My First Author Book Talk Ever!

We did it, guys! Our first author book talk! “We” and “Our”? I’m including you in this journey because if you’ve read even this far, I am grateful for your support. We’re in this together! Plus if I fail massively, I want you to share some of the blame.

The Moody County History Museum welcomed hoards of crazed fans to hear me present my book, “Essays Out of Left Field“. There were too many attendees to count, but if someone did attempt such a monumental mathematical task, they likely would have come up with a tally of approximately 37 people.

Why the Moody County History Museum, you ask? Was Carnagie Hall closed for repairs? Well, the Moody County History Museum is located in my hometown of Flandreau, South Dakota. The museum has been offering wonderful programs to the community and I, a native son of the great ~~city~~ town of Flandreau, was invited to deliver one of those programs! How cool is that? (Rhetorical question, but the answer is, “Very cool, Scott.”)

It was my first such presentation since publishing my book in late December 2023. I do have another author talk coming in Sioux Falls this summer (stay tuned.)

What does one do at author speaking engagements?

At least what does one do who IS the author doing the talking? Well, here’s what I did:

Greet people
Thank people for coming
Begin talk with a joke about politics (people love that!)
Apologize for the joke as half of the attendees get up and leave (didn’t actually happen.)
Tell people why you are there and tell people why you assume THEY are there
black out for 7 minutes while you say random things
read a chapter/essay from your book
realize the joke you thought was really funny, is only really funny to you and you alone
end with a life lesson and an inspirational call to action for attendees
bask in the glow of thunderous applause from 37 admirers
sell books, sign books, chat, and hand out silly cat stickers because that seems like something people would enjoy
eat a cookie that your Mom brought for guests

I did think about how to prepare for this event. Specific thoughts are documented here.

All in all, I would consider my first author book talk a success!

I was grateful, humbled, amazed and confused with the amount of people who came to see/hear me talk! The audience was mostly comprised of former teachers, friends (current friends, not former friends because once a friend, always a friend, right?) and relatives (also, current relatives.) Actually I think the majority of the attendees were relatives, but that’s not the important thing.

Thanks to the Moody County Museum and all who attended!