I hear it pretty often these days: "Book tours don't sell books." To some extent, it's true. Sending an author from city to city to promote his or her book usually isn't profitable -- at least, not on the surface.
For most authors -- meaning the ones who aren't flat-out famous -- the likelihood of their drawing a crowd (by which I mean more than 20 or 30 people) at any one bookstore talk is pretty slim, regardless of how well-promoted the event or how highly-touted the volume. "Not true," you say. "I went to a reading by so-and-so last week, and there must have been a hundred people there." Well good, but trust me: It's the exception, not the norm. People are busy -- with their families, their jobs, and with other forms of "entertainment." Not everyone has an hour to spend being read to. I've had plenty of well-reviewed, well-respected authors show up at an equally well-respected bookstore only to find an audience of eight...two of whom were the store's (very dedicated) booksellers.
Speaking to a bunch of empty chairs is sad, but it's even sadder when you do the math. Take the price of the book -- let's say it's a $26 hardcover, which is pretty standard -- and multiply it by a dozen (which is, unfortunately, the number of books that are probably sold at the average bookstore event for a mid-list author). That's $312. Cut it in roughly in half to account for the discount that the publisher gives the bookstore. Then reduce the remaining amount by the cost of the postcards, bookmarks, and easel-backs the publisher sent the store to help them promote the event. We're now hovering around the zero mark. Then subtract airfare, plus hotel, plus food, plus cabs -- which usually equals around a thousand dollars, per city. Need a media escort to get the author from place to place? That's another $250, minimum. Tally it up, and the publisher is down to the tune of $1250 per market. Then multiply that by three, or five, or ten -- the size of a "normal" tour.
Financially, it's tough on the bookstores too. Freight costs are high -- both for the initial order and for the return shipment of the unsold copies. Most events require a staff member or two in order to run smoothly -- someone to do the introduction and tend to the author, someone to work the microphone and man the cash register. So we're talking extra overhead, too, in the form of employee pay. If the store provides coffee and cookies, that's an added expense as well.
Why, then, do bookstores keep hosting authors? And why do publishers keep sending them around? Well, some don't. There are certainly stores -- and publishers -- who are doing away with (or at least seriously curtailing) the touring process. But I think it can be a mistake.
Since I don't work at a bookstore, I won't attempt to address the reasons most of them keep doing events -- and the reasons I think they should. I'll just say I'm thankful they do. But speaking from the perspective of someone in publishing, I can tell you that I feel book tours can be a very important promotional tool, and it'd be shortsighted to judge a tour's success by event sales alone. There are usually residual sales in the weeks that follow as friends tell friends about how great the event was, and as people read the book and like it and recommend it to others. And keep this in mind: Sometimes, it only takes one successful event to nudge a book onto the bottom of a major-market newspaper's bestseller list. Publishers can then refer to the book as a Boston Globe, or Los Angeles Times, or Washington Post, or San Francisco Chronicle "bestseller" in perpetuity. And that's something that looks awfully good on a paperback cover or in an advertisement.
These events are also a way to get more copies of the book into bookstores--and increased visibility can mean increased sales. What's more, the stores usually do a display (not to mention some special signage and newsletter/website mentions) in the weeks before and after the event. They may even have the writer sign the unsold stock after the event so that they can slap an "autographed by the author" sticker on the cover....and stickers are to readers what shiny objects are to crows.
By touring, publishers are also building for the future -- for the author's next book. They're giving the author a chance to establish relationships with booksellers -- and with readers -- in cities where he or she may not otherwise have a following. True, the author may take their next book to another house -- which means the publisher's efforts and expenses may have been for naught -- but the chances that they'll stick with the original publisher are better if they know that publisher did everything they could to support the book. Let's not overlook the author-relations factor in touring.
What can publishers do to get the most out of their author tours? They need to look closely at how they structure them. They need to allow enough time in the schedule for the authors to do local media while they're there, since radio and TV and even print interviews can generate sales. They need to call ahead to area bookstores to encourage them to have copies on hand, and they need to make sure their authors drop by those stores to sign stock (and also to meet and greet booksellers, whose handselling, "staff picks," and Book Sense recommendations can tremendously impact the sales of a book).
Publishers also need to choose their authors wisely when it comes to tours. Not every author glad-hands well. Not ever author has the ability to hold a crowd's attention. Not every author will give a big smile or a thoughtful nod when an audience member asks the same question that was asked at the previous seven events. And, just like not every author is a tour author, not every book is a tour book. Some would benefit more from sporadic university speaking gigs or talks at professional conferences -- which publishers don't fund because, frankly, they don't have to (the host schools or organizations pick up the tab). There's also the harsh reality that some books just aren't right topic-wise for a tour. Hard to imagine going to an event for a book on colon cancer or a guide to hiking in the Andes -- informative though those books may be.
Of course, publishers also need to choose their stores and cities wisely. When a store doesn't have an employee with the title "event coordinator," I get a little nervous that talks and signings may not be a priority. And while there are certain cities that I'd send an author to just because they have a legendary store that's an excellent reading venue, I've also learned -- the hard way -- that sometimes the best bet is to hit lesser-known stores in cities where there will be a natural audience for the book. Touring the author of a Johnny Cash bio to Nashville, Memphis, Louisville, and Little Rock may make more sense than touring him to "traditional" book tour towns like Boston and San Francisco. In fact, a bookstore event may not even be the way to go for certain titles. A talk at a library or a museum may be a sounder strategy. Even some bars, restaurants, and hotels have well-established reading series -- ones that really draw.
So perhaps publishers should put their faith in logic -- to concentrate on sending the right authors of the right books to the right cities to do the right events...and some interviews and drop-by signings while they're there. Hopefully, readers will support their efforts by attending -- and by buying. If not, at least solid groundwork has been laid.
These small audiences generate waves that will keep publishers afloat. Yes, sometimes a writer comes along who can build readership without personal contact with his or her readers. But it's a lot easier WITH the contact. It just takes some of the common marketing sense you've outlined here to identify the appropriate audience that will generate results. As you have suggested, too many people in publishing SCHEDULE tours rather than PLAN them.