Tag Archives: book tour

Four Must Haves for a Successful Book Tour

1. Hire a publicist. Not only should your publicist schedule your book events, she should also make your hotel and travel arrangements. This extra service is worth the expense, since it prevents missed opportunities. I only listened to half of this advice by hiring a publicist to arrange only the book signing events. Because my publicist did not plan my travel arrangements, I ended up being unable to reschedule one leg of my flight to take advantage of a last minute TV interview. If my publicist had managed the entire trip, this would not have happened.

2. Hire an author escort or roadie. An author escort meets you at the airport, takes you to your hotel, and drives you to the event. She may also highlight points of interest in each city and suggest places to go for meals. If you can’t afford an author escort, you can also hire a roadie who will carry your bags to and from the airport, drive you to your hotel and events, and take pictures for your website. The roadie won’t pack your suitcase, so you may still forget that beautiful angora sweater on the hotel duvet, which is exactly what I did.

My Roadie
My Roadie

3. Bring your own pen. Every bookstore manager asked, “Where’s your pen?” Not only was I unaware of the expectation that each author has a special book tour pen, I only carried those fine tipped ball point pens I use to jot down notes when inspiration strikes. If I had known better, I would have purchased a red fine tipped felt pen for autographing books – red to emphasize the title and the message of happiness.

4. Bring your own bottled water. Most bookstores supplied water, but the schools I visited did not. You do not want to lean over a water fountain with a highway of students pushing and shoving down the halls between periods in the hopes of quenching your thirst. It does not work. If I had brought my own water, I would have been less hoarse and tired after giving 5 presentations in one day.

My Lucky Visit

More Questions
I enjoyed spending the day with students in Tomah, Wisconsin, discussing the themes of my memoir, Red Eggs and Good Luck, and answering questions about writing, Chinese culture, and what it means to be true to yourself. I appreciated the attentive audience with their enthusiastic questions. Their pure joy of learning fueled me through five presentations, three at the middle school and two at the high school, for a full day of fun!

Boswell Book Company

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Thank you to Todd Wellman at Boswell Book Company for welcoming me tonight.

Thank you to all the fans who showed up, especially Sydney Hofer, a long-time Goodreads and Facebook friend and fan who helped draw interest in the event.

Thank you to all the new readers I met tonight. I appreciated the enthusiastic and inquisitive questions that led to a lively discussion.

Boswell Reading 1

On the Road

Journey
This week I’ll be traveling from city to city to speak about Red Eggs and Good Luck. I’ll be posting blogs when I can and updating Twitter or Facebook when I can’t. I’m looking forward to meeting some fans and making new friends and exploring new cities. Special thanks to my publicist Eva, my longtime fan Sydney, and my fellow writer Amanda for helping make this trip possible.

Fall Book Tour Dates

Below is a list of confirmed events to promote Red Eggs and Good Luck. I hope you can make it to one or more of them!

East Coast

One More Page Books
Tuesday, October 27th from 7-8 pm

Midwest

Boswell Book Company
Thursday, October 29th from 7-9 pm

Tomah County Middle and High Schools
Friday, October 30th from 11 am to 3 pm

West Coast

Green Apple Books
Wednesday, November 4th from 7-9 pm

Best Wishes Cards and Gifts
Thursday, November 5th – Details to follow