Authors at the book discussion

[Alyssa]

Last night was my first time at Books & Bars, so I may be speaking out of turn here, but here goes anyway.

After the discussion of P&P&Z, I was thinking that some of the most interesting questions came up AFTER Seth Grahame-Smith had signed off.

Maybe in the future, if the author will be joining in person or over the interwebs, the order for the evening could be reversed?

We would start the discussion of the book, and then bring on the author? I'm guessing more people would have more stimulating questions about the book itself that way. And peeps may be braver.

Just a thought.

Thanks for a great first time last night!

[JeffKamin]

Hi Alyssa, thanks for coming and commenting.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. It was a fun one. I'm editing video clips which I'll post soon. Watch for the link.

That might be a good way to try it. We could have an hour of our group discussion first followed by a half hour with the author. I was thinking of trying another author Skype video chat but would always include our group discussion, too.

What do others think? Author before or after our group discussion? It may depend on their availability, too.

[Shelly]

Not that I was at the discussion...but I'll throw in my two cents...

I've wondered about the impact of courtesy and etiquette on book discussions with the author present.

Seems to me that we enjoy being 'snarky' at times at B&B and that may be curtailed if the author is present and we're on our 'best behavior'.

Of course, like I said, I wasn't there...so I could be full of it.

[JeffKamin]

We are talking about having the author for a half hour or 45 minutes and then the other half of the time for just our real discussion. Time for snark still.

[megburg]

I thought it was so fun having the author in on a discussion! I also thought he was very cool, a lot more down to earth than I thought he was going to be. How cutting edge are we??? Do it again please, only with a cool author. I think of the guy who wrote "Monkey Love" (if any of you remember the reading with him) and he was lame. Had a blast, thanks Jeff!

[JeffKamin]

Thanks, Megan.

Good to hear from you here again and
happy to hear it was fun.

We will try to get more cool (fun) authors and also hopefully informative serious authors, a good mix. With the except of Love Monkey's author, the others have at least been funny and engaging whether you liked the book or not.

Still wondering if before or after the group discussion would be better or if it really matters.

[elihoughton]

Here's my two cents:

If the author is joining the group via Skype or other electronic means, I don't think it matters.

If the author is in person and only there for half the discussion, I would recommend the second half. It might be weird to have the author leave while everyone else stays (Now we can really trash your book). Plus then the author can hang out and chat if s/he feels like it.

[JeffKamin]

I agree. Decided like that.