I went to see Maggie Stiefvater for the third time at Blue Willow Bookshop last night. It was her second stop of THE RAVEN KING tour, and I've been excited about this event for awhile. I love this series, and everyone I talk books with has been buzzing about it since bookstores put it on sale early.
Getting there was a nightmare. It normally takes me around 45 extra minutes with rush hour traffic; today it took me more than two hours due to rush hour traffic and construction. I arrived after the stated event start time, but before Stiefvater started talking.
The really, really bad? Blue Willow sold out of the book. They had five colors of line ticket for preorders, and said there were about 20 per group. With 100 preorders, I would think they would have ordered more copies. (It seemed like maybe 20 day of people got a copy, although it was hard to tell how many people in line got a copy and how many didn't.) I was far from the only one who didn't get a book. Some bought backlist, some ordered a copy to come in later, but I'm sure the bookstore lost a bunch of sales. And yes, I could have preordered, but I go to a ton of book signings and have absolutely never been unable to buy the book. I love Blue Willow and think they bring a lot of great events to the community, but I was hugely disappointed.
Sometimes Blue Willow has events off site, and I think they should have done that last night as well. The bookstore was packed. Everyone had to shuffle tighter together every time someone else showed up for the event.
The good: Stiefvater was hilarious. I love seeing her talk. She gave several different anecdotes about her average workday, and explained how she wasn't responsible for John Green setting himself on fire. I also met some cool people while waiting in line to get my copy of BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE signed. (And hey, she recognized me!)
Next Thursday, May 5, the Fierce Reads tour will be at Blue Willow. I'll miss it due to my prior commitment to Captain America: Civil War, but right now I feel less bad about missing it that I would have before.
Getting there was a nightmare. It normally takes me around 45 extra minutes with rush hour traffic; today it took me more than two hours due to rush hour traffic and construction. I arrived after the stated event start time, but before Stiefvater started talking.
The really, really bad? Blue Willow sold out of the book. They had five colors of line ticket for preorders, and said there were about 20 per group. With 100 preorders, I would think they would have ordered more copies. (It seemed like maybe 20 day of people got a copy, although it was hard to tell how many people in line got a copy and how many didn't.) I was far from the only one who didn't get a book. Some bought backlist, some ordered a copy to come in later, but I'm sure the bookstore lost a bunch of sales. And yes, I could have preordered, but I go to a ton of book signings and have absolutely never been unable to buy the book. I love Blue Willow and think they bring a lot of great events to the community, but I was hugely disappointed.
Sometimes Blue Willow has events off site, and I think they should have done that last night as well. The bookstore was packed. Everyone had to shuffle tighter together every time someone else showed up for the event.
The good: Stiefvater was hilarious. I love seeing her talk. She gave several different anecdotes about her average workday, and explained how she wasn't responsible for John Green setting himself on fire. I also met some cool people while waiting in line to get my copy of BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE signed. (And hey, she recognized me!)
Next Thursday, May 5, the Fierce Reads tour will be at Blue Willow. I'll miss it due to my prior commitment to Captain America: Civil War, but right now I feel less bad about missing it that I would have before.
