Have Book--Will Travel? Or..not?

On the Road Again
By Kelli Stanley

I am absolutely tickled pink—wait, maybe that should be red?—to be here as a guest on one of my favorite blogs with some favorite writers!! Huge thank yous to Hank and the gang for having me over!

By the time this post reaches that glorious red ink splash, I’ll be hotfooting it on the road again, heading to Los Angeles, San Diego and Scottsdale by car to promote the launch of CITY OF DRAGONS, which just came out from Thomas Dunne/Minotaur on February 2nd.

Now, even though there are times I feel like a battle-scarred veteran (and I am, at least of the Macmillan/Amazon war, which erupted the week of my release!), this is sort of my debut all over again, as NOX DORMIENDA, my debut novel, was originally published by a small press. To move from virtually no bookstore distribution to national distribution is a dream come true, and to me, there was no question about doing a tour—in fact, if time and money permitted me to, I’d be a vagabond for a good two months, and just make it a cross-country event.

At the same time I’m often asked by authors with even less experience than I have whether or not a book tour is “effective.” I’ve spoken with people who assure me that the tour is a dying form—rather like vaudeville, I think—and that the entire future rests on the even more congested roads of the internet.

OK, so I’m still a neophyte—this is my second book, after all—but here are my thoughts on why authors should tour:

It’s fun.
You meet people.
You visit interesting places.
You learn cool stuff.
You find fun places to eat and shop.

Have I mentioned it’s fun?

Honestly, why wouldn’t you want to meet readers and booksellers and (if you can) local journalists? Traveling out of town could even lead to inspiration for an upcoming book … and I always try to fit in a little time to play tourist if I can.

For example, on my trip to Seattle and Portland last week, we managed to squeeze in twenty minutes at the Brown and Haley factory (makers of Almond Roca) in Tacoma, WA, and visited the very same cool round factory outlet as a child. And I found out something cool—the building was actually built for the Seattle World’s Fair in ’62, and they transported it to Tacoma the year after. I love knowing stuff like that (and of course love Almond Roca and their newest, Macadamia Roca … yum!!) J

My point is that I think travel always enriches you. As a writer, a person, in every way. I’ve heard concerns (again, like vaudeville) that it’s just not “mass” enough to reach consumers. It’s true that George Burns and Gracie Allen sold much more soap via radio than they did on the vaudeville circuit … but books are a personal relationship between author and reader, and that takes time and effort to develop, and I, at least, think in person signings are a wonderful way to do it.

Whether one person or fifty show up to see you, you are still reaping so many rewards from visiting one of our wonderful booksellers and seeing a new city that it’s not just a good investment for your book—it’s a good investment for your life.

Those are my thoughts, anyway … what say you? To tour or not to tour? If you’re a reader, do you like to attend readings and signings and events? If you’re a writer, any stories from the road?

Biography:
Kelli Stanley’s second novel, City of Dragons, introduces Miranda Corbie—PI and ex-escort in 1940 San Francisco.
City of Dragons (released February 2, 2010) is the first of a series, has received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and Booklist, is an RT Book Reviews Top Pick, and an Indie Next Book for February. “Children’s Day”, a prequel to City of Dragons, will be published in First Thrills: High Octane Stories by the Hottest Thriller Writers, coming June 22nd from Tor/Forge.
Kelli’s debut novel, Nox Dormienda, won the Bruce Alexander Award and was nominated for a Macavity. She lives in San Francisco, and frequents old movie palaces, speakeasies and bookstores. You can find out more about her and her books at her website: http://www.kellistanley.com/.