Former President Clinton to Sign Giving at Three Independents

Independent bookstores are among the few venues selected to host book signings by former President Bill Clinton for Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World (Knopf), an inspiring look at how individual endeavors and citizen activism can save lives and solve world problems.

The former President is signing books at Books & Books in Coral Gables, Florida, beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, September 6. He will appear at BookPeople in Austin, Texas, at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, September 14, and then at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, California, at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 18.

Speaking to BTW the night before Clinton's appearance, Cristina Nosti, events and marketing coordinator for Books & Books, said store staff was busy, but well prepared. Books & Books previously hosted a signing by Clinton when his memoir, My Life (Knopf), was released in 2005.

"We feel like he's an old friend already," Nosti said with a laugh. "We've got our plan down, we know what to expect from the Secret Service, and we'll do it even better this time."

In 2005, close to 2,000 people waited in line for Clinton's signature. "He almost finished signing them all when he had to leave," Nosti told BTW. "Then he plunged into the crowd and signed some more. Everyone was very happy to meet him."

By 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, several people were already camped out in front of the store, Nosti said. This time, Books & Books will be prepared to distribute free water to the estimated 1,200 people waiting on line in the South Florida heat. "Last time we had a few episodes of people passing out," she explained.

Nosti told BTW that the store was very proud to be hosting the former President again. "He was incredibly gracious," she said.

Alison Kothe Nihlean, events coordinator for BookPeople, told BTW that the store also hosted Clinton in 2005, for the release of My Life. "We are very excited to be welcoming him back," she said. "We are expecting to sell out of our 1,500 vouchers for the event, as we did the last time."

When she heard about Clinton's second book tour, Kothe Nihlean contacted the store's Random House rep, who forwarded the request to the appropriate contact. "President Clinton had organized a fund-raising event in town," Kothe Nihlean said, "so coming to the store was the logical next thing to do."

At Vroman's, Promotions Director Jennifer Ramos received word from the store's Random House rep that Clinton would make an appearance at the store. This is the first time that Vroman's will be hosting the former president and "everyone is very excited," she said. "We sold 300 books the first day [the book] went on sale. We're expecting to sell about 2,000." Although Clinton has not previously signed books at Vroman's, Ramos told BTW that when former President Jimmy Carter came last year to promote his latest book, close to 2,000 people lined up.

In conjunction with the release of Giving, people are being encouraged to share their personal stories of giving or how they or others have been inspired to make a difference, via a special website, http://giving.clintonfoundation.org/. --Nomi Schwartz