94 You Have a Book in You should try to get the word out to as many people as possi- ble. Send emails to everybody you know. Make the emails direct and to the point: “吀栀is is where I’m going to be, and this is when I’m going to be there. PLEASE COME, AND BRING ALL YOUR FRIENDS, NEIGHBORS, RELATIVES, AND COLLEAGUES FROM WORK!” Design an invitation or bookmark, print a thousand of them, and ask the store to give one away with every purchase starting two weeks before the event. Get the store to put a big sign in the window. Make the sign your- self! Above all, befriend the bookstore owner. Every one I’ve met has been great. By and large, book people are bright, friendly, and easy to talk to. Signings don’t always draw a huge audience, but they’re an excellent way to gain valuable experience talking about your work. It’s also an opportunity to cre- ate a positive relationship with storeowners, managers, and salespeople who will happily recommend your book. (吀栀is is called hand- along sales.) You simply have to be nice to them, befriend them, and ask them to help you with customers they meet. Become a Sought- after Expert In the past, it took years to become an expert on any- thing. Information was much harder to come by. If you wanted to learn about a subject in depth, you had to