The authors reading this know what I’m talking about. We’ve all been there. You’re sitting at the table in a bookstore or at a convention, your books arrayed before you, when a potential reader approaches. She doesn’t make eye contact, but picks up a book to examine. She looks over the front cover, turns it over and reads the back copy, then skims the first page. All this without acknowledging your existence. What do you do? Do you break the silence and try to engage her in conversation, or do you let her continue in silence, maybe walking away without dipping into her wallet? If you force the conversation, how do you do it? What have the results been?
For the readers, what do you want? Do you want the author to begin a conversation when you approach the table? Do you just want to be left alone to look things over?
Steven E. Wedel 
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