Attend an Author's Book Reading

We are fortunate in Madison to have several independent bookstores and bookstores for used books.  One of the best is A Room of One’s Own on the corner of Gorham and State Street, lodged snugly between the State Capitol and the UW-Madison campus.

The bookstore has a long and strong record of supporting independent authors, local authors and Wisconsin authors.   At their website: www.roomofonesown.com on the left margin they list the author book readings they sponsor every month.  Generally, they host 4-6 authors.

Authors are often depicted as solitary souls and my experience for attending readings and writer’s conferences for more than 15 years it that this is a myth.  Authors like to meet readers, respond to questions and have their work heard by reading it out loud themselves.  Publishers would like us to believe the primary purpose of author book readings is to sell books.  I don’t believe it is, although, hopefully for the author it does result in at least modest book sales.  The purpose for the author is to connect with readers.  How dismal it is to spend years producing a book and then not have any contact with your readers.  It is certainly a form of purgatory if not hell itself.

Last week I attended a reading by Ben Miller of his first published work, RIVER BEND CHRONICLE.  He greeted my wife and me with a warm handshake and an introduction to his wife and several other family members.  Sadly for Ben, the crowd included only Lynette, me and the Miller family members.  Not daunted in the least Ben gave a spirited reading from a scene in his book about growing up in urban (yes, urban) Iowa; Davenport, Iowa to be specific.  He also took questions and the entire event was about an hour.

From his reading I learned Ben is an excellent writer and his prose are dense and thought provoking.  Of course I had to buy the book and have him sign it.  Ben was thrilled to have me buy his book – not because it was a sale that would blossom his income – because he met a reader – his reader.  My wife was amazed at how Ben bubbled over me and was sincerely appreciative of our attendance.  I won’t forget Ben Miller and I’ve dived head first into his book.

Please, go to an author reading whenever you get a chance.  Lonely authors need the human connection as much as anyone – maybe more.

Please take the time to comment and share your author reading experiences on my blog.