In an essay for the New York Times, author Stephen Elliot wrote about his decision to eschew the traditional book tour model in favor of scheduling readings in the private homes of his fans. Elliot went where he was invited, reading in living rooms across the United States and depending on his hosts for overnight lodging. Overall, Elliot managed to sell over a thousand books on his tour and generate significant publicity along the way.
Elliot is an established author with seven published books and the founder of the popular culture and literary website The Rumpus. While Elliot’s D.I.Y. book tour seems to have been a resounding success, would such a strategy work for other, less successful writers?
Lauren Cerand, an independent public relations representative and consultant in New York, thinks that lesser-known authors could definitely benefit from such an approach.
“Absolutely,” said Cerand. “Technology may have created new opportunities for authors who previously would not have been a high priority for their publishers in terms of promotion, but it has also made it more imperative than ever to know –– and reach –– your readers.”
Rusty Shelton of Phenix & Phenix Publicity liked Elliot’s approach, but feels that a book tour isn’t always the right way to go.
“I love the creativity behind Stephen Elliott’s book tour but I’m not sure I’d suggest it for every author. Book tours are really on the way out and we’re finding that the only way to make them work is to go after nontraditional venues – with nontraditional events,” said Shelton. “In other words, as Elliott notes in his piece, most bookstore signings (outside of an author’s local market or a market where they have a strong network) for authors that aren’t extremely famous are sparsely attended and a bit depressing.”
However, Shelton did say that efforts like these can result in a lot of publicity. This could potentially pay off in the long run by reaching more readers.
“Few publishers are shelling out for travel expenses on book tours anymore – frankly, I’m surprised Elliott’s publisher was willing to pay for travel, especially when most of the sales are wholesale as opposed to trackable retail sales. When you look at overall sales vs. expenses, I doubt the tour paid for itself. That said, Elliott made the most of out his tour with promotion. This NYT piece is huge for him and assuming his publicist went after local media in each market he visited, he likely received PR for his book he wouldn’t have snagged without a local tie-in.”
Cerand said that book tours and other public events should be coordinated with retailers in order to maximize effectiveness. “I would recommend hooking up with a local bookseller or chain branch to make sure your sales register, and to expand the buzz.”
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Matt Staggs is a literary publicist and the proprietor of Deep Eight LLC, a boutique publicity agency utilizing the best publicity practices from the worlds of traditional media and evolving social technologies. He has worked in the fields of public relations and journalism for almost a decade. In addition to his work as a publicist, Matt is a book reviewer and writer whose work appears in both print and web publications.