On 13 January, I finally performed the first reading of my book 10 GOTO 20. It’s a German-language book and the reading was also in German, obviously, but I’ll talk about it in English for a broader audience.
When the book came out in 2022, the second COVID-19 lockdown in Berlin had just ended, and places where a reading could have taken place were either fully booked or still reluctant to host a potentially large crowd. At the same time, I was just starting my studies of Media Informatics, which meant I would soon have much less time for activities of that kind. Therefore I just asked around a little bit and then decided to let the book speak for itself without an official presentaion.
But now my studies are over, and it’s never too late for a reading, so I sat down with the owner of my favourite pub and my friend Sebastian, set a date and started to organise.
The reading was split into two blocks of about 20 minutes each, with live music by our electronic project The SIDicate during the break. The turnout was about what was to be expected (though for a while it looked like it might be pretty crowded): about 20 friends and acquaintances, plus some of the incidental visitors of the pub, who all had a good time, as far as I can tell.
At the end, people came over to buy my books (this one and the new one, In vintrospect) or have them signed, some took flyers as a memento (and some had those signed), and I spent another hour just being a good host, talking with friends and answering questions.
As you can see from the photos, the setup was simple (thanks to Sebastian who brought and installed all the equipment), so cleaning up took just another 10 minutes, and it was a normal bar with normal people again.