Michael Perry Author Event

A few months ago, one of our associates told me that there's a new Michael Perry book coming out in September.  Michael Perry's memoirs have always been extremely popular in our store for two reasons 1. He's a Wisconsin author writing about life in Wisconsin and 2. They're incredibly funny while still being heartwarming. I was thrilled to hear he had a new book coming out, but was shocked to see that it was labeled young readers fiction.

Scavengers is the story of a young girl named Maggie who is living during tough times.  The world has been divided into two halves: communities that live "UnderBubble" and the people who chose to live as scavengers "OutBubble." Maggie's family decides/is forced to live "OutBubble" where even basic needs such as food and shelter are not guaranteed.  The story contains adventure, family, and a terrific female protagonist that readers from ages 8 to 98 will enjoy.

I was beyond thrilled when Michael Perry agreed to come to our store a couple weeks after his book release to do a reading and signing.  Now, you should know, Michael is a writer, singer (his band is called Michael Perry & The Long Beds), nurse, radio show host, firefighter, and a real family man.  He's kind of the epitome of jack-of-all-trades.  This makes his readings entirely entertaining.  He read and spoke for about an hour, sharing snippets from his book Scavengers as well as From the Top.  The audience laughed so hard at his anecdotes... stories about his brothers, neighborhood, and creating the book Scavengers.  He puts on such an incredible event... I think the audience could have listened to him for hours!

After his reading, he signed books for everyone, chatted, and answered questions. Michael was so gracious to everyone who came out and thanked everyone personally as they stopped to get their books signed.  He even made one little girl's night by complimenting her pink princess dress and thanking her for coming because she reminded him of his two little girls at home (it was a super sweet moment, and one mom and daughter will not soon forget).  

When his event was through, he stayed to sign stock for the store and chatted with me about the events he has scheduled and how much time he spends touring (he tours like a madman!).  For Scavengers, he's doing even more touring because of school visits.  He says he absolutely loves doing these events because it lets him meet the people who read his books and allows him to keep his dream of writing, but you can tell it's hard to be away from his wife and two girls.

Authors do a lot of traveling and promoting to get the word out about their books. Obviously, they love to meet their fans, but next time you go to an event, thank the author for visiting your town/city/state.  As much as it's "part of the job," they're probably missing home and tired from the road, so give them an extra special thank you for spending this time with you and other fans.  Then go out and let everyone know how much fun you had meeting them and how much you love their books.  This will be the best thank you you can give to any author... word of mouth is the greatest advertisement for their books.

On that note: A huge THANK YOU from me and everyone who has attended author events at Barnes & Noble Appleton to all of the phenomenal authors who have visited us and spent time sharing their books with us.  I cannot say how many wonderful things I've heard about each and every event we've had, and we absolutely love having authors visit.

Now, go out and grab one (or all) of Michael Perry's books (they're all phenomenal and will definitely make you laugh out loud) and find out information about Michael's tour dates from his website here.

Happy Reading :)