I had my first public-speaking event related to my book on Thursday, November 10th at the Museum of American Finance. I split my talk into two sections – the first was about how I became interested in Hamilton (both the show and the man) and a bit of the process of putting my book together. The second part of the talk was walking the audience through one of the itineraries from my book – I chose the Aaron Burr-themed itinerary because it covers the most area (uptown, downtown, SoHo and New Jersey).
The talk went really well, and it was nice to see some kids in the audience, all of whom were probably more familiar with the show and the music than the adults (and I’m pretty sure every kid there bought a copy of my book afterwards). It was also a lot fun talking to the folks that had me sign their copy of the book (especially the kids) – we sold out of all the copies the museum had on hand.
While I had been very apprehensive going into the event (I haven’t had much public-speaking experience), the talk went really well and the audience was great – quite a few people came up to me afterwards to say they enjoyed it. Here are a few pics from the event:
Let’s call it a qualified success. There was a steady stream of customers into the P!Q store, and more than a few made their way over to my table to take a look at my book. However, there was more chatting than purchasing.
I stopped by P!Q on Thursday to drop off some books in preparation for Friday’s book signing. I had a brief chat with Vic, who has handled these things before and who gave me some helpful tips.
Bryan Barreras 