How To Prep For A Book Signing

My first signing event as a published author is tomorrow at Austin Books & Comics. It will be one of my proudest moments. It really is amazing how much little stuff you have to do in preparation. Oh, to be famous and have a cheery blond publicist who would do all this stuff for me. I'm by nature a rather introverted guy, so marketing myself is not easy. To wit:

• Order prints of my various marketing materials on the rather non user-friendly FedEx Kinko's website.
  
• Take a trip to the store and pick them up from a cashier who I swear was a sex-change candidate in training. If that was a woman, well, then I'm one, too.
  
• Journey to my favorite comic shop and ask the surly but accommodating owner if I could take over his store for a couple hours to hock my book. He agreed. I rejoiced. (I tease about Brad. He truly is an awesome dude.)
  
• Receive my first batch of 60 copies of Dawn's End from my publisher. Prior to pulling those beautiful bound copies out of the box, I had never seen my book in any form other than a Microsoft Word document. It was glorious.
  
• Sit down and thumb through the copy I plan to keep. Get embarrassed when the wife asks why I'm reading my own book.
  
• Hammer out the details with surly comic book guy. Food and drinks are cool, but nothing sloppy that'll get on the comics. (I totally understand. A grease stain on a comic is cause for a beating.) No beer. (Damn you, sneaky minors).
  
• Post my event sign and set out some promotional bookmarks in the comic shop.
  
• Send out an Evite for the event to every person I know. Marvel at how many friends I have in Austin after living here only 10 years. You truly don't know how blessed you are until you see all the encouraging "Accepts" come back at you.
  
• Wait impatiently for two weeks for the event to draw near.
  
• Travel to Costco on Saturday, always a trip to the 10th circle of hell under normal circumstances, and buy food and drink. Play with my son, Logan, while I push him around in the cart. Get yelled at by the cashier for putting heavy Coke cans on the register belt instead of "Leaving Heavy Items on Cart." Comment to my wife how bitchy cashier was.
  
• Unbox all my books two nights before the event to make sure they were all in good condition. Dust them because things get grungy in transit. (Yes, I lovingly dusted 60 copies of Dawn's End.)
  
• Slog through one last day at work before taking the rest of the week off.
  
• Write a blog about preparing for my signing.
  
• Drink a beer and relax.