$$$ for book events?

smallstages forwarded me this last week, but I just got a chance to read it. Any thoughts? Is charging for readings ok? Shouldn't the authors get a share of the door if they do? How will this change the dynamic of indie bookstore events?

It's funny. Over the course of my 40 events, the bookstore ones were usually the best. People were organized, they did promotions effectively, their experience clearly paid off for me and everyone in attendance.

If places charge and attendees can get the price off the book, I can kind of see it. But economically, it's still odd. I mean, a bookstore sells my book at full price and they gross about $9. I get $2. At my readings I brought and prepped cheese. I got the cheese donated but did the labor myself. That's of course after doing the labor over three years to write and edit the damn thing. Then I give a one hour performance. These things are (hopefully) compensated in $2 chunks that I (hopefully) will receive (hopefully) no longer than 9 months down the line.

Clearly the bookstores aren't getting rich off me. But it also seems like putting another barrier between an unknown authors and their potential readers. However, I can also attest to the fact that -- certainly at this point -- many attendees have already bought the book somewhere, and probably not at the store I'm appearing at. Committing resources to an event where they only sell 5 books is probably a money loser for them as well.

I refused to do one reading, way back when (and not at a bookstore), when they asked me to do an uncompensated cheese class as a book promotion. They would supply the cheese but a class (that because the cheese world is very small I happen to know) they usually were paying someone else $250 to do, they wanted me to do for free. They were charging people too! I suggested they add $15 to the price and include a book with the purchase and they weren't interested.

Publishing/book selling is a mess right now, eh?