Setting Up a Book Tour
(Part 1)
One thing that publishing books have in common is that they will need a strategy to drum up their new product, sell more books, reap the rewards and grow their audience.
Book tours are a great way to connect with old fans and make new ones. They are a great benefit to venue hosts, interviewers and your readers. But for all that to happen, you must have a plan and your plan must include organization, book signings, interviews, and a very intentional schedule. So, I put together some of the tips I usually give our authors and I hope you will not only enjoy reading, but you will also learn something from it. So, let’s get started with the top seven actions you must take for a book tour sucess.
1. Be Decisive
Decide your tour length, date(s), times and venue(s). Book tours can be one, two, three or four weeks long. They shouldn’t be open-ended. It is important to have a clear goal for your tour, a theme to drive the focus and the decisiveness to succeed. Your book tour may be all about your newest book title or about you as an author.
TIP: Don’t be afraid to ask for help, ask for opportunities and learn from it all. “Ask and you shall receive”.
2. Research the Venues
These days, you don’t have to do book signings at a major bookstore to sell books. In many cases, a book sign at a mall, a coffee house or a half-price bookstore will be more viable and profitable. The point is to focus on your audience. For example, if you write a novel, your audience would likely be at various bookstores as well as book clubs. If you write an academic christian book, your audience is likely to be concentrated on places like churches, seminaries, Bible study groups, etc.
3. Be Prepared
Determine what you are going to say and when you are going to say it. This is very important. If you are unprepared, people will see through you and that may reflect an undesirable image of who you are.
Connect with your potential hosts and audiences. Research them. Research their content and gather relevant information that will help you build a rapport. Let them know you are coming to town at a predetermined date and time. Leverage social media posts, email newsletters and keep your blog content updated with your route, dates, times and venues. Engage your audience and keep your audience engaged.
TIP: Have a list of potential tour stops. Are there nearby radio stations? Reach-out to them. They are dying to hear from you.
4. Reach-out to Influencers
Influencers are other bloggers, radio talk show hosts, producers and the local TV broadcasters for the area where you will be touring. Now, keep in mind that these people are very busy and your message to them needs to solve at least one of their problems to be considered. With that said, you need to prepare yourself to be precise and to the point.
On part 2 of this post I will provide you with a template to help your persuasive pitch. Don’t miss it by subscribing to our blog today.
Continues on Part 2.