UpDate - Vol. 12, No. 17, Page 9
January 21, 1993
Authors' signings in bookstore add spice to sales

     For lovers of the printed word, book signings represent the best of
all possible worlds.
     The reading public gets a chance to meet a favorite author, and get
his or her autograph. The author is pleased to see people who are enthused
about his or her latest work.
     "Book signings help sales and provide an important service to the
campus and the local community," said Diane M. Zabenko, senior
administrative assistant at the University Bookstore.
     Zabenko is responsible for ordering all books (other than textbooks)
that line the shelves and displays on the top floor of the University
Bookstore.
     The bookstore's book signings often coincide with special events being
held at the University.
     "Usually a department will inform the bookstore that a certain event
is being scheduled, and arrangements are made to have a number of copies of
a particular book available at the lecture site," she said.
     Works by University faculty also are on display just above the stairs
leading to the store's lower level.
     "We would like to get the message to all faculty and staff that the
bookstore is willing to coordinate the availability of books at the various
lecture sites on campus," said Zabenko.
     In addition to providing this valuable service, the bookstore also
arranges book signings involving books or authors of local interest.
     The most successful book signing to date was when Delaware native Ken
Burns came in to autograph copies of his popular Civil War, the companion
volume to the PBS series of the same name.
     "The line of people wanting a copy signed snaked around the first
floor, down the stairs and ended up among the textbooks in the basement,"
Zabenko said. "We sold a hundred books that day, at $50 a copy.
     "Ken got here early and stayed late," said Zabenko. "He even signed
the few unsold copies that remained."
     Burns was at the University as part of last year's Winter Session
program sponsored by the Perkins Student Center. He was scheduled to give a
lecture later that evening at Newark Hall.
     According to Zabenko, it usually takes about four months from the time
a publisher contacts the bookstore until the author actually arrives.
     The next book signing will take place Jan. 27, in the Rodney Room at
the Perkins Student Center. It will feature Liberators: Fighting On Two
Fronts During WWII, by Lou Potter, with William Miles and Nina Rosenblum.
     The signing and lecture are part of a Winter Session special program
on World War II, sponsored by the Perkins Student Center, and Miles will be
speaking that evening on the roles of African American soldiers in World
War II.
     "Author signings add spice to my work," Zabenko said. "They are the
icing on the cake."
                                        -Jerry Rhodes