Dos and Don’ts for Reading at an Author Event…

The beginning of September proved to be a busy start for myself and 5 other authors who celebrated our summer of new releases through Mirror World Publishing. I also got a chance to meet long time author peep, Rita Monette who came all the way from Tennessee. Even the Nordic god Thor showed up via the brilliant flashes of light behind the authors as they read from their most recent book. When all was said and done, the night was quite profitable for all the authors, so a big thank you to all those who braved the traffic and the thunder storm to attend our special night!

Throughout the evening, I noticed a few glitches during the readings, plus listened to some good advice from the people in attendance. So I compiled a list of dos and don’ts from what I gleaned during our author reading event...

Do speak up. I know this is a no-brainer. The venue we were reading in had poor acoustics, so that made it even harder for a soft spoken person. Perhaps having a microphone or 

Karaoke machine on hand would eliminate this problem in the future for similar venues.

Do introduce yourself. Tell your readers (or future readers) a little about your past and how you got into writing. Keep it short and simple and interesting.

Do thank everyone for coming. Again, a no-brainer. Practice the attitude of gratitude.

Do pick an excerpt that will hook your audience. I did not, according to a few comments, and now thinking about it, I must agree. *Head desk* Make your reading exciting, not boring. I did manage to change my voice and mannerisms for certain characters, so I get a thumbs up for my performance.

Don’t forget to shut off your cell phone, or turn off the ringer. Um…should be a no-brainer, but obviously a couple of people did not do this. One person actually answered his phone DURING A READING. Not cool. Please be respectful to the authors and audience.

Don’t forget to acknowledge your publisher. After all, you wouldn’t be there without them!

Don’t forget to mingle and mix with the audience.  You want them coming back to your next book reading event!

So there you have it, my dos and don’ts based on my first experience participating in a group author reading event. Whether you’re an author or a reader, do you have anything else you could add to this list? Would love to read your comments! Cheers!