Debut author shares experience of lonely book signing; Stephen King, Margaret Atwood and Neil Gaiman respond

In the era of social media and audio-visual content, books are somehow losing importance. While most of the books are now easily available in PDF format, the sale of hard copies has been experiencing a downturn. In this context, a fresh face in the author community, Chelsea Banning, encountered an unexpected happening during the signing of her debut fantasy novel- ‘Of Crowns and Legends’. Last Saturday, at Banning’s book-signing event at Pretty Good Books in Ashtabula, Ohio, only two people showed up.

The low turnout resulted in much disappointment for the newcomer as she went on to vent out her frustration through a post on her personal Twitter handle. As she stated in the long note, 37 people had responded “going” to the event. However, the turnout was significantly lower on the day of the signing. The incident unquestionably made Banning “kind of upset and a little embarrassed.”

Only 2 people came to my author signing yesterday, so I was pretty bummed about it. Especially as 37 people responded "going" to the event. Kind of upset, honestly, and a little embarrassed.

— Chelsea Banning UPDATES ONLY🛡👑 (@chelseabwrites) December 4, 2022

Though Banning just released her frustration in the post, to everyone’s surprise, it grabbed the attention of celebrity authors like Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, and Neil Gaiman. They replied to her tweet, sharing similar kinds of incidents they had faced before.

Join the club. I did a signing to which Nobody came, except a guy who wanted to buy some Scotch tape and thought I was the help. :)

— Margaret E Atwood (@MargaretAtwood) December 5, 2022

Atwood revealed that she is a long-time fellow in “the club” as she did a book signing in the presence of just one guy. However, the person had no interest in the actual event. According to the 83-year-old, the man wanted to “buy some Scotch tape” and mistook Atwood as “the help”. Banning responded to the post by saying, “Best club to be a part of.”

Best club to be a part of!

— Chelsea Banning UPDATES ONLY🛡👑 (@chelseabwrites) December 5, 2022

English writer Gaiman tried to uplift Banning’s confidence with an interesting tale. He noted that he could not find a single attendee at a signing for Good Omens with fellow author Terry Pratchett in Manhattan. “So you are two up on us,” he sarcastically added further.

Terry Pratchett and I did a signing in Manhattan for Good Omens that nobody came to at all. So you are two up on us.

— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) December 5, 2022

American novelist Stephen King also dropped a cryptic post on his Twitter handle. He shared, “I had one customer at my first SALEM’S LOT signing. A fat kid who said, Hey bud, do you know where there are some Nazi books?”

At my first SALEM'S LOT signing, I had one customer. A fat kid who said, "Hey bud, do you know where there's some Nazi books?"

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) December 5, 2022

The overwhelming response from the legendary author touched Banning’s heart. She expressed her pleasure by saying, “My husband freaked out more than me because Stephen King replied.”

Omg! 😅🤣 btw my husband freaked out more than me that Stephen King replied. Huge fan! Thank you for your stories, sir!

— Chelsea Banning UPDATES ONLY🛡👑 (@chelseabwrites) December 5, 2022

Since the conversations went viral across the internet, Banning has been earning immense popularity. As a result, her debut novel, ‘Of Crowns and Legends’ jumped to the top in its genre on the online selling platform, Amazon. It is the first part of a trilogy and the story revolves around the children of King Arthur.

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