Ebooks have brought on a whole new world of potential to nearly every single author on the planet.  However, it has made some other things far more difficult, or even impossible.  One of these is the great staple of book events and signings.  In times past these were a godsend form of "boots on the ground" marketing authors could do.  Ebooks have effectively killed this most effective and lucrative method of book marketing right when it is needed most.

Or have they?

As with anything in this world, an author needs to adapt to the changes as they come, and with the explosive up tick in ebooks, and the recent collapse of printed book sales, that adaptation has been even more frantic.  That then brings up another important question.  How do you still take advantage of the benefits of book signings and events in a digital age?

Well, as one of my friends pointed out, print books will never die.  However, they will eventually become a niche product, much in the same way audiobooks have been for ages.  But here's the kicker.  Even though more and more audiobooks are moving to being all digital, and ebook readers are now capable of reading ebooks out loud, have traditional physical medium audiobooks (ie, tape, cd, dvd, etc) been replaced?

Absolutely not.  Sure, less authors are releasing audiobooks for their books, but that's more due to other factors rather than the competition audiobooks are now facing.  In the end they'll never die out.  They'll just become even more niche than they already are.  Take a look at LP records.  They're about as niche a market as you can get these days, and yet they're still going strong.  So as long as they are people who want to hear your book being read, audiobooks will be around.

The same is ultimately true with author signings and events.  They will most certainly change as time goes along, but they will never die out.  Believe it or not, as the signal to noise ratio of information on the internet continues to grow, with noise outweighing signal by a considerable margin, people will turn to more traditional avenues to find your books, or discover new authors.

So how do you market yourself at these events if you're entirely digital?  Well, the simplest way is to attack the niche while also satisfying the digital at the same time.  To do this you could have a limited number of print copies of your book on hand for sale, as well as specially printed cd's with your ebooks in all their available formats, and a number of "bonus" items, like artwork a book soundtrack, or more.  

You could also have audiobooks on hand should people want those too.  All of these provide an excellent way to do signed copies of your books, as you can sign the print books, or sign the cd jacket for the ebook or audiobook cd's.

But let's say you don't want to go the route of having physical media on hand.  Since author events are essentially there as a marketing tool, you'll want to bring out all of your marketing tools.  Some of these can include postcards, posters, bookmarks (yes, believe it or not, people who read ebooks still love bookmarks, strangely enough) business cards, book fliers, and a number of other printed mediums.

Yes, I know this is still killing trees, which is part of the reason people who do ebooks like them so much, as it doesn't require doing anything with paper.  But in the end it still requires that you do some of your marketing with paper.  Why?  Well, when you're doing an event you are operating in the physical world rather than the digital, so if you want people to remember you, your books, and other pertinent info, some kind of physical medium is required.

For those with smart phones, having QR codes handy is important as well.  These can then be scanned and provide the end user with everything they want to know about you and your books, and all from the convenience of their phone.  Another thing to consider having is something that you can sign if you choose not to have any physical books or media to sell at your event.

This can be pretty much anything you want.  But the recommended thing to have is a 4x6" postcard with your book cover, on one side, a small blurb about the book, and a place to sign your name.  Even in the digital age people still collect signed items from people they see as being famous, or potentially so.  Therefore having these is important.

Now, aside from that you can have other table items to draw them in, such as pens, stuffed toys, etc.  But choose carefully as the items you'll need will depend on what your book is about, and what your genre is.  You may choose not to have anything on the table.  But the more you can have to draw people in, the better.

Beyond that, all the normal rules of book events and signings still apply.  In essence all you're doing is replacing your printed books with other marketing items.  Everything else remains the same.  This might seem counter-intuitive, but when you understand that book signings and events, including author parties and book premiers, are merely a hands on form of author and book marketing, then this makes complete sense.

So if you're thinking it, yes, book signings and events ARE NOT your means to make money.  They're marketing ventures that may or may not net you some money via direct sales.  But without that face to face contact, it actually reduces your chances of being seen and well known.  The better people get to know "the author", the better the books themselves will sell.

So no matter if you're an author who exclusively sells ebooks, or one who mixes a little bit of all mediums, traditional book signings and author events are a crucial part of your marketing efforts, and in the end will net you a much larger following.