Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: Madragon on August 26, 2010, 12:56:48 AM
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Hi,
I noticed that Brandon will be signing in my area. But as I am a total noob to book signings what is the proper etiquette? Is it customary to buy the book from the book store hosting the event? Or can I bring my own copy since it is a week after the release? Patience in not really my virtue:)
Regards
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You don't have to buy anything at the signing. Brandon has said that it's polite to buy any book at all from the host if it's a store (it's these sales that make bookstores continue to host signings). There is usually a book check if you come in with your own so they don't charge you for it on your way out. Also, making faces at Brandon while he talks is customary.
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Thank you!
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You're permitted precisely 7.5 seconds of fanboy/girlism, but any longer than that and security will escort you out.
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Madragon, it's also a good idea to, if you're buying it early, buy the book at the store where he's going to be signing, and keep your receipt and bring it to the signing. It's not necessary but it's a nice way to support the store hosting him.
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Also, making faces at Brandon while he talks is customary.
Wow... for serial? Is there a penalty for just acting normal?
You know. Normal for a rabid fangirl/fanboy in knee-trembling awe.
I'd like to avoid a breach of fangirl 'Signing Protocol', if that's possible ;)
Ummmm... is there a limit to how many questions we can ask Brandon at a signing? Are we timed or something? I'm a signing noob, as well. I know nothing ???
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Also, making faces at Brandon while he talks is customary.
Wow... for serial? Is there a penalty for just acting normal?
You know. Normal for a rabid fangirl/fanboy in knee-trembling awe.
I'd like to avoid a breach of fangirl 'Signing Protocol', if that's possible ;)
Tar and feathering is the penalty, obviously! :D
Ummmm... is there a limit to how many questions we can ask Brandon at a signing? Are we timed or something? I'm a signing noob, as well. I know nothing ???
Every signing i've ever been to, you have 20-30 seconds of chatter time with the author, as they like to keep the line moving. However, i've never been to a signing with brandon doing it, so i couldn't tell you for his specifically.
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Hmmm... well, I have a lot of questions.
Actually, I have a notepad document of them on my desktop.
I'm going to have to do some serious prioritizing and whittle it down to one or two essentials. Hopefully I don't spend my 25 seconds drooling and trying to remember my name.
Man, this uber-geek gig is a lot more difficult than original projections indicated ;D
Thanks for the assistance, signing veteran!
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You're permitted precisely 7.5 seconds of fanboy/girlism, but any longer than that and security will escort you out.
You're also limited to one squee per signing. Subsequent squees result in the above.
Wow... for serial? Is there a penalty for just acting normal?
Yellow card. Two and you're out for the match. You only get the tarring and feathering if you act normal when you're talking to Brandon.
I'm going to have to do some serious prioritizing and whittle it down to one or two essentials. Hopefully I don't spend my 25 seconds drooling and trying to remember my name.
Oh, that happened to me the first time I met him (the HoA tour).
Brandon: Who should I make it out to?
Me: T-t-t-t-t-titus. *uncontrolled creepy grin*
Brandon: Oookay. *scoots his chair a safe distance away*
Don't tell nobody, but I've found that if you wait until the end of the signing, you can sometimes get some proper interrogation in. I've also heard that if you offer to buy him dinner, he will sometimes accept.
Oh, and tell him that you're a Time Waster. We are his Abercrombie uber-zombie generals and he loves us even more than the cannon fodder (which is a lot, for those of you who haven't been following his blog).
EDIT: Note that my grin was creepy only because I had lost most muscular control in the presence of Brandon and the ever classy David Wolverton. My muscles were running on an OFF/ON status, so I walked like a toy soldier and my jaw moved like a ventriloquist's dummy's.
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If you have a LOT of questions you might be able to ask him more after he's done with everyone else. It depends how much time he has and how many people there are.
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If you have a LOT of questions you might be able to ask him more after he's done with everyone else. It depends how much time he has and how many people there are.
Just out of curiousity, how longs do brandon's signings usually run? I'm gonna be at the St. louis signing, which starts at about 7, and i generally like to stick around for the Q&A type stuff afterwards, but it's a work night and all that.
Don't tell nobody, but I've found that if you wait until the end of the signing, you can sometimes get some proper interrogation in. I've also heard that if you offer to buy him dinner, he will sometimes accept.
That's pretty cool, actually, i've never heard of too many authors at signings willing to rub elbows with the common folk. Then again, most signings I've been to have been for really big name authors, so I guess i have a bit of a sampling bias.
Edit: Thinking about it, I may have to try that, then. See if i can't show brandon some good ol' midwest hospitality!
Ook, do you know what brandon's schedule looks like for the STL signing? Because if he has some spare time, i would love to invite him, and anyone else with him (you included if you're there) to dinner, my treat! :)
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Will Brandon be quite irritated if I bring him all my tattered copies of his books for him to sign since I've read them all way too many times? I don't even have the dust jackets anymore! :D
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Will Brandon be quite irritated if I bring him all my tattered copies of his books for him to sign since I've read them all way too many times?
I really doubt he'd terribly mind, i see that occasionally where someone brings their whole collection of the author's and asks em to sign, ive never seen an author refuse em.
I don't even have the dust jackets anymore! :D
Heh, i discard dust jackets as soon as i get a book. I can't stand those things.
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I discard them after the first reading, because I am usually very careless with my hardcovers while reading the first time because I am so eagar, but afterwards they are in the trash. Purely because of the way a hardcover looks on my shelf... it's... sexy.
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Just out of curiousity, how longs do brandon's signings usually run? I'm gonna be at the St. louis signing, which starts at about 7, and i generally like to stick around for the Q&A type stuff afterwards, but it's a work night and all that.
I'll be there, too! First signing EVER!! Yippee!
It's scheduled from 7-9, and the store closes at 9. I imagine Brandon would probably stick around as long as they let him, he seems like that type of guy, but the store staff might put on riot gear and throw tear gas if we stick around too long. I dunno about you, but in my experience, when groups of geeks start talking, they just sort of keep going until they pass out ;D
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Just out of curiousity, how longs do brandon's signings usually run? I'm gonna be at the St. louis signing, which starts at about 7, and i generally like to stick around for the Q&A type stuff afterwards, but it's a work night and all that.
I'll be there, too! First signing EVER!! Yippee!
It's scheduled from 7-9, and the store closes at 9. I imagine Brandon would probably stick around as long as they let him, he seems like that type of guy, but the store staff might put on riot gear and throw tear gas if we stick around too long. I dunno about you, but in my experience, when groups of geeks start talking, they just sort of keep going until they pass out ;D
oh yeah? i thought i was the only timewaster located in the STL area :P
Where do you live at? I'm in o'fallon (missouri side, not Illinois)
Edit: also - Long live the newly found TWG STL Chapter, the best chapter of them all!!! :P
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Just out of curiousity, how longs do brandon's signings usually run? I'm gonna be at the St. louis signing, which starts at about 7, and i generally like to stick around for the Q&A type stuff afterwards, but it's a work night and all that.
It really depends on how big of a crowd shows up on how long the signing lasts. I have never heard Brandon cut off the line and say 'x' people can't get signed. He will do everyone from what I understand. So it just really depends on how many people are there.
So the Q&A is afterwards for the book signings you've gone to? I guess it depends on the author. The signing I went to for TGS, Brandon did a reading and then a very short Q&A before he signed. I kind of hope this time the reading is ditched for more time during the Q&A. I understand he had the signing to go and he doesn't want to be there all night, but it was only like 4-5 questions.
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Edit: Thinking about it, I may have to try that, then. See if i can't show brandon some good ol' midwest hospitality!
Hey, I got dibs on midwestern hospitality, bub! :P
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lol Great, Brandon's going to think the midwest is a bunch of stalkers/rabid fans with all of you asking him out for dinner.
I'll be going to the Chicago signing (which is actually in Oakbrook).
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lol Great, Brandon's going to think the midwest is a bunch of stalkers/rabid fans with all of you asking him out for dinner.
I'll be going to the Chicago signing (which is actually in Oakbrook).
I'll see you there, man ;D
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I'll see you there, man ;D
Look forward to it! :)
A word of advice, be sure to get there 45 minutes to an hour before the signing if you want a good seat, or even seat, period. Brandon came to the same bookstore for TGS signing and it filled up pretty quick.
Just curious, where are you coming from?
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I'll see you there, man ;D
Look forward to it! :)
A word of advice, be sure to get there 45 minutes to an hour before the signing if you want a good seat, or even seat, period. Brandon came to the same bookstore for TGS signing and it filled up pretty quick.
Just curious, where are you coming from?
Madison. We're going to get there pretty early (leaving Madison around noon or so) but even if I weren't I shouldn't have to worry about getting a good seat...
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Well, if you are leaving Madison that early, no. But yeah, if you showed up close to the signing, you might have problems.
His last signing, people that were showing up a half hour or less, the seating was getting tight. But that was also a WoT book, could be different for WoK.
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I'll be going to the Chicago signing (which is actually in Oakbrook).
Heh, i'm actually gonna be in chicago this coming weekend.
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oh yeah? i thought i was the only timewaster located in the STL area :P
Where do you live at? I'm in o'fallon (missouri side, not Illinois)
Edit: also - Long live the newly found TWG STL Chapter, the best chapter of them all!!! :P
I'm in Godfrey, IL, about 10 minutes from the Clark bridge in Alton.
We should have TWG STL chapter t-shirts made up! The possession of awesome t-shirts is +10 to geektastic awesomeness. After that, we can do cool stuff like harass TOR about sending Brandon out to Archon next year, and STL signings for every release, and then we organize STUFF and help at the signings while wearing our geektastically awesome t-shirts ;D
After that, WORLD DOMINATION, BABY!! The new Illuminati!!!
Well, that might be taking it a bit far... but not much :P
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How many people are you expecting for the book signings? I would go to the DC area one and there are several million people in this area. I saw on google video that there were lines out the door for the WoT signing last year.
Also, isn't the Q&A before the signing? I thought they went like this.
1. Author speaks about the book. Typically similiar things at each signing
2. Then he takes questions (this is the most interesting to me... I don't have anything to ask, I just like to see what other people ask and the responses)
3. Then sign books. If it is crowded this can go until the store closes.
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How many people are you expecting for the book signings? I would go to the DC area one and there are several million people in this area. I saw on google video that there were lines out the door for the WoT signing last year.
Also, isn't the Q&A before the signing? I thought they went like this.
1. Author speaks about the book. Typically similiar things at each signing
2. Then he takes questions (this is the most interesting to me... I don't have anything to ask, I just like to see what other people ask and the responses)
3. Then sign books. If it is crowded this can go until the store closes.
Yeah, this is pretty much how Brandon handled it at the TGS signing I went to. We did not have as many people as you saw in the video for the DC area, but if I had to guess, I would say there were maybe 70-80 people there.
But again, it is very possible the turn out may be smaller for this as it isn't WoT.
Like you, the Q&A portion is my favorite as well. That is why I hope he can spend more time for questions this time. It was about 15 minutes or so last time, which sounds like a decent amount of time, but Brandon always gives good, detailed answers (which is a good thing!) and therefore cuts down on the amount of questions.
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oh yeah? i thought i was the only timewaster located in the STL area :P
Where do you live at? I'm in o'fallon (missouri side, not Illinois)
Edit: also - Long live the newly found TWG STL Chapter, the best chapter of them all!!! :P
I'm in Godfrey, IL, about 10 minutes from the Clark bridge in Alton.
We should have TWG STL chapter t-shirts made up! The possession of awesome t-shirts is +10 to geektastic awesomeness. After that, we can do cool stuff like harass TOR about sending Brandon out to Archon next year, and STL signings for every release, and then we organize STUFF and help at the signings while wearing our geektastically awesome t-shirts ;D
After that, WORLD DOMINATION, BABY!! The new Illuminati!!!
Well, that might be taking it a bit far... but not much :P
Heh, my girlfriend's parents live over in wood river, just south of alton (though i'm sure you know where it is). I'm heading out there to pick her up tonight after work. :P
That'd be pretty cool if we could coax brandon into showing up at archon, that'd mean more brandon time for us! :P
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I've been reading TWG for quite a while, weird to find a couple people who will be at St. Louis signing as well. Can't wait, I've been going crazy for this since first seeing it on his website.
My fiance thinks I'm a bit off my cooker when it comes to Mr. Sanderson. It's a little hard trying to describe the immensity of his cosmere and Hoid and adonalsium to someone who has no idea what you're talking about.
Will he answer questions about those kinds of things?
Though honestly I probably won't have any clue what to ask. It'll end up coming out as squealing, sycophantic chanting of "I love you. I love you..." or quite possibly grabbing him and giving him a good shake while screaming, "Tell me everything you know about Hoid!!"
Not even close to off my cooker.
Ahem, original intention:
Kindly sign me up for this St. Louis TWG chapter. See you there
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I've been reading TWG for quite a while, weird to find a couple people who will be at St. Louis signing as well. Can't wait, I've been going crazy for this since first seeing it on his website.
My fiance thinks I'm a bit off my cooker when it comes to Mr. Sanderson. It's a little hard trying to describe the immensity of his cosmere and Hoid and adonalsium to someone who has no idea what you're talking about.
Will he answer questions about those kinds of things?
Though honestly I probably won't have any clue what to ask. It'll end up coming out as squealing, sycophantic chanting of "I love you. I love you..." or quite possibly grabbing him and giving him a good shake while screaming, "Tell me everything you know about Hoid!!"
Not even close to off my cooker.
I'm pretty sure any answers he gives in this regard will either be "read and find out" or vague enough to settle nothing, but rile up your curiosity even more :P
Ahem, original intention:
Kindly sign me up for this St. Louis TWG chapter. See you there
Whoo! 3 members! We are now the largest official-unofficial-impromtu-made-within-the-last-day chapter of TWG! :P
:D
Edit: we should totally do something special for brandon's signing next week, like...uh....bake him a pie or something. Or magic cards, he likes those. Or a magic card-pie or something!
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How about a cake shaped like a magic card.... rectangular. HYUK HYUK!... or you could print a magic card onto the top of it. (they have edible printing at most cake places)
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Whoo! 3 members! We are now the largest official-unofficial-impromtu-made-within-the-last-day chapter of TWG! :P
:D
Edit: we should totally do something special for brandon's signing next week, like...uh....bake him a pie or something. Or magic cards, he likes those. Or a magic card-pie or something!
I was thinking that, as well. Maybe we could do a gift basket with some Magic cards and brownies and cookies and other stuff that people like to have when they're flying around doing signings far from the comfort of home.
There's also this really fun card game I ran across a couple of months ago, FLUXX Monty Python edition. It's ridiculous and addictive with a quick set-up and very few rules, great for when you're on the road and want to have fun without thinking too hard. Plus, it's Python. You really don't NEED any other reason to have fun with it. Poor Mrs. Brandon is probably praying daily for a small kitchen fire with all the Magic cards he's got stashed everywhere.
Pie? I like pie. But card pie would probably not be as tasty as you might think :P
Or we could try to beat the 17thshard.com guys and have an entire pallet of mac and cheese delivered to the signing :)
Kindly sign me up for this St. Louis TWG chapter. See you there
Welcome! Three is a magic number :) See you there!
(I'll hold him down so you can interrogate him properly ;) )
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You can call yourselves the Louisers, or Lousers for short. ;D The TWG Lousers ;)
My family used to live in Alton, but moved away just before I was born. Woo!
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You can call yourselves the Louisers, or Lousers for short. ;D The TWG Lousers ;)
My family used to live in Alton, but moved away just before I was born. Woo!
:P ;)
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Couple of quick questions:
1) How many people do they expect to show up to the non-Provo WoK book signings? I live in D.C. and with it only being 2 hours, I was wondering if I need to get there early and/or if there will be any "chat" time with Brandon before/after.
2) Peter, do you ever go on the book signing tours?
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Whoo! 3 members! We are now the largest official-unofficial-impromtu-made-within-the-last-day chapter of TWG! :P
:D
If your signing was on a weekend and maybe not so far (5+ hour drive), maybe I would join you. :)
Come on, we need more to speak up for the Chicago signing!
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I don't go on the tours. I will be going to Dragon*Con, though.
It's hard to say how many people will show up at these signings. Fewer than on the TGS tour, I would expect. Also, Brandon's departure time from the signings will not usually be strict, unless he has to catch a flight, which should usually happen the next day, not that night.
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It's tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See all you St. Louis peeps there 8)
I'll be the one in the purple plaid shirt, possibly drooling on myself a little, possibly covered with neon pink fangirlspren...
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It's tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
See all you St. Louis peeps there 8)
I'll be the one in the purple plaid shirt, possibly drooling on myself a little, possibly covered with neon pink fangirlspren...
Yup, sure is. I'll be there. I should be strolling in around 6 or so
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I was at the signing last night in Orlando.
Some people asked a lot of questions, and were there for quite a while. At first the line barely moved at all. After a while, things started moving more quickly. I don't know if that was because Brandon started limiting the amount of time people could speak to him, or if the people themselves just started to keep the line moving more.
I asked about Scribbler, and received word to look for it next year, and chatted slightly about other things, but then I moved on. I didn't want to, but physically I am a big guy, and I was lugging around five books, and after standing in line for about a half hour, I was about to collapse.
Maybe next time I'll wait until near the end of the signing, then offer dinner, myself.
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Never been to a book signing, it sounds like quite a lot of fun. Really sucks that he's coming to the Chicago area right after I have to go back to Minnesota for college. Why couldn't he have come here this weekend. :( Anyways back to reading Way of Kings surprised I took a break from it to look here.
By the way If Brandon came to Winona or the Twin Cities that would be probably make my year. ::)
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I had an absolute blast at all the signings in Atlanta and Decatur this past weekend. Thanks so much to everyone who came and said such nice things about the artwork in the book. You guys are awesome!
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Inkthinker: hoping to see more of your art in the future books, it was great.
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I hope more of the book signings get recorded and are on the web. There are several from the Gathering Storm on google videos. People ask different questions and different signings.
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Oh, and tell him that you're a Time Waster. We are his Abercrombie uber-zombie generals and he loves us even more than the cannon fodder (which is a lot, for those of you who haven't been following his blog).
Does this apply only to the long-timers who were around back when he still posted here, or would it include the newcomers like me?
Also, is anyone else gonna be at the Mystery Galaxy signing on September 10th?
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Does this apply only to the long-timers who were around back when he still posted here, or would it include the newcomers like me?
He loves all Time Wasters! After all, this is his fan forum (though it's combined with a few other things). I love how this place is a fan site for several authors as well as being a nice place for aspiring writers and pumping out a sweet review every once in a while.
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Good to know.
Thanks!