Friday, August 10, 2007

An Author's Dream Bookseller

Any one in this crazy business knows how important booksellers are (just as important as readers.) After all, it's the former who get your books into the hands of the latter. Every once in a while you come across a bookseller who'll go out of his/her way to support and promote romance.

Dianne DeFonce of Borders Books in Fairfield, CT, is a tiny, white-haired, dynamo of this rare breed. Once a month, she hosts a New Authors Round Table, where she invites about a dozen new authors to chat with readers. Wednesday's event was a little different: A Romance & Mystery Authors Round Table, and I was fortunate to have been a part of it. Six romance authors and seven mystery authors comprised the round table. I took a train from Grand Central with Caridad Pinero, VP of my local NJRW chapter. Nothing better than having a buddy to talk with during a long ride, is there? During the event, we talked about our books, a little about ourselves, then discussed our favorite romance book of all time. It was a great turnout (over 30 people). Afterward, we did a Q&A and closed with a signing. All in all, a great night.

Dianne is locally renowned for her in-store author events. If you're a new author, and are in the Fairfield area (heck, I'm in NYC and I still dropped by), stop by and say hello. She's a delightful person, and more than likely, she'll invite you to one of the round tables. Can't think of a better promo opportunity than that. How I wish there was a Dianne in every book store!!

left to right: Alisa Kwitney, S.L. Linnea, Dianne DeFonce, Anne Elizabeth, Leslie Waigner, R.Garland Gray, Mary Beth Bass, Caridad Pinero, Karyna DaRosa


My favorite romance book of all time: Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel.



Dianne working the crowd....(Mary Beth Bass, Caridad Pinero, and me in the background).

4 comments:

Dara Edmondson said...

You're so lucky to have an advocate like her near you. Booksellers can definitely make all the difference. I love Like Water for Chocolate, too.

Anonymous said...

You said it, Dara. I count my lucky stars for Dianne. She invited me to attend her 2008 Valentines Day Round Table, as well. Just in time for my new third book. Yay! :-D I hope Dianne's around for a long, long time. She's a gem.

Kelley Nyrae said...

That sounds great.

Stacy~ said...

How wonderful. Wished I knew a bookseller like that. Linda Keller in the Cincy, OH area is pretty fabulous - I've met her when I've traveled there to attend Lori Foster's/Dianne Castell's annual reader/writer event. She truly loves romance, and promotes every chance she can.