St Francis Bay book signing!
First official book signing went fabulously! The Book and I were absolutely fantastic, utterly professional and it is the most gorgeous book store! Just what St Francis needed… a wonderful literary oasis!
People came! They were curious, laughed, asked questions, drank wine (grin) and bought copies. Very exciting! There was even a queue for autographs because we were having so much fun chatting to everyone who was buying books!
And so now, 3 weeks after the wedding launch with little publicity, almost 50 books have been sold from book shops across the country. While this might sound ridiculously small, it is appropriate to give you context. In South Africa, less than 500,000 people buy more than three books in a year. As such, in South Africa a first print run for a novel is 1,000 copies. In the UK, this is 3,000 and in the US, 6,000. A best selling novel in South Africa is … wait for it… 700 copies!
So while I’m sure those in the industry could correct my stats (and please do!), this means that my first few sales make me almost 7% of the way to becoming a South African bestseller… and then shortly thereafter an international bestseller! Watch out world, grin.
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- Sandra & Steyn, owners of The Book & I
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- Divine young fans!
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- Fabulous Drummond Campbell came out of his way for an autograph!
the stats are amazing azzie , i’m so proud of you i am going to start planning a bestseller party for when you reach 700 YAY YAY
Hi Astrid,
I am delighted about your book and the successful sales so far. Congrats and I can’t wait to buy my own signed copy at Hyde Park on the 25th.
I admire you for having a dream to write a book and then to see it come true. You are amazing!
Lily Gardner
Hi Astrid
What a fabulous unique book!!! Loved it!! Loved it!! THANK YOU for the signed copy you gave my gorgeous “John Galliano of SA” aka the fabulous HENI!! He was kind enough to allow momi to read it and I initially started lazily and slow but eventually I could simply NOT put it down until the final page …. BRAVO on a fabulous novel ….. any gorl, woman with a dream or not can realte and wallow in the fabulousness, hardships et al of being a woman!!
Good luck with future writings (hope there will be more) and on your fabulous new married live …. a whole new adventure …. may it be glorius, happy and eventful …. (so you can tell all in the next book delivery …. *smile*)
Warm Regards
Arlene McCollough