Book signings

I'd like some feedback from other authors regarding how many books they typically sell at a book signing.

I'm not talking what's typical for James Patterson! LOL

For those thousands of us poorly read authors who have done good work but are lost in the sea of new books published each week, what is working for you?

I am seriously pruning down my marketing efforts to those things that I react to personally.

For example, I very seldom go take a look at a title thrown out on Twitter. I still prefer to browse by genre on Amazon or elsewhere, or read book reviews before I buy. I particularly like Amazon's sample feature.

How about you?  If publishing is a vanity thing, then it doesn't matter if you don't ever see a profit, but if like me, you would like it to supplement your income, it makes no sense to just throw money and effort at non-productive advertising.

Queries

Today I queried six more agents with both manuscripts.  Finding an agent, like most sales efforts, is a numbers game.  That said, I do research what genres the agents represent and sometimes I read the books of their authors, especially if the writer's voice is similar to mine.

I've rested a while since completing my most recent manuscript. I immediately sent out several queries, but that was a mistake.

Why? Because the query is a constantly evolving tool. Each time you get a rejection, you look at the query and think - why in the world did I sent that? That's awful!

So eventually it's modified sufficiently and is catchy and compelling and people start responding.

What's the point?  Try to save your best prospects for later when you begin querying.

My latest query is good and I got an immediate response asking for a full manuscript. No guarantee that the agent will be interested, but at least my foot is in a door.