Planning a Book Tour on the Cheap

By Beth Groundwater

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of fiction authors receive no funds from their publisher for conducting book tours. Any traveling most authors do is on our own nickel. Eventually, we learn to stretch those nickels as far as possible, and I thought I'd share with Inkspot readers eight tips for planning a book tour on the cheap. Many of these tips can be applied to any kind of trip.

1. Flying: If possible, avoid flying and use cheaper transportation modes. If you must fly, use frequent flyer miles or shop online for the cheapest fare, even if it means changing planes multiple times or driving to another airport close to your home or destination. For instance, living in Breckenridge, Colorado, I can leave from airports in either Denver or Colorado Springs, so I check the prices of flights leaving from both.

2. Driving: Try to carpool with another author to share the cost of gas, parking, and tolls. You can do this if you anchor a conference at one end of your tour or invite another author to tour with you.  Also, pick the vehicle among those you and your carpool partner own that has the highest gas mileage. I have a Toyota Prius that is my go-to car for book tours, that gets 45-50 miles per gallon.

3. Sleeping: Plan your route so you can stay with friends and/or family along the way and avoid paying for rooms. As an extra benefit, many of them may enjoy serving as door greeters at your bookstore signings. I usually gift my hosts with autographed copies of my books. If you do need to pay for a room, try to share the room with another author or, if going to a conference, with another attendee. Look for as cheap a room as possible, compare the price for the same room at multiple websites and by calling the property directly, or use your affinity points if you've got them. Beware of city hotels with parking garages if you're driving, because they often charge exorbitant parking fees. Lastly, I always check that the property provides free Internet service, is located in a safe area of town, and is not located next to railroad tracks.

4. Eating: Take a small cooler so you can carry meals in the car or keep them on ice in your room. Many times I've packed snacks and sandwiches for a car trip or kept yogurt and fruit in a cooler in my room for breakfasts. Even better is to find a property where breakfast is included. Ask bookstore staff before your visit if they have book club that you could meet with for a meal before or after the signing. Also check if there’s a local chapter of a relevant writing group (such as Mystery Writers of America or Sisters in Crime, in my case). Either type of group will enjoy the opportunity to visit with an author, you'll have more attendees at the signing as a result, and the group usually will pay for your meal.

5. Drinking: Take your own water bottle to conferences and events and refill it as needed. Drink just water with restaurant meals. Avoid expensive coffee and alcoholic beverages. Even more costly can be a slip of the tongue while inebriated that can cost you fans. Instead, if you're at a conference where the bar is a great place to network, nurse a soda all evening. However, if opportunity comes knocking, go for it. I've never turned down just one free drink!

6. Freebies: Don't go overboard on the giveaways. You should only need business cards and bookmarks, postcards or fliers. The expense of pens, buttons, notepads, mini-flashlights and all those other freebies can really add up. If you only make $1.50 in royalties per book, you shouldn't be spending more than 40 cents on a giveaway that you hand out to potential customers.

7. Decorating: Bring along packable eye-catching decorations for your signing table, but don't overdo it or interfere with the decorations and signage the store or conference provides. Suggestions include a small prop related to your book's theme or setting, a brightly colored tablecloth, a sign, and in my case, yellow crime scene tape. I suggest a hard candy dish on your signing table, but buy the candy in a bulk multi-pound bag at Sam's or Costco. Avoid chocolates because they can melt, and bookstore owners don't want chocolate-smeared fingers on their books.

8. Dressing: Don't buy new clothes for the tour. Most fans are comfortable with an author who is neatly dressed just one notch higher than themselves. For instance, if most of the customers in a bookstore will be wearing jeans, I wear casual slacks and a shirt with a collar. Take clothing that travels well, can be layered, and can be washed on the road, preferably at a friend or relative's house.

I've used these guidelines many times in planning my own book tours for new releases. I've combined signings with trips to mystery conferences and even a trip to Oregon to attend my daughter's college graduation. Nowadays, I mostly focus on my home state of Colorado and on tacking extra book signings or library visits onto mystery conference appearances.

 Do you have any other good ideas for book touring on the cheap?

Rollin', rollin', rollin' ...

By Beth Groundwater

Move 'em on, head 'em up,
Head 'em up, move 'em out,
Move 'em on, head 'em out Rawhide!

That's the song that's going through my head as I write this post on Monday to pre-schedule it for its appearance today, when I'll be on the road for a week-long whirlwind book tour back east to promote the new release of Wicked Eddies, the second book in my RM Outdoor Adventures mystery series. Monday I was planning, packing, printing, and pre-scheduling blog posts. Tuesday I drove from Breckenridge, Colorado, to the Denver airport and flew from there to Newport News, Virginia, to be picked up by my parents. Yes, I'm squeezing in a visit with them on the trip!

However, while I'm staying with my parents, I will stop by the nearby Barnes & Nobles Booksellers store to sign stock copies of Wicked Eddies, as a "hometown gal made good" author. Also, I'm speaking tonight to the Chesapeake Bay Writers about "Series Writing for the Organizationally Challenged."

Rain and wind and weather
Hell-bent for leather
Wishin' my gal was by my side.

Friday, I pick up a rental car to drive to the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, DC, where I'll drop off the car and ride the Metro to Bethesda, Maryland, for the Malice Domestic conference. This is one of my favorite mystery fan conferences, and I'm looking forward to attending. I just hope I don't have to deal with rain and wind while I wrestle my luggage from house to car to airport to Metro station to hotel. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!

At Malice, I will be on the "Three Strikes, You're Dead: Sports-Related Mysteries" panel at 1:30 PM on Saturday. I'll also attend the Guppies luncheon, the Sisters in Crime breakfast, and other conference events. Then on Sunday I'll hop into a car with some other Midnight Ink authors to drive up to Oakmont, Pennsylvania, for the Festival of Mystery that will take place on Monday.

Don't try to understand 'em,

Just rope and throw and grab 'em,
Soon we'll be living high and wide.

Monday is packed with a librarian's tea, followed by the festival, then a pizza party for the authors at the Mystery Lovers Bookshop, the host for the festival. The Festival of Mystery draws in the most avid mystery fans that I have ever seen. They buy armloads of books and love talking to the authors who come. And I love talking to the readers! Of course, the goal is to sell as many books as possible so I can soon be living high and wide. ;-)

My heart's calculatin'
My true love will be waitin',
Be waitin' at the end of my ride.

Finally on Tuesday, May first, I'll fly and drive home. And yes, I'm looking forward to seeing my true love at the end of the ride!

AHH, THAT AIN’T WORKIN’…

Darrell James

Even the weather was perfect when I rolled into Bowling Green, Ohio, Wednesday—79 and sunny. I started by checking into the hotel and running through some notes I had made for the night’s event. See, I was scheduled to speak to a group at the Wood County Library at 7:00 pm, just one stop on the three month book tour I have planned.

The event was arranged and hosted by Mary Boone. Mary is a Sisters in Crime National Board member and Library Liaison for SinC. She’s also the librarian at the Wood County Library, a stunning facility that was recently remodeled to include a naturally lighted atrium reading area, that I found myself wishing I could make my permanent writing retreat.

Mary picked me up at the hotel, making me feel like a visiting head of state. I first got the walking tour of downtown Bowling Green. It’s quaint and traditional. The farmers market was alive with early evening shoppers, the booths filled with baskets of late corn, apples, and pumpkins. We had diner at Easy Street, a charming little eatery along the main drag. (For those who don’t know Mary, she’s charming, gracious, and fun. Everything you would hope for in your favorite librarian.)

At seven, we returned to the library where I had the opportunity to address a group gathered patiently to hear about my debut novel, Nazareth Child. To my delight a number of the attendees had already purchased and read the book, and were quick to add supportive comments. (It seems they loved it. And loved Del Shannon as well.)

Readers are the best. They’re knowledgeable of the genre and know what they like and dislike. Their questions are insightful, and they seem to have as much interest in how an author and a book came into being as in the book itself.

It was a great stop on my continuing book tour that started on September 9th in Pasadena, and will end roughly on November 19th back in California, at the Men of Mystery event in Irvine.

On Thursday, I met Craig, the Assistant Manager, at the Maumee, OH, Barnes & Noble. Nice guy! He immediately ordered in copies of Nazareth Child to be featured in their “new release” mystery section. (BTW: he would have been a nice guy even if he hadn’t ordered my books.)

As I write this post, I’m at the B & N coffee shop, drinking a root beer, and anticipating the signing I have later tonight, at Barnes & Noble Franklin Park, Toledo. The weekend will find me at B & N in Dayton, next week at Foul Play Books in Columbus, then Youngstown to speak to a writers group, and then to Cincinnati for a huge Midwest launch party with high school friends and family.

Many authors lament the trials of book promotion. I have to say, “If this is workin’, I’ll take it any day of the week.”
Now… on with the show.


Nazareth Child- A Del Shannon Novel has just been released from Midnight Ink, Llewellyn Worldwide. It is available through booksellers and online retailers and for download to all popular electronic readers.

Says The Mystery Reader: “The characters make this first mystery a stand out.”

On the Road Again ...

When this article posts, I will be sitting in the Denver, Colorado, airport waiting to board my flight to Washington, DC after having gotten up at o'dark thirty to drive to Denver from my home in Colorado Springs. Thus begins my East Coast Book Tour: 9 events in 10 days in 3 states (Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania). To see what I have planned, go to the Appearances page of my website.

Am I crazy? No, I'm just trying to make my promotion dollars stretch as far as possible. You see, every single bit of this trip will be paid out of my pocket. Like most authors, my publishers don't pay for me to go on tour. That only happens for bestselling authors, who really don't NEED to go on tour--readers are going to buy their books anyway. But for mid-list authors who DO need to visit different locations to get our name out there and meet booksellers, librarians, and readers, that tour money isn't forthcoming. So, it comes out of our advance checks.

Thus the need to stretch those travel dollars as far as possible.

Here's how I'm doing it. First, I dug into my frequent flier mileage accounts to pay for the flights, flying out on one airline's miles and returning on another's. I will rely on public transportation and a friend to get around in the Washington, DC area. That's so I can put off picking up a discount rental car using a Costco coupon until Sunday.

When I'm staying in hotels or motels for the Malice Domestic conference in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Festival of Mystery in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, I'm sharing a room with another mystery author. Otherwise, I'm mooching on a friend in Arlington, Virginia, for one night, an author friend in Annapolis, Maryland for one night, my sister in Charlottesville, Virgina, for another night, and my parents in Hampton, Virginia for four nights. Bread-and-butter gifts to my hostesses will likely be autographed copies of Deadly Currents.

I'll have one bookstore signing in each of the first three "mooch" locations, then I will use my parents' home as a base of operations for four events in the Tidewater area of Virgina: a signing at my alma mater (The College of William and Mary Bookstore), signings at two other bookstores in Newport News and Richmond, and teaching a class to the Hampton Roads Writers on "Realistic and Effective Dialogue in Fiction" that will net me a small speaker's fee. I spent my high school and college years in Hampton and Williamsburg, so even though the Tidewater area of Virginia is a loooong way from my current home in Colorado, I can claim "home town girl" status.

Whenever I can find a spare moment, I'll stop at other nearby bookstores to sign stock, if they have my book on their shelves, or to leave a postcard or bookmark if they don't, along with a suggestion that they order some copies. And those meals that aren't included in conference registrations or provided by my much-appreciated hosts? Will they be at fancy restaurants? No way, Jose! We're talking fast food salads or subway sandwiches for most of them.

So, what do you think of the glamorous life of the author on book tour? Want to join me?

Still Busy

Keith here.

My last, Smasher, came out in October. The plan was to focus on a "tour" with three dozen events that would go on until December. (Here's a retrospective of October and November.) But to my surprise, things are still hopping. Let's look at the last nine days.

Last Saturday I was down at the splendiferous Cerritos Library in SoCal for "Murder on the Menu" where Padmini Prabhakar of the Cerritos Library corralled fifteen of us crime fiction writers to speak to an enthusiastic lunchtime crowd of hundreds. Patty Smiley moderated a motley crew consisting of Dianne Emley, Stephen Jay Schwartz, April Smith, and me. Dianne, Stephen, and April were all terrific - witty and insightful. Patty kept us on our toes.


That's me between the witty and charming crime fiction aces Patty Smiley (l) and April Smith (r).

I always love hanging out with fellow writers. Great, as always, to see fellow InkSpotter Sue Ann Jaffarian who has been typing so hard she has two inch thick calluses on the pads of her fingers, along with old acquaintances Eric Stone, Bob Levinson, et al.

It turns out that two of Daughter #2's favorite authors of all time were going to be at the Cerritos Library with me. So I brought her along, and she had the chance to chat with Susan Kandel (Dial H for Hitchcock) and Joanne Fluke (Plum Pudding Murder). They were both friendly, attentive, and everything she could have hoped for. She also became a fan (as did I) of Hannah Dennison. #2 hardly needed the airplane to fly back home. But we had to hurry. I was signing books that evening at the Feast of Jewish Learning in Los Altos Hills. Amazingly, the logistics worked out and we made it.

The crew at Mystery on the Menu. My panel is seated. From left, Stephen Jay Schwartz, Dianne Emley, Patty Smiley, me, and April Smith. On the far left standing that's Susan Kandel, next to her is Eric Stone, Sue Ann Jaffarian is standing between April and me , and on the far right is Padmini Prabhakar, the woman in charge.

Sunday, the next day, I was doing a greet-and-sign at Kepler's where, mirabile dictu, Smasher is again the #1 paperback fiction bestseller.

Tuesday night I hit M is for Mystery to watch the fabulous Kelli Stanley launch her City of Dragons in front of a raucous audience of fans who were slinging back the sake and potstickers. The book is picking up great reviews everywhere and is a February Indie Next List pick. Can't wait to read it. (I also accused the store of not having any Smashers in stock. Pam, the buyer and one of my favorite booksellers in the world, took me to the shelf. She pointed. There they were, right where they should have been. Pam in turn accused me of not being able to spell my own last name. I pled not guilty to that charge. But I did confess to not knowing my ABCs. It will take me a long time to get out of probation on that one.)

That's Edgar nominee Sophie Littlefield and Juliet Blackwell on either side of the effervescent Kelli Stanley at M is for Mystery Tuesday night.

After Kelli's wing-ding and a good night sleep, I ended up back at M is for Mystery fourteen hours after I'd left it. How's that? Pal Carol Fitzgerald, the chief honcho of Bookreporter.com and all-around book maven, was in town for a BEA meeting. I'd consented to be her chauffeur/tour guide. We swung back up to M and then to Books Inc in Palo Alto. On the way back to my car after a sushi lunch, we met a woman who was walking out of the beauty parlor where she'd been reading my Dot Dead. She asked me for an autograph. Carol couldn't stop laughing. I had a great time. Here's Carol's take on our adventures.

With the terrific Carol Fitzgerald of Bookreporter.com at Books Inc in Palo Alto.

No rest for the wicked. This week is for writing and taxes except Wednesday when I'm teaching three classes at Los Altos High School during their Writers' Week. Next Saturday back at Kepler's for greeting and signing.

Speaking of signing, I'm signing off. So long.

Whose Kids Are Those? by Jess Lourey

Bouchercon 2009, coming this Thursday and lasting through Sunday, marks the end of my September Fair book tour. Those who know me, particularly those who rely on me for love, food, and shelter, refer to my book tours as "Mom's Crabby Time," a period where I’m so busy I forget what my kids look like and what my nice voice sounds like.

Yet despite the personal and financial cost, I continue to go on book tours. Here’s why:

• I want my series to do well.
• I value my publisher, Midnight Ink, and I understand the risk they're taking by publishing my novels and what they expect of me in terms of pushing the product.
• I like to see people who like my books.

But because I have a full-time job, two kids, and a partner who likes it when I occasionally acknowledge him, I now specialize in the "Work Smarter not Harder" style of book touring. It hasn't always been this way. With May Day, published in March 2006 and the first in the series, it was more of a Monica Lewinsky approach, where I was trying to please everyone. Not anymore. And I’d like to share with you the nuggets of efficient book touring I’ve picked up:

• Choose library engagements rather than bookstore booksignings. Libraries pay and in my experience, draw a larger crowd. And they always let you sell your books.
• Plan multiple booksignings in a single day. Three in one day, nine in a weekend is my record. I totally gave that weekend over to booksignings, which was exhausting but allowed me to schedule family time the rest of the week. And once you’re in signing mode, I say go for it.
• Contact local media at least three weeks before each signing. If you don’t have a great publicist like me, do this yourself. I’ve done it before, and they’re almost always grateful for a light news story. Only one signing in my two-month tour was not accompanied by a newspaper article or radio or television interview.
• Support your indies. Not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because they are the people who will handsell your books. A tiny store in northern Minnesota sold over 40 copies of September Fair the month it came out, and it’s because I connected with the owner. In my experience, booksignings are as much about making friends with the staff as they are about landing a new reader or two.
• That said, I always hit a couple B & Ns and Borders. It’s easier to get publicity for those, and B & N CRMs are some of my favorite people out there.
• Put writing on hold while on book tour, and keep the book tour to a limited span. You may disagree with me on this one, but I think writing and promoting run counter to each other, and it’s best to focus on one or the other. That’s why I keep my book tours to two months and turn down almost every request that doesn’t fall in that time period.

That’s about all I know for sure. Let me know if you have any questions about the above, or tips of your own to add. Hope to see you in Bouchercon!