Photo with Clive Barker at the Bram Stoker awards 2005
So I know in the last week a Tweet from an author went viral when she was embarrassed that only two people showed up to her book signing. The tweet went viral and she was offered support by several famous authors. I can't really offer much to the conversation that the author of the Handmaid's Tale and Sandman couldn't but I have two stories I want to share.
In 2004 on the release of Abarat book 2 Clive Barker was doing a signing at a mall bookstore in Costa Mesa - orange county. I had a friend that wanted to eat at Native Foods (before they were a chain) and offered me a ride. He dropped me off and went to get dinner.
I got there early because of Clive Freaking Barker. He was a god to me. Bestselling author and filmmaker, one of the greatest horror writers, hell writers alive. The Books of Blood and The Inhuman Condition were game changers for me when I read them in 1988 and Clive had been a hero ever since. I showed up to the bookstore afraid the line would wrap around the mall holding a copy of the Inhuman Condition.
When I got to the bookstore there was no line. When I asked if I was at the right bookstore they were confused. "Yeah, that's us, but we don't have a signing tonight." I thought I had the date wrong when a manager showed up and said yeah that Clive Barker was tonight and she forgot to put the sign or the books out.
I waited as they set up a podium and 10 chairs. I told the employee they would need more. They ignored me.as the hour came One guy with a stack of Hellraiser DVDs showed up. About five minutes after 7, no Clive, and a third and fourth person arrived. I began to hope Clive canceled, this turnout was pathetic and embarrassing. I looked around wondering how awful it would feel for this famous man to show up and find four our us and 6 empty chairs..
Clive showed up ten minutes late and apologized to us. He was stuck in traffic. His energy shocked me. He was excited to talk about his new book. He thanked us for coming and treated us like royalty. He took extra time to talk to us, he asked us questions about ourselves when I said I was starting writer he gave me advice and told me he loved the title of my work in progress.
He drew monsters in our books (he always did that) but read a passage of The Body Politic (my favorite story) from my copy of the book. He signed a poster that is framed and still on my wall. He hung for more than an hour before his assistant told him they had to go.
A year later (at least) I met Clive a second time in a more social situation at the Bram Stoker awards. The picture with this post is of my wife Cari and I with Clive that night. He remembered meeting me, and the title of my book Hunting the Moon Tribe. He remembered that I read Thief of Always to my student with Autism, said he thought about that often.
It taught me a huge lesson that it doesn't matter who you are as a writer you are not entitled to an audience and it doesn't matter who doesn't show-up, it matters the people who do.
I needed that reminder when I did a book signing for my first collection Screams from a Dying World in Victoria Canada. It was the third signing, including one in my hometown, and Chicago. I shared those two events with other authors and they had OK turnout.
The Victoria signing was at my late great friend Robert Garfat's book store Dark Horse books. Besides Robert and Cari one person showed up. I could have been bummed but the one person who did show up was Desmond Reddick. He had recently started a podcast Dread Media and I became the first person Des interviewed on the show.
800 episodes later Dread Media is a popular show. Des is a good friend and an excellent writer. He has become one of my first and most trusted readers. I look to him for feedback and he hosted the 50th episode of my podcast to look at all my books.
One person showed up and look how meaningful that one person was! Thanks, Clive, because I knew doing the Victoria signing, was a risk of low or no turn-out but if Clive had do four people I could face whatever.
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