Experience Tips # 4-7

Charming southern authors, Shellie Tomlinson and River Jordan, are a publisher's dream team. They loaded the car and went on the "Wing & a Prayer Tour" with 22 bookstore stops in 14 days. This was not a whim, but a carefully crafted book tour which, if you can afford the time and money, might be the "write twist" for your promotion.

Here are elements of their tour that are worth repeating by those of us who can't leave the day jobs:

Experience Tip # 4: Build interest in the tour weeks before departing. Shellie has a radio show, however, you could use Facebook, Twitter or other social media to announce your plans. Choose a manageable travel schedule. You may only have three day weekends and can't cover as much ground.

Experience Tip # 5: Work in advance with each bookseller to encourage local promotion. Don't put all of the marketing on the bookseller, send your own press releases to media in each stores' local area. Ask the store owner to share their media list with you.

Experience Tip # 6: Bring promotional materials, free standing sign (better than a banner), small folding table with clean cloth and give-aways. Shellie and River got prizes from their publishers and other sponsors. As a newcomer, you won't have that luxury so bring along inexpensive but clever giveaways.

Experience Tip # 7: Post information and photos of your tour online promptly and send old fashioned "thank you" cards to each book store that hosted your appearance.

Shellie and River partnered in this venture. At each stop, Shellie mentioned that they cross-promoted each other's books. Shellie suggested that several authors representing different genres might team up to reduce costs and multiple interest.

*** Click the links on their names above to visit their sites. You'll be glad you did!