“If you build it, he (they) will come” is the famous line in the classic 1989 flick, “Field of Dreams,” spoken by character Iowa corn farmer Ray Kinsella (actor Kevin Costner). That’s fine when you’re talking about ghosts showing up on a baseball field, but what about book signings and appearances?

When you are going to make an appearance, and the group isn’t restrictive in size or membership, you cannot expect the public to just show up. Instead you ought to be touting the event, and you can do some or all of the following:

1) Create marketing material on Canva.com (or use what the host is using to be consistent).

2) Use it on your social media, allow it to be shareable, and suggest others spread the word.

3) Promote hard on local sites. Town, county, region . . . ask them to post this on their social media, sites, and newsletters. Most opportunities like this are free.

4) Promote via Chambers of Commerce. If your host is a commercial entity, nonprofit, or service entity, they likely get free promotion via the local Chamber’s social media and mailings. I belong to the Edisto Island Chamber, and they shout out when I have a signing coming up because the bookstore and I are both members.

5) Repeat the above when possible. A lot of people miss the first time around.

6) Coordinate with the host on advertising and details on what would make the appearance better.

7) Have a solid website/social media for the advertising to link back to.

8) Book clubs do not advertise outside their membership most of the time, but I have seen them advertise locally in order to increase membership. Ask if this is possible.

9) Ask libraries to let their sister libraries know, to draw from a wider base but also so that the other libraries can consider booking you as well.

If you do not promote, you are relying totally on chance and word of mouth. If you can only fit 25 people in the room, then fine. If you want as many people as possible, then for goodness sake, create artwork and distribute it far and wide. How wide depends on how many books you want to sell. Unless the event wants to control the artwork, then you get copies and ask permission to spread it far and wide.

I was recently invited to be one of several artists in an evening event. Nobody advertised it until the last minute, and then in only one place. The venue could hold 400 people. I had asked several times about advertising. Six days beforehand they sent me a poster poorly contrived and outdated, on the verge of being more confusing than informative.

Having obligated to appear, I kept my word and did so. Their pitch had been appealing and the venue promising. I’d assumed they would advertise equally as well. If they’d orchestrated an advertising campaign, like I listed above, capitalizing on the followers of each artist, they’d have filled the venue.

Which they didn’t. We had a fun time, and I cannot complain about how much I was paid, and luckily I still sold a fair number of books. But oh how much better that night could have been.