Fans Line Up 99 Deep For Neil Gaiman Tickets
December 1, 2009 | 10:18 amThe Little Shop blog reports a 99 person line had formed in front of the store prior to opening yesterday as the bookstore gave out all but 100 tickets for the Niel Gaiman event on December 14th at 6pm.
As for those 100 remaining tickets, the store is reconsidering how they will be distributed. Jump over to their site for more detail.
I wonder if the Brick Store provided 99 bottles of beer for those in line…sorry, I thought I’d just throw myself on the lame joke sword before someone else did. 
Later in the day when I went to grab a ticket, traffic was steady but there was no line. I was surprised — I was expecting continuing chaos. I hope they’ll suss out a good, nonstressful way to distribute the remaining tickets! They looked a tiny bit shellshocked by all the traffic yesterday.
The word ’shellshocked’ is apt. I expected around 30 customers to be at our door at 10 a.m. when we opened, and my estimate was higher than anyone else’s. 100 was just bizarre — but in a good way. Everyone was really excited; some drove in from neighboring states and spent the night in a hotel so they could be in line early! We’re also dealing with getting a Christmas tree on our roof (which is exciting and problematic and happening today), and planning a gingerbread party, a Fancy Nancy party, a Polar Express party, a visit from The Big Man, etc. So, be nice to your favorite booksellers, even if they’re at Whit’s End. (That’s a pun, but I’ll be there buying presents this month.)
The folks at Little Shop have not insisted on this, but if you can, please buy a book when you get your ticket. If you’ve already picked up a ticket, go buy something anyway.
Putting on this event isn’t without cost for the store. LSOS spent money on the party to get him here, has to pay for technicians and security for the event, has to pay staff for the extra work associated with all this, and has to pay for printing, etc.
The tickets are free, and most of the people who will attend already have a stack of Gaiman books, so don’t need to buy one. He will sign up to two books if one is purchased at the store, but most folks will bring their own. That leaves very little opportunity for the store to make back the money it is spending
.
So don’t let this local business lose money because they did something cool and great. Buy a book or two, and tell them it’s because of Neil. It doesn’t even have to be a Gaiman title.
One of my favorite gifts is the Pete the Cat book. You can’t imagine how many parents have thanked me for giving their kid that book/cd. They all really, really, really enjoy singing those songs for the 1046th time.