Date
Mon June 7, 2010
Alison Dare Blog Tour & Contest: First Stop, OBT
View more items filed under “Book Promotion & Marketing” in our Open Book Archives.
How to plan a book tour
Submitted by kevin on July 7, 2016 - 2:41pm
by Vivek Shraya As grateful as I am for the vast reach that the internet provides artists, every time I tour I am reminded of the value of real life human connection and interaction. Being able to travel with my art is a privilege, and I always look forward to opportunities to share a new project or book with as many people as I can. That said, planning a book tour can feel daunting, especially if you have never done it before. Where do you start? Who should you contact? Who is going to pay for it? These are all great questions! I thought I would share what I have learned and strategies I have employed since my first book tour in 2010. Make Your Dream List Make A Budget Having a day job is largely what allows me to fund touring. But where possible, it is worth looking into grants such as The Writers’ Union of Canada’s National Public Readings program. Ask your publisher if they have a tour budget. Some writers are able to crowdfund their their tours. Remember that touring is expensive and generally not a money-making endeavor. However, making a budget is a vital step towards at least breaking even. Tough Love Your Dream List Again, touring is expensive and expenses add up quickly when you are on the road. As ambitious as I am, I always aim to be realistic when planning a tour. It is better to do three gigs with a higher possibility of a good turnout, than to tour fifteen cities where you don’t know anyone. Choose The Right Venue Bookstores are perfect venues for book tours because they will stock your book in advance ((if you book a reading at a cafe, you have to carry and sell your books yourself), and will often promote the event on their website and social media. They are also generally cozy enough that even fifteen or twenty people attending your reading can feel like a full audience, as opposed to a giant bookstore like Indigo that can be harder to fill (if you aren’t J.K. Rowling - yet). Do keep in mind that most bookstores don’t have a budget to pay writers, although some will pass around a hat at the end of a reading and give the money collected to the author. Partner With Organizations Reach out to relevant student groups at colleges and universities to see if they are interested in hosting a reading. Make sure your introductory email is short and clear, with very few attachments. Many organizations are over-worked and under-staffed, so your email should create a sense of excitement or curiosity as opposed to feeling like more work to navigate. Because art is seldom valued as labour, asking for an honourarium will often fall on your shoulders, but remember to do so if you partner with an organization. Some organizations, especially post-secondary institutions, will be able to provide some funding which will help with your tour costs. A simple “Is there a possibility of an honourarium” works. Partner With Authors - Pt 1 Touring with other writers also a wonderful way to build community. I learned so much about the Vancouver literary scene from touring with Amber Dawn and Leah Horlick in 2015, and seeing them share their poetry every day for a week inspired me to rediscover poetry for myself. Lastly, touring with another author helps increase the draw for your gigs. When I toured with Elisha Lim in 2014, there were certain cities where people attended because they were familiar with Elisha’s work and vice versa. If we had toured separately it is unlikely that we would have had the opportunity to reach the same mix of audience members. Partner With Authors - Pt 2 Promote Promote Promote ● Come up with a short, relevant and catchy name for your tour. For many of my past tours, a tour name has been created by combining the book titles of the authors I am touring with (i.e. “God Loves Pavement Book Tour” or “When The Mountains End Book Tour”) ● Create a hashtag with this name that you can use everytime you post about the tour (and when you are on tour, let your audience know what the hashtag is so when they post their selfie with you, they include the tour hashtag). ● Create a colourful poster that can be adapted for every city on the tour. If you don’t have visual arts skills yourself, hire a designer to create a poster for you. This can then be printed and displayed by the venue, and utilized in your online networks. ● Create Facebook event pages for each of your tour dates so you can invite all of your Facebook friends in each city. Facebook event pages are also easily shareable too, so your friends can readily invite their friends! ● Send a press release with all the details about the event to each city’s local press, especially their weekly / alternative newspapers. Include at least one high resolution image (such as the tour poster) just in case the outlet decides to write a story. Again, keep these emails short and clear. ● At the end of each gig, let your audience know where you are heading next as they might have friends in that area and might be inclined to let them know of your arrival. ● Build a promo squad (see this helpful how to guide from writer Farzana Doctor - pg 10).
Happy Touring! Related item from our archives |