EVENT
Wil Wheaton Dancing Barefoot Booksigning
Wil Wheaton Dancing Barefoot Booksigning
- In August 2003, during O'Reilly's Open Source Convention (OSCON) in Portland, Oregon, Wil Wheaton held a milestone book signing for his self-published book Dancing Barefoot at Powell's Books.
- I attended to support him, and witnessed the historic convergence of Wil's self-publishing success and his integration into the professional open-source tech community.
The Sold-Out Moment and My Advice
- At the tail end of the signing, Tim O'Reilly approached the table. Wil offered him an extra copy, but Tim insisted on buying it instead. This transaction officially sold out every single copy of Dancing Barefoot that Wil had brought with him.
- As Wil packed up his bags to leave, I noticed the laminated promotional card on the table and gave him a piece of advice that would stay with him forever:
"You should take that, Wil. It's from your first signing. You're going to want that someday."
- Wil picked up the sign and later reflected in his follow-up memoir, Just a Geek, how holding that sign in his hands made him realize the monumental significance of selling out his first book signing in a bookstore—a feeling he described as better than sitting at the helm of the Enterprise, because "it was real."
- This crucial moment at Powell's directly led to Tim O'Reilly signing Wil to a multi-book contract with O'Reilly Media.
What links here
These facts are as Randal recalls them, but much time has passed for most of this. If you find a factual error, please email realmerlyn@gmail.com.