Brooklyn Book signing: The Aftermath

Well, my special day has come and gone.  It was my very first book signing in my hometown of New York City (BROOKLYYYYYYYYN!!!).  It was something that I've always wanted to do ever since I was first published.

I was able to arrive early, and set up my table the way that I had envisioned it in my mind.  I was able to speak to a brother that was in the area, and who personally knew the brother who ran The Marcus Garvey Center (shout out to Bro. Dumari).  Once he left, and I had finished prepping the table with my books and writing pad (to gather contact information from any attendees), I basically had nothing left to do but sit and wait for the attendees to arrive.

People came late.  Granted...it was a Friday, and the start time was 5pm.  People were still getting out of work.  In hindsight, maybe I should have had the book signing at a later start time (if I ever decide to hold one on a week day, that is).  People didn't really start arriving until around a little after 6pm.  I didn't really kick off my presentation until about 6:45.

It wasn't a packed house by any means.  People showed up; that was a good thing.  I had emailed a large number of people, and posted the event on Facebook.  Even Bro. Dumari contacted several people that he knew to come out and support this event.  Hell....the brother was even able to get in contact with the members of the Brooklyn division of my organization to come out (UNIA--Universal Negro Improvement Association); unfortunately, they never showed.  People who told me that they were going to come through...didn't.  Others did, at least.  There were more than enough people there that made it worth it; hell, it was a lot more than I had in Baltimore.  I had friends and family come out to support me, and that made me feel really blessed.  Especially with the fact that I got to meet somebody that I had known mostly through the internet, that made it really worthwhile to me.  They came out to support me without even knowing me all that well.

I gave my presentation, the attendees applauded, and I was able to sell a number of my books.  It didn't go quite exactly as I had planned, but it was a great experience to have.  I look forward to having a second homecoming in the coming months.  Hopefully, I can build off of this mounting momentum that I'm trying to create for myself.  I'm shooting for May to return to Brooklyn; I already have a location in mind as to where I want to do the next one.  I may just strictly sign books at that one, and skip the lecture part.  Oh well, we'll see what happens.

Stay tuned....!