Romance Author Book Signings: January and Beyond

I’ve been doing this feature now for several months, and am looking for suggestions from you to help make the lists I prepare more comprehensive. Each month, I go through a series of steps to create as complete a list of book signings as possible. As a first step, I visit the Web sites of all of the authors listed in the latest Romances on Sale at AAR. This generally generates a number of listings for book signing events by romance authors.

Next, I check out both booktour.com and authorstrack.com, but they are proving to be less useful over time. I rarely end up with more than one or two listings from both of those sites combined.

I’m also building a list of independent bookstores that seem to regularly feature signings by romance authors. At this point I have about 40 different bookstores bookmarked, from as diverse locations as Seattle to Omaha to New Orleans to Naperville.

The Barnes & Noble Web site is extremely useful, as they have one page that lists authors who will be doing upcoming book signings at stores all around the country. I visit this page several times a month and always pick up a new event.

Borders isn’t anywhere near as simple as Barnes & Noble, or at least I haven’t found anything simple. Instead, I have to search individually for each city for upcoming events. Because I don’t have an endless amount of time to devote to this, I only search for a few cities at the Borders’ Web site each month.

The last step I take in preparing the monthly list is to do a general Google search for “romance author book signings.” Amazingly, I’ll generally locate four or five signings I didn’t find through any other method by doing this.

But I just know I must be missing out on some really great signings. If you read this feature regularly, have you noticed any bookstores that I seem to be missing? If so, please mention them below in the comments section, and I’ll add them to my monthly search.

Do you know of any authors who are coming to your home town? If so, please let us know about it. If you know of any events that we missed between now and mid-January, please post them in the comments section. If you know of any events occurring after mid-January, please send them to us at aarbooksign  AT gmail.com and we’ll add them to our mid-January post.

Disclaimer: I found these signings by extensive Web searches of both author and bookseller Web sites. They all appear to be free, but please contact the bookstore before you attend an event for additional information. And please let us know if you do attend a book signing, and how you liked it. A few of the authors on the list aren’t strictly romance authors, but have either been reviewed at AAR in the past, or have appeared in AAR forum discussions.

Upcoming Book Signings through late February, 2011:

Tami Hoag: December 28, Barnes & Noble, 6:00 p.m., Apache Mall, 1201 12th Street SW Suite 425, Rochester, MN

Jayne Ann Krentz, December 28, Seattle Mystery Bookshop, 12:00 noon, 117 Cherry Street in Pioneer Square, Seattle, WA.

Lora Leigh, January 7, Borders, 7:00 p.m., 17636 Garland Groh Blvd., Hagerstown, MD (another January signing in West Virginia on the author’s Web site).

Laura Spinella, January 8, Borders, 2:00 p.m., School Street, Mansfield, MA (other January signings in Athens and Atlanta, GA and Concord, NC).

Hannah Dennison, January 8, The Mystery Bookstore, 4:30 p.m., 1036 Broxton Avenue, Los Angeles, CA.

Jane Porter, January 15, Barnes & Noble, 6:00 p.m., 2615 Vista Way, Oceanside, CA.

Vicky Dreiling, January 15, Katy Budget Books, 11:00 a.m., 2450 Fry Rd, Houston, TX.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips, January 18, St. Louis Library, 7:00 p.m., 1640 South Lindbergh Blvd, St. Louis MO (other January events on the author’s Web site including Tulsa, OK, Rancho Mirage and Mission Viejo, CA,   Merritt Island, FL, and Naperville, IL).

Lauren Willig, January 20, Manhattan Borders, 7:00 p.m., 57^th Street, New York, NY (other January and February events on the author’s Web site including New Haven, CT, and Scottsdale, AZ).

Jami Attenberg, January 21, Tribeca Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., 97 Warren Street, New York, NY

Juliette Fay, January 26, Books & Company, 7:00 p.m., Dayton, OH (other January and February events on the author’s Web site including Hudson, OH, Southern Pines, NC, and Wayland, MA).

Victoria Alexander, January 29, The Bookworm, 1:00 p.m.,  8702 Pacific Street, Omaha, NE.

Kristin Hannah, February 3, Third Place Books, 7:00 p.m., 17171 Bothell Way NE, Lake Forest, Park, WA (other February signings on the author’s Web site including Seattle, WA, Beaverton, OR, Wilmette and Naperville, IL, Atlanta, GA, and Ann Arbor, MI).

Alice Hoffman, February 9, The Regulator Bookshop, 7:00 p.m., 720 9th St., Durham, NC.

Kayla Perrin, February 11, Barnes & Noble, 7:00 p.m., Boulevard Consumer Sq., 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd Suite 300, Amherst, NY.

Gwyn Cready, February 12,Bridgeville Public Library, 1:00 p.m.,  441 Station Street, Bridgeville, PA.

Robyn Carr, February 13, Barnes & Noble, 2:00 p.m., Bella Terra, 7881 Edinger Ave. #110, Huntington Beach, CA

Laurie R. King, February 15, Central Park Library, 7:30 p.m., 2635 Homestead Road, Santa Clara, CA.

– LinnieGayl AAR