Boston Organics, and a question

[magid]

Large box, one third fruit.

• two large sweet potatoes
  
• four small summer squash
  
• two medium artichokes
  
• four large white potatoes
  
• two ears of corn
  
• a bag of sugar snap peas
  
• a rooted basil plant (! plus, MA grown)
  
• a large eggplant
  
• four Roma tomatoes
  
• a quarter kilo of strawberries
  
• two small pink grapefruit (smaller than some of the oranges)
  
• two oranges
  
• five large blood oranges
  
• two peaches

And a dozen eggs. The peaches are pretty solid, and the tomatoes rather anemic; perhaps I shouldn't have put them back on the list yet.

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When you hear that there will be an author signing/reading, how much do you expect to pay (above and beyond the cover price)? Does this change if the touted book is a cookbook and there will be dishes available for sampling from the recipes?

Comments

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

I've never attended an author signing where there was a charge. I thought the idea was that people come, hear a little something, and it makes them want to buy the book.

[fabricdragon.livejournal.com]

i dont normally pay anything extra for a book signing/reading UNLESS there is some extra. thats because the whole point is usually to drive book sales.

that said, if there is a tasting, it might be reasonable to pay, like they do for some of the cooking expos.

[magid.livejournal.com]

How much do you think is reasonable for a tasting?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've been to some that have a cover of a couple of bucks, when it was $BigNameAuthor, but otherwise, yeah, what you said.

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

I think we need to move to your neighborhood. Blood oranges? Peaches? You always get the better stuff! ;)

I've never paid for a reading, but I think $15 or so sounds reasonable if there is food involved.

[magid.livejournal.com]

But you signed up for more fruit than me; how can it be that you don't get the good stuff? Fwiw, the strawberries smell amazing, and I bet you get those. Plus, I'd be happy to bring you some fruit if we can actually manage to meet midweek :-).

$15 for snacks, or $15 for dinner?

[cellio]

Paying anything above the price of the book seems unusual to me. I mean, yeah, I'm getting a free reading, but they're getting a chance to pitch it to me. Signing? That's just good PR.

With food, I'm not sure. Are we talking about something akin to the tiny free samples they sometimes offer in grocery stores, of a few dishes? A buck or two, maybe (and it should be optional; I imagine you wouldn't be able to eat much of it unless this is a kosher venue). Something more substantial? That could be priced higher. I guess I'd look to other "tasting" events (wine/cheese tastings, etc) for guidance; the book is irrelevant for that aspect of the event.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what the amount of food will be, though it's definitely not dinner, since another venue is hosting a dinner one night and it's called dinner. And no, not kosher.

My surprise was that the food part seems to be non-optional, so I'd have to pony up extra cash for the added benefit of getting it signed by the author, and seeing some of the recipes already made, I suppose.

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

No, we're 1/3 fruit, large box, just like you. We did get strawberries, though. mmmm strawberries.

The kosher winetasting, along with appetizers, was $25. That included a lot of wine, though. For snacks and no alcholic beverages, and because they are selling a book and it's advertising, $8-$15, depending on type of snacks, variety and expenses. $25 for famous people and dinner.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Looks like it won't be raining tomorrow, even, if you want me to bring the peaches over....

Where was there a kosher winetasting? How cool.

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't expect to pay for an author signing and tasting unless there was a specific reason, like the proceeds going to a charity or the use of an unusual venue.

I assume this is a specific case you have in mind?

[magid.livejournal.com]

Yes; I was taken aback to be asked for credit card information when I called about the event. I was curious what other people would think before giving specifics.

[fetteredwolf.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the peaches offer, but I think we will manage to survive without peaches this week! ;)

wrt kosher wine tasting- I thought I had told you about it, because it would be right up your alley! The CJP hosted it right before Pesach, as a "there's more to kosher wine than Maneschevitz" themed event.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Oh, right, that was the one at a ridiculous time right before yomtov. Now, if they chose some slightly less rushed time of year...

[queue.livejournal.com]

I would think the food would be an added draw for people to come to the signing, not something to pay for. Unless it was someone I really wanted to meet and had no other opportunity, I would give this kind of thing a pass.

There was a Cooks Illustrated talk/chocolate tasting and Brookline Booksmith a while ago, and I don't remember that costing anything.

[magid.livejournal.com]

If even a chocolate tasting is free, then yeah, it makes it even less likely I'd pay for the opportunity to pay more.

[zahzeh.livejournal.com]

Snacks and even some wine at those events should be free and provided either by the book store/venue or by a sponsor (liquor distributor or something). I used to own an art gallery - wine and cheese/fruit/pastries, etc., was always free. I finally wised up and got myself a liquor distributor to sponsor our openings, but still. Charging for that is tacky. You're trying to woo customers, not alienate them.

[magid.livejournal.com]

See, that's what I thought, too. See the next post for why I asked.

I didn't know you used to own an art gallery. That's incredibly cool.