch, but sheesh, I’m thinking the “one copy per person” is a great idea.
I also think I should volunteer for the checkout line at the literacy signing next year. There’s got to be an easier way to do this.
-S
by Strategerie July 16th, 2007 at 6:10 pmIs there some practical way of marking the books–like rubber stamping the edges with the conference logo, web address or promotional phrase?
by Claudia July 16th, 2007 at 6:30 pmAt the Berkley signing, I had a woman run — yes, run — the front of my line, grabe a book and dash. I wondered what she was doing and felt it was rude, considering that people were standing in line who might not get books. (In fact, I did run out.)
I think Claudia’s idea of stamping the books is clever. For the true reader of romance, the stamp is a souvenir, but for the opportunistic seller, it’s a giveaway.
I was tempted this year to decline autographs for people who were obviously gathering books for eBay and just wanted my signature, but I didn’t.
On another note: Allison, it was a pleasure meeting you on the stage at the Daphnes. It was thrilling to be a finalist and fun to share that honor with such a stellar group of suspense writers. Congrats!
by Pamela Clare July 16th, 2007 at 8:16 pmI was at the publisher signings and didn’t notice this behaviour myself - but them I’m pretty oblivious to a lot of things. I also agree that it is dispicable behaviour and should be stopped somehow!! I only took books I plan to read myself. Some books I took that I already have copies of, but those are ones that I read and enjoyed and the books would be more special if signed by the author and I didn’t feel bad since I had already purchased copies anyway. The books I did take were ones I thought would be interesting to read and if I like them I will certainly buy (key word - buy) future books by those authors. And I only took one of each book - not multiple books.
by Kristie(J) July 16th, 2007 at 9:20 pmAnd as for the books in the goodie room - I did pick up some the first day. These were books that I wanted to read but are unavailable in Canda. When I saw them there I was ecstatic. I only took one of each of what I knew I would read and didn’t take any that I didn’t think I would. And when I heard later about the mix-up I felt awful and wanted to return them.
So - if it’s any consolation, at least my lot went to a reader with every intention of reading them.
Oh I hope my CP didn’t get dinged because of me. There’s an ARC I really wanted and asked her to get me a copy if she didn’t mind since I can’t go to RWA and it’s so hard to get books in Japan. I told her she didn’t need to get it autographed either because I wasn’t sure how bad the line was going to be and didn’t want to impose on her too much.
by Angelle July 16th, 2007 at 9:25 pmThis is something that’s driven me batty for as many years as I’ve been attending Nationals (this was my fifth). I’m sorry, but lines are a part of the gig (both the Literacy Signing and the bookseller’s signings), so NO ONE should be cutting in to snake a copy of *any* book. Patiently wait your turn like the rest of us. If you’ve got a legitimate reason for having more than one copy of a book SIGNED (i.e., librarians or folks taking them home to potential readers), then that’s totally cool IMO.
As for the Literacy Signing lines, people get their panties into a wad waaaay too easily. ALL of us wanted to get out of there and on with the evening’s festivities, but there is absolutely NO reason to bitch at the volunteers. Helllllooo, they’re VOLUNTEERING, which is more than a lot of us (myself included) can say. If anything, I always try to smile and thank them for their time, because you know what? I’d like the same treatment if I was the one standing at the top of the stairs.
Whew…didn’t know I was quite so pissy about that!
by Terri Schaefer July 16th, 2007 at 10:17 pmTerrible behaviour but sadly that kind of thing doesn’t surprise me with regards to human nature. I remember once selling some of my children’s old toys in a car boot sale [not sure what you call them in the States?]
Anyhow, me in my naivety, sold items reasonbly priced. A ‘customer’ turned up at my stall before I had even packed properly and asked to purchase all the Disney videos. I allowed her to buy them. Moments later she had them displayed on her own stall for three times the price!
There’s always someone out there who wants to make a fast buck!
Those people ought to be named and shamed I say. Perhaps the organizers/publishers ought to get photos of them in the act and try to find out who they are.
by Lynette Rees July 17th, 2007 at 3:58 amThe hard part is it is a sticky wicket for an author to police the books. How many times have we heard someone spout off about an author treating them badly. What you all need is someone like me who’d be all ‘are you kidding me? There’s a LINE.’ But I can be bitchy that way.
At the job I had we used to have free samples of dog food for people who truly wanted to try their dogs on another type of food. We even had a sign that said ‘two only’. This one woman came in and just about stuffed the entire display in her trunk. I did say to her, you know there is a limit and she turned and said ‘it says they’re free!’. Surprising when you meet people who think free means take as many as you want. Ugh.
by CindyS July 17th, 2007 at 11:44 amI’d not noticed it before this year, either. I waited in line with a bookseller for the Saturday afternoon signing and thought it very strange that she didn’t recognize any of the author names I talked about. Wouldn’t a bookseller know author names???
by Mary F July 17th, 2007 at 11:55 amCindyS is absolutely right: an author has a hard time saying something because we don’t want to offend someone. And I didn’t notice immediately, either–it was my mom, who sat with me a large part of the time, who picked up on it, and she started talking about it with others and learned other people saw the same thing. I’m disappointed, but not shocked, about your dog food story. All it takes is one person to ruin it for everyone.
Terri, I thought the volunteers at the lit signing were gracious. There are always lines at these things, and we raised over $56K, everyone who helped should be proud that they contributed to the successful event.
Angelle–seriously, it’s not those getting books for other people, or not wanting it signed. That doesn’t matter. It was blatant what these few people were doing. Trust me, I know the difference between theft and grabbing a book for a reader!
Strat, I’m so glad you you enjoyed my workshop and happy birthday! I love giving away books
. . .
Ditto, Pamela! I was thrilled to be nominated, and absolutely tickled that Rocki won. I would have been happy if you won, too.
It’s always a tough contest.
by Allison Brennan July 17th, 2007 at 12:04 pmAllison, thanks for clearing this up. I had never attended the publisher signings before (going to classes, learning my craft stuff) and thought it weird seeing boxes and carts of books. Thank you for the compliments about the literacy volunteers. I worked the raffle and met the best people (I was your body guard last year and met your nice mom, too).
What I think it gets down to is this: there are always those who push that envelope. Let’s just be nice. Vicki
by vicki batman July 17th, 2007 at 12:24 pmWow! Okay, I saw those people packing many boxes of books outside the signing doors and wondered about them. The naive part of me thought perhaps they were collecting books for a retirement home or something like that.:cry: How sad that wasn’t the case! Yes, this should be stopped. Unfreakinbelievable.
by Susan Gable July 17th, 2007 at 12:37 pmYears ago I did a bookstore event while on tour. At that time I still permitted readers to bring in bunches of my backlist for signing. At the end of this two, two and a half hour event, several booksellers hauled up THREE hampers of my backlist. So loaded it took two of them to carry each one. They made no bones about the fact they wanted them signed so they could take them back to their used book store and jack up the price.
That was bad enough, imo, but I couldn’t believe the gall it took to come into another store–one that has sponsored the event, paid for promotion, done all the work, and expect that store to `host’ them while they had the author signed several hundred books for their stock. If I’d agreed, I would have been there another two hours.
Those booksellers weren’t happy with me when I told them I couldn’t do it–or wouldn’t. And because of that incident (and another where two booksellers were actually SELLING copies in the host store, making change from those old metal change belt things DURING the event in a competitor’s store) I no longer allow backlist in to an event.
This smacks me the same way. A few unethical opportunists ruining a really good thing for authors, readers and booksellers.
by Nora Roberts July 17th, 2007 at 1:18 pmIsn’t it horrible how some ruin it for everyone. I like Claudia’s idea and think it would help some. Maybe amounts should be limited per person - a dozen? two? with someone at the door. of course you’d have to come up with a way to not let the same person in twice. Maybe a stamped hand but they could probably get around that. Maybe have a check in which would take time but maybe have all the voluteers work the doors. I’m sure it all would be complicated though. It’s very, very sad but the bottom line is there are greedy people out there.
by jeanne July 17th, 2007 at 2:18 pmI was a “Chap Stick” author in the Goody Room, but I don’t know if I was the only one. Yep…my little lip balms disappeared in less than THREE HOURS (and I brought 700 of those suckers with me.)
But…they were promo items, meant to be sucked up by Conference attendees. And while I was surprised at how fast they disappeared, I took that as a good sign. Maybe I’m naive, but I can’t imagine anyone stealing my lip balms to sell on e-bay. Especially since they had *my* bookcover and website address on them. Even if booksellers were taking them to give away with purchased books, I’m still attaining my goal (in a roundabout way): I’m getting my promo item into a reader’s hands.
I do not equate that with the theft of books. And let’s call a spade a spade: anyone who takes free books to sell for profit without the knowledge and consent of the author is stealing. I only attended one publishing event at this year’s Conference and was stunned to see people waiting on line with handcarts and empty suitcases. These same people showed up downstairs an hour or so later, in the hotel’s business office, emptying their booty into boxes to ship home.
Perhaps we shouldn’t allow anything larger than a tote bag inside those ballrooms. While it won’t cure all the ills, it might stem the tide a bit.
by Gina Ardito July 17th, 2007 at 5:34 pm