… and counting.

Tomorrow I set off on the first leg of my signing tour. My first stop will be… well, I shouldn’t say, since I won’t be doing any public appearances there, just swinging by the Random House warehouse on Monday and signing as many copies of A DANCE WITH DRAGONS as I can manage to sign before catching the Acela to Boston that afternoon. Those copies will go out all over the country, to bookstores that are not on the tour, but have placed substantial orders.

The first public signing is in Boston. Well, Burlington, actually. Look for me at the Barnes & Noble, 98 Middlesex Turnpike, starting at 7pm and going to… well, to when they close the store presumably. I’ll say a few words, take a few questions, and then deface your books.

After Boston, I’ll be at the Union Square B&N in New York City, and then the Carmel B&N in Indianapolis. (Full details on the Appearances page of my website). Then it’s home for a brief respite before I depart for San Diego Comicon and the second leg of the tour.

Please take a look at the post my publisher put up on Suvudu:
http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2011/06/on-tour-george-r-r-martin.html?ref=twt_Suvudu_stream

I don’t want to disappoint anyone, so let me stress again that, because of the size of the crowds that we’re anticipating, I cannot do personalizations or inscriptions at these events. Just straight autographs. I wish that wasn’t so, but it is. And I won’t be able to pose for photographs either, though you’re certainly free to have your friend take a snapshot when I’m signing your book.

The number of items I can sign at each event will depend on the store, the crowd, and other variables.

Be aware, if you head out to one of these, that (1) you may need to wait in line for a very long time, and (2) when you finally reach the front of that line, we’ll only have a few second together, at best. ((The BEST place to actually meet me, or any of your favorite SF or fantasy writers, is not at a booksigning, but at a con. But booksignings are good places to meet other fans. You’ll definitely meet the people in line with you. You’ll be spending hours with ’em, so be friendly. Romances have been known to start waiting in line at booksignings.))

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Though I haven’t quite caught my breath from my tour through Poland and Slovenia, my next trip is already looming — my US signing tour for A DANCE WITH DRAGONS.

I’ve listed the dates and times of all my scheduled appearances here. If you missed those, you can find the basics on my website, on the appearances page.

For more details, including the rules for the signing, check out the latest update on Suvudu:

http://sf-fantasy.suvudu.com/2011/06/on-tour-george-r-r-martin.html?ref=twt_Suvudu_stream

((Comments and questions about the signings should be posted there, not here)).

There’s one huge change from all my past signings and book tours: I will no longer be able to do personalizations. The crowds have simply gotten too big. At my huge signing last week in Ljubljana, Slovenia, I started out personally inscribing the books, as I have always done in the past, but had to cut that off about four hours into the event. If I hadn’t, I might still be there, signing. The same thing happened at my last big US signing, at Vroman’s in Pasadena, and for the same reasons. It takes time to write, “to Charlene, Winter is Coming” or “To Fred, All Good Wishes,” and when you are writing it hundreds of times, well… it makes the lines move considerably slower. And it’s not fair to personalize the books for the front of the line, and not for the poor sods waiting for hours in the back.

So I fear I am going to have to forego personalizations entirely, at least at these mega events. It is not a step I take lightly, or happily, but it has become necessary.

((And as I have said before, for those who really want more of an interaction with me or any of their favorite writers, the place for that is AT A CON, not at a signing. In Poland and Slovenia, those fans who came to the signings got to meet me for a few seconds… but at the con in Nidzica, I hung around for hours at the party, eating kielbasa and drinking vodka. So COME TO RENO! I will be at Comicon as well, yes, but there are 150,000 fans at comicon. At worldcon, we can maybe expect 4,000.))

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We have added two more appearances to the schedule for my DANCE WITH DRAGONS signing tour.

I will be at:

Sunday, July 24
2:00pm
Mysterious Galaxy
7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd
San Diego, CA 92111

and

Tuesday, August 2
7:00pm
Joseph-Beth Booksellers
161 Lexington Green Cir.
Lexington, KY 40503

And that’s it. I know, I know, there are a lot of other wonderful cities out there, and I wish I could visit and sign at all of them… but, alas, there’s only one of me, and I only have so much time and energy.

If I’m not coming to a city near you, please remember that I attend conventions as well. In the next couple of months I will be hitting the San Diego Comicon, the World SF Convention in Reno, Nevada, and Bubonicon in Albuquerque. There will be ample opportunity to have me sign stuff at all three events. And a lot more time to hang around and talk at any of ’em. Bubonicon is especially good for that, since it’s very small and friendly.

Speaking of Albuquerque… I will also be appearing at Hastings Books on Saturday, June 4, at 1:00pm.

HASTINGS BOOKS
6051 WINTER HAVEN ROAD, NW
ALBUQUERQUE
NM
87120
(505) 898-9227
(505) 898-5019

You won’t be able to get your copy of DANCE autographed there, alas, since the book will still be a month in the future… this event is to promote the release of the DOORWAYS graphic novel, a hardcover from IDW.

Hastings will likely have copies of my other stuff on sale as well — the first four Ice & Fire books, the recent Wild Cards volumes, maybe more — and I’d be glad to sign that as well for my New Mexifans.

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… the life I love is signing books for my readers. (Actually, I kind of do, though of late the crowds have been so big that I get pretty weary by the end).

Anyway, just got the second half of the schedule for my DANCE WITH DRAGONS book tour from Bantam. The tour will begin with Boston, New York City, and Indianapolis, as detailed in my post of May 7, which you’ll find somewhere downriver.

Then I’m off to the San Diego Comicon for a week.

After comicon, I will be appearing at:

Tuesday, July 26
7:00pm
Barnes & Noble
189 The Grove Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Wednesday, July 27
7:00pm
Fox Theatre
2215 Broadway Street
Redwood City, CA 94063
http://www.foxrwc.com/
*event hosted by Kepler’s

Friday, July 29
7:30pm
Town Hall
1119 8th Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
http://www.townhallseattle.org/index.cfm
*event hosted by University Bookstore

Sunday, July 31
2:00pm
Tattered Cover LoDo
1628 16th Street
Denver, CO 80202

Probably one more stop to be added after that

More details on the signings will be posted here as we get closer to the dates.

Again, though, let me say… if you actually want to meet me and hang and talk some, the place to do that is at a convention. Book signings are great, but in recent years my crowds have been huge, which means each person in the queue gets like twenty seconds. I don’t like that part of it… I’d much rather have the time to chat with my readers… but you have to keep the line moving. Anything else is unfair to the people further back.

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