Thanks for posting your question on my page. Thought I'd respond to you here as well.

"Hi" Always works for me LOL.

Seriously, I took the same approach you have. "Do you like mysteries?" My table was right in front of the door so the first thing I did was make eye contact and smile. I don't know, maybe it made them feel guilty if they didn't stop to talk, the point is, several did. They seemed to be drawn by the cover. Keep in mind that my signing was at a college B&N during student orientation so I asked thing like where are your from? What's Johnny or Mary going to study? How do you like the campus? The minute I started showing an interest in them, they picked up a book and started to thumb through it. Probably that guilt thing again. LOL The neat thing for me was when customers asked questions either about the book (my favorite subject) or about me (how long have you been writing, etc.,). Others stood around and listened in. Several picked up the book as a result of what they heard in our discussion. The best example of this was one of the sales clerks, a student who had been very helpful from the minute I walked through the door. We chatted a while before hand about the book but then people started coming in and we both got busy. When it was nearly time for me to go, he came and stood by my table again and waited for me to finish talking with a couple of women. I thought he needed to tell me something bookstore related. Instead, he pick up a book and said, "You know, I like to read but I’ve never read a mystery. I think I'm going to buy one of these though. Who knows I might like the genre." Ah! I love an open mind! :)

Mark (love the last name, by the way) I think the important thing is to be yourself. If you believe in your book, you'll be a natural salesman! Best of luck and let me know how it goes!