Book Signings and Appearances-Tips and experiences

[johnsmith87]

King did make one political comment and I am not sure if I understand what he was saying or not, but what I thought I heard was his displeasure with the Obama presidency - He is a Democrat so not sure what I heard.

Found an awesome article online about the event.

http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/article...ng-in-person#c

They have the political quote in there too, but I wouldn't really consider it displeasure.

[Dolso]

so...... who met with who at the 'before signing party'? Who got drunk & danced with a lamp-shade on their head? What books did you get signed? Who tripped & fell on King at the signing table? Was there an after signing Party? Who got in a tif & told everyone else to F**k off? Were Pics taken? Come on now, give up some info!!! Questioning minds want to know!!!

[CRinVA]

King did make one political comment and I am not sure if I understand what he was saying or not, but what I thought I heard was his displeasure with the Obama presidency - He is a Democrat so not sure what I heard.

Found an awesome article online about the event.

http://fairfaxcity.patch.com/article...ng-in-person#c

They have the political quote in there too, but I wouldn't really consider it displeasure.

I knew I couldn't have heard that comment wrong. Now it makes more sense. I dont necessarily agree with it but I understand it now!

[CRinVA]

And now the pictures I promised. Remember they were taken with my cell phone so quality is not the best!

Lets start with a creepy looks like Stephen King is floating at the podium picture!


And one more of King on stage - This shot is a bit better.


Me getting my Gunslinger sigend by Sai King.


Here's a pic of the Festival Program listing the Founding members which include Ralph (Muellens) and Jerome (Randall Flagg).


And now the real goods - two signed books!

[jhanic]

And thanks!

John

[wizardsrainbow]

I'll add my views and add pics shortly: (lifted from Betts Books website)

***I AM BACK FROM THE GEORGE MASON AWARD SIGNING EVENT IN VIRGINIA...OPERATING ON 2 HOURS OF SLEEP IN LAST 30 HOURS (A 2 HOUR CAT NAP at 2AM IN A REST AREA IN DELAWARE) BUT WANTED TO POST MY THOUGHTS ON THE EVENT BEFORE GETTING SOME MORE SLEEP.

Bottom line was the event was fabulous! I saw and met many of you at the event and nothing could have been sweeter than that...meeting you, my loyal customers. I don't quite know where to start but there is one thing I HAVE TO IMPART UPFRONT....During his "talk" before accepting his literary award, King spoke at length on a number of topics, but I found the highlight to be when King asked rhetorically "Has anyone ever wondered what happened to Danny Torrence (the boy in The Shining) after his ordeal? Well, Stephen has certainly given it a LOT of thought and told the audience that he is mostly finished writing a new novel about this very subject. The title is "Dr. Sleep." No idea when it might be published, but he did a fairly lengthy reading from this "book in progress" and it was quite interesting. I am not sure I would call it a "sequal" to The Shining but it does apparently deal with Danny Torrence and people like him who have "special powers" that are being hunted by "The Tribe." Stay tuned!!

First off, I must than my wonderful customer Glen who got me not only my ticket to the award cememony but also a VIP ticket to a small gathering before the awards ceremony AND MOST IMPORTANT, the coveted Golden Ticket, which allowed me to get a book of my own choosing signed by the man himself after the ceremony!

At the VIP event, King was a tad late but then mingled among us...and yes, he does know that I am the new owner of Betts Books and he walked right up to me toward the end of the "mixer" and asked "Are we having fun yet?" I was able to get a friend to take my picture with King (it's a horrible picture but a picture nevertheless!)

For those of us lucky enough to have Golden Tickets, we all stood in line after the award ceremony and got our books signed. My friend had two Golden Tickets and I was able to convince him with a little $$ to let me get a second book signed (SWEET!) so I ended up getting my Orange Gunslinger proof signed and a UK 1st printing of Salem's Lot (pictures below). Now here are some of my observations about the signing event....The books I most frequently saw that people had brought were the Gunslinger, IT, and The Shining (several of each). I know of one collector who got their mint Moth copy signed, and one got the story "One for the Road" signed. One person I know brought a New Lieutenant's Rap and The Plant but I do not know if they got them one, both or none signed. In a case of two extremes, I heard that one gentleman with a Golden Ticket was trying to sell it for $1200 (no takers I should think) and then on the flip side, one person who already had a Golden Ticket was GIVEN another one by a random person who then just walked out of the venue! I saw a mom and dad and two small children get 4 books signed (could not make out the titles other than Rose Madder) and I met a mother and teenage daughter later at the hotel, and the teenager was just glowing at having her first ever Stephen King book signed. It was pretty wonderful to see...people came from all over the US. In the large group I was with, there were collectors/fans from California, Oregon, Texas, Indiana and many other "distant" places. It was really, really a great time and I am so lucky to have been able to attend (THANKS AGAIN GLEN! and thanks to my wife as yesterday was our 22nd wedding anniversary!!!). When Glen called me on the phone a few months ago and asked me if he should try to get me a ticket, I asked him what day was the event. Glen said September 23rd. I responded that it was my wedding anniversary that day and I could hear Glen's voice fall on the phone, but I quickly said GET ME A TICKET! My wife was laughing in the background weighing Stephen King signing in one hand and anniversary on the other....For those of you jumping to conclusions, we are going to celebrate NEXT weekend...all is good here in the household!

[wizardsrainbow]

[jhanic]

Congratulations, David! A great story and wonderful books!

John

[Cujo56]

Those are really neat, David!

[Ben Staad]

Great stories everyone. Sounds like it was a fantastic event! Congrats.

[johnsmith87]

Very nice! Interesting that he dated the 'Salem's Lot.

[Dolso]

Great books everyone!! Sounds like a thoroughly enjoyable event! Congrats to everyone that went.

[Pasiuk57]

Great items to have signed!!

[mcdonaldj]

David, the orange Gunslinger proof is amazing - congratulations!

[Randall Flagg]

Pictures and stories (and perhaps a video or two) on Tuesday when I get back.
Good time was had by all-and the stories are legendary..............

[Patrick]

Hi everyone, I've been offsite pretty much entirely since September 2nd.

I went to Italy for a week earlier in the month for my best friend's wedding. He finally got married at age 46 to a lovely woman who moved to the U.S. from Italy. They decided to get married in her homeland. I couldn't miss it, but I couldn't afford to do both Italy and D.C. in the same month. So I traded off my VIP tix and Golden Tickets to our fellow collector and good friend Ralph (with no profit margin, imagine that. ). He's sent me a couple emails with photos, I hope he posts it all, and more, here.

Good to be back and reading about last night's events! I love these stories (saw my name in Bob's program upthread!) and look forward to hearing more as other member-attendees check in.

So happy you all had a wonderful experience. I'm sorry to have missed it, but I wouldn't trade attending my lifelong friend's wedding for anything!

[Room 217 Caretaker]

Hi everyone, I've been offsite pretty much entirely since September 2nd.

I went to Italy for a week earlier in the month for my best friend's wedding. He finally got married at age 46 to a lovely woman who moved to the U.S. from Italy. They decided to get married in her homeland. I couldn't miss it, but I couldn't afford to do both Italy and D.C. in the same month. So I traded off my VIP tix and Golden Tickets to our fellow collector and good friend Ralph (with no profit margin, imagine that. ). He's sent me a couple emails with photos, I hope he posts it all, and more, here.

Good to be back and reading about last night's events! I love these stories (saw my name in Bob's program upthread!) and look forward to hearing more as other member-attendees check in.

So happy you all had a wonderful experience. I'm sorry to have missed it, but I wouldn't trade attending my lifelong friend's wedding for anything!

Glad to Patrick ( I didn't want to steal anyone's thunder so I waited before posting)

I got three books signed at the event. Patricks Gunslinger, another members The Stand, and my Carrie (I will post event pictures and stories in my collections thread next week).

I tried to get King to personalize but he wouldn't. I also understand about the time it would take if he did that for everyone. Anyway, he got a good laugh out of it.




Mulleins

[The Library Policeman]

Brilliant stuff guys!!

[Merlin1958]

Yeah, truly great stuff!!!!!!

[scstandpipe]

Man I can't get over the Orange Plume Gunslinger Proof!! That's gotta be close to a one of a kind, if not one!!

[divemaster]

This was my first opportunity to see / hear King in person and I really enjoyed it. I know through interviews and such that King can hold an audience captive with stories, well-turned phrases, humor, etc., but it was even better hearing it in person. He was a very engaging speaker--funny, self-deprecating, and most of all, interesting. When he mentioned that he wondered whatever happened to Danny Torrence, my heart leapt a little, as I think we all want to know that! And I was glad he read from Dr. Sleep. The last line he quoted was unnerving in its simplicity. It went something like: ..."No, The Tribe doesn't like dogs. But they do like children. Yes, there are some children they like very much." Chilling!

Even though I did not have a VIP reception ticket or a Golden ticket, I was glad to have a chance to meet up with some of the site folks here at The Well prior to the ceremony. David, Jerome, Ralph, and several others and their spouses. I'm envious of those who got books signed, but in a good way. Vicarious satisfaction works for me! (Maybe if King ever comes to the DC area again, I can wrangle a signed book out of it somehow.)

Anyway, great evening!

[sgc1999]

awesome time. Happy to have met some from the site. Just got home, gonna crash. Hope to post some pics soon.

[Ari_Racing]

Can't wait to hear more stories!

On the other hand, this is something really really cool!

http://ondemand.datv.org/video/61/stephen-king-lecture

A reading from 1982!

[Merlin1958]

Where the heck is our "DC Correspondent"!!! LOL

[EXPLORER]

http://www.loc.gov/bookfest/ This might be of interest to any of the others still in DC area > National Book Festival wraps up today on the Mall...