How to Set Up Your Own Book Tour

How to set up a book tour

Unless you’re super famous or your publisher has big dreams for your book, you probably won’t be given your own, paid-for book tour. If you’re self-published, you don’t even have a chance of having someone pay you to tour. Not getting an all expense paid book tour isn’t a necessarily a reflection of your writing, but more if you have established yourself as a writer. If you want a book tour, what do you do, then?

You go it alone and set up your own tour. Before you decide to go on the road, though, you must decide whether the expense is worth it. Will you generate enough exposure and sales to offset the costs of the tour, or would you be better served by finding some other ways to promote your work? If you’re still set on going on tour, here are some tips for organizing your own tour.

Establish a budget

It’s important to establish a budget and to look for ways to cut costs. Figure out how much you can spend and allocate that money most effectively. You probably won’t be able to visit every city you want to visit, so choose which places will give you the most bang for your buck. Also, look into staying with friends or family to cut costs, or doing a tour of places that are within driving distance of your home to avoid expensive airfare.

Send out copies

Don’t just show up somewhere and hope they’ll let you read. Send out copies to bookstores and other places beforehand to gauge interest. If someone writes back and says, “This book isn’t for us,” you can mark that off your list and not waste money going there. If they are interested, you can follow up and add them to your list of places to visit.

Consider teaming with another writer

If you know another writer in your field or whose work is similar to yours, consider teaming up. A bookstore may be more willing to have two of you appear rather than just taking a chance on one unknown author. If your teammate has some credibility already, so much the better. If you trust and are friendly with the other writer, you may be able to share hotel rooms and rental cars, reducing the costs for you both.

Don’t limit yourself to bookstores

Bookstores aren’t the only places where you can appear. Conventions and conferences that are about your field or tied to your book’s theme are good choices. If your book is set in a certain location you might try tourism boards or similar places. There are also libraries, community centers, senior centers, book clubs, and schools/universities if your material is applicable.

Think beyond a standard reading

If you can teach a class in something or speak about your topic, pitch yourself as a speaker rather than just a reader or book signer If a store can bill your event as a learning opportunity they may be more willing to have you visit than if you simply plan to read from your book (which no one has heard of). You’re often more valuable as an educator than an author.

Consider a virtual book tour

If you don’t have the money to do a regular tour, you can consider a virtual tour. You connect with book bloggers around the country and agree to write guest posts, run some giveaways, do a podcast, and/or take questions from readers. You can also do virtual chats or readings through Skype or similar. It still requires a lot of planning and time on your part, but it costs very little.

Go where people know you

If you don’t know a soul in New York, it might not be worth going there. Think of places where you know people who can help you. Where did you go to school? Can you go back to your hometown? Do you have a lot of friends living in one city? Go places where your friends and family can help get the word out and drive people to your event.

Practice efficient scheduling

Once you figure out where you’re going, organize your schedule for efficiency. You don’t want to be flying back and forth across the country ten times. Proceed from city to city in a logical and cost effective order.

Practice your pitch

When you’re ready to start calling bookstores and other places to set up your appearance times, be prepared. Don’t wing it. Know who you’re calling (find out who handles events and ask for that person), and have prepared what you’re going to say. Be clear on who you are and what you’re offering (a reading, a class, etc.) Be professional. If you go in unprepared, or ask, “Um, what do other authors do?” the other person is likely to dismiss you. Quickly.

Alert the media

Call local newspapers and other media in the cities you’ll be visiting to see if you can wrangle any coverage of your time in their city. You may not get any interest, but then again you might so it’s worth a try.

Pay attention to the logistics

Make sure your books are shipped to each location with time to spare before you appear. Will you have to ship other promotional items, as well? Know how you will get around each city. Should you get lodgings with a kitchen to save money, or are there reasonably priced eateries nearby? Are you leaving enough time between appearances to deal with transportation or weather delays? There are plenty of details to consider besides just booking the appearance at a venue.

It is possible to organize your own book tour, even within tight budget constraints. To maximize your investment, do some advance planning and research and make sure that touring will give you the return you expect or need. Touring isn’t the end all, be all. There are lots of other ways to promote your work. Touring can be fun or it can be a nightmare. Try to prepare as much as you can in advance to prevent the nightmare scenario.

(Photo courtesy of Jonathan Clede)

  • I’ve always wanted to do a book tour. It’s actually a dream of mine, but there are so many costs involved with doing it. You have to already have a good amount of money to be able to do it, and it’s just not possible to do it as a struggling writer. I hope one day to be successful enough that I can go on a book tour, but it’s just not possible right now. I better get back to writing…

  • As someone who has done book tours, the image and the reality are far different. The image is there are a lot of adoring fans wanting to meet and greet you and tell you how much they loved the book. In reality, it’s a trudge from bookstore to bookstore hoping there are enough people there to buy a few copies of the book. You have to be a salesperson, and that isn’t what a lot of writers are. It’s one of those things where “be careful what you wish for” is pertinent.

    • I find that most people even some family members want you to give them a copy instead of helping you to promote it and some even have asked to read it but never make a commitment.

  • This is what authors often don’t realize when they write a book. It doesn’t just sell itself. You have to get out there and promote it so people can find it to read it. I think a lot fewer people would dream about being writers if they knew how much promotion that they have to do on top of all the writing.

    • Hello! I am a new author and my first book come out in the spring of 2022. What I noticed was some authors don’t have the time or the know how to even begin book touring. In many of my conversations with other writers I ask how are you going to promote your work! The answer I mainly get is I don’t know. My reply back to the author is while your book is bring created also look into marketing strategies this is a topic many over look.

      • Hi was happy to read this post. My first and only book came out in August 2021 but is sleeping on Amazon’s shelf. I am thinking about doing a book tour to promote it. Would love to know how you are going about your promotion.

  • Very helpful information. I am planning my first tour for my first book. Much of the information I’ve already considered, but there were things I didn’t consider. Thanks!

  • I am getting ready to do a book tour. Do I have to get a seller’s permit in every city/state I sell books?

  • This was very helpful. I will start at local libraries and book stores, then I will go to conferences. Thanks much for these tips.

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