There are still a few more entries in the tool kit to come, including David Morrell, publicist Susan Schwartzman, N.M. Kelby and one that's probably going to shake thing up a bit. Today's advice is from bestsller Tess Gerritsen. FYI - if you don't read Tess's amazing blog you should.
When an author is relatively unknown, a tour is definitely worth it. At this stage in a writer's career, he needs all the media attention he can get, and a fresh face is usually an attractive subject for newspaper feature writers. A tour sets up relationships with bookstores, especially vital when you're dealing with important NYT-reporting stores.
As an author gets to be well known, however, tours make not actually be worth the time and stress that an author puts into it. Yes, maybe you'll sell a thousand or so more copies overall, but you're also taken away from writing your next book -- which may, in fact, be the most vital thing you can be doing for your career.
That said, I do believe that foreign tours are VERY important to sales. I've gone to the UK and Germany on book tour, and the results were impressive -- I hit bestseller lists in both countries (#1 in Germany, #2 in the UK) and I'm convinced that tours there did it. A smaller country means you get better media saturation, and a visiting American author is still something of a novelty.
My goal, when I tour, is to attract media and to sign books. Bookstore events are great for meeting readers, but they do take up an entire evening, and I've had some pretty disappointing turnouts. When you fly a long distance to talk to, say, 10 people, you have to wonder about the cost/benefit ratio. The best visits, I think, are to distribution centers or warehouses, where you sign five hundred books at a sitting. It's that "autographed" sticker that really makes a book sell.
You can't ensure that a tour will work. Really, it's all up to what kind of media you get. Whether the feature writer in the local newspaper happens to like your book, or finds something interesting about your life story, or has a slow news week. I'm convinced that newspaper articles are the number one way to reach your audience.
How do I deal with low attendance? I just accept it. I've been on eight national book tours, and I've had a turnout as low as two people. (And only one of them bought a book!) That event was for HARVEST, and that very same night, when I got back to my hotel totally demoralized, I got the call that HARVEST had just hit the NYT bestseller list. So I take low turnouts in stride, knowing that they don't indicate ANYTHING -- just that it was a slow day, or the bookstore didn't get out the word. Really, when there's a low turnout, I feel worse for the bookstore people than for myself, because I know it's embarrassing for them.
The best part of touring? Honestly? Staying in nice hotels and eating out. Oh, and seeing my books in stores around the country. That's still a real thrill for me, something that I never get tired of.
The worst part of touring? Walking into a bookstore where no one has ever heard of me or my books. Discovering that my books are nowhere in sight, or already shelved in back. Seeing just how bloody difficult it is to have my books stand out among the multitudes. Realizing that this is an insanely competitive business, and wondering how anyone survives it.
But then there's always the sight of my book on the shelves, and that alone is worth it all.
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