Book Tours

On the face of the matter, my decision to barnstorm the independent bookstores of America from border to border and coast to coast when I was supposed to be resting up from debilitating radiation treatments doesn't make a particle of sense.

Doing publicity takes time away from writing, but without it, the writing you do doesn't get out there. If you're lucky, the PR can be fun.

Authors often feel like DHL parcels on a book tour, delivered from one venue to another. Small things can feel like big problems. So how do you maintain control?

I'm reading from my memoir My Germany in German and English, and the tour is going well, with enthusiastic audiences. But there's also an inner tour I'm on, one that has five stages I am very familiar with. I think other authors will recognize them.

Television. It's the greatest invention ever. Who needs Omega fats and deep breathing and flowing linen when you can wear the leggings & ripped t-shirt you slept in while gnawing on fancy beef jerky?

Been on the road over a week now, four cities down, five readings down, two more to go, and lots of little soaps and bottles of shampoo in my bag.

There's a special treat for me as a reviewer when an author contacts me via Facebook, email -- or in the old days by mail -- to thank me. I don't expect it, and don't write for an author's approval, both of which make it more fun.

As I prepare to embark upon that perilous -- and perilously rare -- adventure called the "book tour," I think it behooves us both to be reminded of our obligation to one another. Herewith, I propose these simple rules for governing our behavior.

I have no quibble with the industry's reasons. But I know me. I didn't write a book to promote it, and I didn't dream of making a lot of money from it.

Any author whose publisher sends him or her on a book tour these days is lucky, seriously lucky. And you pay for that luck with sleep deprivation, airport security lines, and often a reading with only one person in attendance who is usually homeless or mentally ill.

At one reading on my first book tour, someone aggressively asked me, "What does your book have to say to women?" I was so surprised, my reply was a feeble joke: "It says 'Buy me!'"

The authors you see in the newspaper everyday who garner critical acclaim and you feel have changed your life... most of them are not wealthy snobs, and they need encouragement to keep going. They are modest and overwhelmed.

When it comes to promotion, it's not enough to have crafted a great book. You need to figure out what your target audiences might be, where to find them, and how to reach them.

After publishing my first book, I packed my bags, used up all of my husband's Marriott points, and hit the road -- only to experience what many authors had experienced before me.

When she wasn't giggling, she talked in a rapid-fire, sing-song register. And her voice -- her voice carried a slight raspy edge. We constantly whispered in each other's ears and wrote notes to each other in the middle of class.

Logistics prevented us from bringing books to distribute in, but what astonished us was the number of books brought by service members to be signed. Never has a group of writers made this journey to Iraq.

I'm just back from a book tour of over two weeks in Germany where I did something I never dreamed of doing: I read from my new memoir in German.

Earlier this month, Arianna invited readers to send in nominations for extra stops on her Third World America book tour. Over 200 people from all over...

Why do a book tour, especially if you have to pay for it yourself? The reason bears repeating: we writers put our words on the page to reach someone.

Here are five things authors should do to become skilled at this very demanding and essential side of the profession.

Publishers (and some authors) think that book tours are no longer practical. I think it's because they're doing it wrong, and I'm setting out to prove my case.