My First Author Reading Is Happening Soon!

I’m doing my first author reading Saturday (May 4).

My debut novel was published in 2015. I’ve since published six books total with another on the way. It’s 2024. But in all that time, I’ve never done a reading.

When we think of writers, we imagine them reading portions of their books to audiences in bookstores, theaters, or auditoriums. In movies, characters who are authors do it all the time.

I’ve led many writing workshops. I’ve done book signings. I’ve even been a keynote speaker at a writer’s conference.

But I’ve never done a reading.

And now that it’s looming in front of me, I’m surprised to find that I’m feeling nervous about it!

People have short attention spans

I have no problem doing a workshop. I’ve done many of them, and I know how to keep the attendees engaged and having fun. I enjoy public speaking, too, but usually, I prepare the talk far in advance. I can intersperse some funny stories or include amusing visuals to keep the audience engaged.

But how am I going to do that while reading small sections from my books?

People’s attention spans aren’t what they used to be. Last I checked, a study from Microsoft found that at best, people lose concentration after eight seconds, while the unassuming goldfish can focus for nine. (Yes, we’re now worse than the goldfish when it comes to focusing on any one thing at a time!)

That means I have eight seconds to capture my audience’s attention. (Eek!) I could choose a pulse-pounding scene to read from, but that comes with its own complications.

When you read a book, you gradually learn about the characters and their world as you go. It’s the gradual buildup that makes that one scene so exciting.

In a reading, you have to give a quick summary to orient your audience to the plot, characters, and setting, then dive into the reading and hope they can follow you. But they don’t have the advantages of a book reader. They don’t know the character or their world. They don’t know what’s been going on.

It’s like walking into a movie in the middle of the action. How can I expect them to pay attention?

It’s tough to find just the right passage

On top of that, I have a time limit. I’m reading from two books, and I have 15 minutes total. That means I really have only about 12-13 minutes to read, as I’ll need the rest of the time to set up each book and scene.

I’m looking for a six-minute clip that will be able to accomplish all of the following

• Grab the audience’s attention in the first 8 seconds
• Be simple enough that they can easily follow what’s going on
• Be exciting and engaging enough to hold their attention throughout the reading
• Come to a satisfying conclusion at the end (at least to a pause point)

This is proving more challenging than I thought it would be when I said “yes” to the bookstore’s invitation!

I found just the right scene in one book—a supernatural thriller—but it’s about seven minutes long. Too long, really. I’ll be trying to cut some parts out without losing the impact.

I’m struggling with the second book. It’s a fantasy. Fantasy readers know that this genre has a lot of information packed away in each story. Typically, there are several characters, one or more different worlds, and lots of subplots. Finding an exciting scene that the audience will be able to understand—all in about five to six minutes—is proving challenging.

Will the listeners lose interest?

My biggest worry, of course, is whether the listeners will stay with me. I know how to vary my voice, and I can “kind of” do character voices when speaking dialogue. But people don’t listen to readings these days. (Does anyone?) They happen so seldom, and they require that people sit in one place for 15 minutes (or longer) and just listen, without being distracted.

When I’m observing people out in life, I don’t see many that appear to be able to do that. Most, when faced with even a moment of stillness, will pull out their phones to entertain themselves.

I’d like to be entertaining or inspiring enough to prevent that. Seeing someone pull out their cell phone while I’m reading a scene would be discouraging, for sure. But I think it’s going to be a tall order.

I’ve also got competition. There are going to be three other authors there that night. We’re reading one after the other. I don’t know where in the order I’ll be. People may be tired of listening by the time I get up there.

I’m not naturally funny, either, like some authors. I can add humor to a planned presentation, but a reading? Not sure how to do it there.

How I’m preparing for my author reading

I’ve been recording myself reading different scenes while timing them. I’m learning a lot from that. I can hear which scenes seem to get going right away, and which—even though they’re exciting on the page—aren’t as attention-grabbing when spoken.

My battle scene, for example, which rushes forward on the page, doesn’t have the same punch on the recording. Whereas a more humorous scene between three quirky characters allows me to add some variety and interest right away.

I’m also learning that I’m not varying my voice enough from one character to the next. I need to exaggerate it more. I’m gaining an even greater appreciation for voice artists through this experience!

I’ve got a little over a week to see what I can come up with. As with most things that writers do, it’s scary, but it’s exciting too. I know it’s important to put ourselves out there and try new things, so we’ll see how it goes.

Wish me luck!