Have been doing a lot appearances, signings etc. for ABSENT FRIENDS (and will be doing the final one, an interview, at the 92nd St. Y on Sunday, Dec. 5, if anyone wants to come; and if you do, make sure to mention the blog). The other night, did the Spence Book Fair. A friend who has a daughter there hooked me up. It's a very classy affair, about 2 dozen authors at tables around the room, cheese, pate, white wine. Where you were seated was the luck of the draw, guided by the decision of the chairperson. Me, I was between Katie Couric and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. It was a thrill for me to meet Schlesinger, and fun (and possibly a valuable schmooze) to chat with Katie Couric. However, any authors who read this blog can see what's coming. They were the two stars of the evening. People had multiple copies of their new books (his, political; hers, a children's book) for signature. Their lines were loooong. And sort of merged toward the middle of the room. And I was, well, hard to find at times. Sometimes people waiting for them picked up my book and looked at it. But my experience of events like this is, you don't sell to someone else's crowd. You sell to people looking for books like yours, or you sell to people just wandering around looking. People on a mission for another author will put your book back down as they get close.

So what do you do?

Smile and wait for the lines to shrink. They do eventually, and then people take to just wandering again, and they're in a good mood because their mission is accomplished. I sold 20 books, a respectable evening, especially since only a couple of the buyers said they'd read me before. The others were taking a chance, and may become new fans. And the book fair keeps going without the authors present for the rest of the week, so it's well worth it. And it was fun. And I got my nephew a signed Arthur Schlesinger.

Just a tale from the road.