A Publisher's Conversation with Authors: The Morphing of Book Tours
It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. Today's topic looks at how the concept of, goals for, and conduct of book tours have changed over time. It also looks at whether a book tour is a good idea, based on likely % of return on investment. The essence of the morphing has been from in-person to virtual, part of that in keeping with the Covid experience. In person Most authors think of the pre-covid take-a-trip from town to town for, generally, bookstore signings. That did work once upon a time, but mostly for people with household names. Previously unpublished authors often have romantic notions, completely untied from reality, that publishers will underwrit