A book reading is your chance to bring your words to life, connect with readers face-to-face, and hopefully sell a few books while you’re at it. But before you step up to the mic, there’s a little preparation to do. From choosing an excerpt that will leave your audience wanting more to remembering those all-important Sharpies, here’s what you need to know to make your book reading a success.
Once you’ve secured a date and time for your reading (check out our guide to planning a launch event for more info on the planning process), you’re ready to promote it! Leverage your friends, family, and social media to spread the word and drum up an audience. If your reading is happening in a bookstore, see if you (or the store) can put up a sign advertising the event to customers.
Now, for the reading portion itself, we suggest having two excerpts on hand (one as your main reading, one as a backup). Typically, you’ll want to read for about five to seven minutes—long enough to tell a story and show off your writing, short enough to keep your audience engaged. This translates to about one thousand words or three to four pages, but don’t get too caught up on this. Everyone reads at a different pace, so focus on staying within the five-to-seven-minute mark.
Our advice for choosing the perfect excerpt? Go through your manuscript from top to bottom. See which sections jump out at you, whether because the stories you tell in them are particularly funny or emotional or important, because your writing is especially impressive, or simply because they’re your favorites. The best read-aloud excerpts are a combination of all of the above.
Try to pick passages that don’t depend too much on the rest of the book. Your audience should be able to follow along without thinking, What’s going on? Who’s that character? What are they talking about? The point of reading an excerpt is to give potential readers a taste of what they can expect from the book—a taste so good, they’ll want to buy it once you put down the mic.
Jot down the page numbers where each section begins and ends. Then, go through these excerpts, select your top three, and time yourself while reading them aloud at your regular pace. Keep in mind that when the time comes to actually read the excerpt aloud at your book signing, your (very normal!) nerves will likely make you speak faster than you practiced. This doesn’t mean that you should pick an excerpt that takes you ten minutes to get through, but if you find yourself barely scraping five minutes at home, you’ll want to pick a longer passage for the big day.
When the big day does arrive, make sure to bring plenty of pens or Sharpies (three at the minimum, just in case the ink in one spontaneously decides to stop flowing) and a water bottle to keep your voice hydrated. Check with your venue to see if there’s anything else you need to bring, such as a table or chair (most bookstores and libraries already have these on deck). Bring anything else you’d like to personalize your event, such as flyers, banners, bookmarks, or maybe even treats for book buyers. (Pro tip: If you have a newsletter, bring a sheet of paper for buyers to write down their names and email addresses so you can add them to your recipient list.)
You may want to prepare a short intro speech to deliver before diving into the excerpt. This is where you can thank your audience for coming, explain a bit about who you are and what your book is about, and give them any necessary context for the excerpt you’re about to read. The key word here is short. You’re about to read for five to seven minutes. You don’t want your audience to check out before you’ve hit them with the good stuff! Aim to keep your intro speech to a minute max.
You could also open the floor for a Q&A after you read to connect to your audience on a more personal level. If the Q&A starts to flag, this is where your backup excerpt will come in handy.
Once you’re done reading and answering questions, you’ll move on to the last phase of the event: signing books and chatting with your readers face-to-face. This is what it’s all about! Be warm and friendly, engage them in conversation, and thank them for coming and supporting your work. Personalizing your signature by writing the buyer’s name is always a nice touch. Most importantly, while you’re shaking hands and looping your letters, take a moment to celebrate that your book is out in the world and on its way to people’s shelves!
Ballast Books is committed to being with you throughout every step of the publishing process. Our marketing team can help you coordinate in-person events, including book readings, and our editorial team can help you choose the perfect excerpts to wow your audience. To start your publishing journey, submit your book idea today!