February 2014 was a revelation to me. Up until A Darkling Sea came out, I still had the quaint belief that the author's job was to write stuff and the publishers took care of selling it. I forgot that one of the most effective selling tools in the publisher's kit is the author. During February I hit the road as a pitchman for A Darkling Sea.
Tor Books did something clever. They had three first-time authors based in New England with books coming out at the same time. So they sent us around as a little traveling show.
My fellow road crew:
Brian Staveley, author of The Emperor's Blades, the first volume of a Big Honkin' Fantasy Trilogy. Great guy, very energetic and enthusiastic. He's been a teacher and so could use his classroom skills to manage our book appearances.
Ramona Wheeler, author of Three Princes, an alternate history spy story set in a steampunk Egyptian Empire. A very gracious lady with an impressive amount of erudition about all things Egyptian.
After-action Reports
Our first appearance was supposed to be at the Towne Book Center in Collegeville, Pennsylvania on February 4, but a catastrophic blizzard the night before made it impossible to get there, so it had to be cancelled. We're still hoping to reschedule that one.
The second date was the Barnes & Noble bookstore in Holyoke, Massachusetts on the following evening. That was the closest venue to my house. Unfortunately, the same blizzard which overwhelmed Pennsylvania had brushed Massachusetts, and hardly anyone showed up.
A couple of days later the three of us reconvened in Worcester, Mass., at Annie's Book Stop. By that point people had dug themselves out a bit, and we had a small but fun gathering. The staff at Annie's are all hard-core SF and fantasy fans, so it was almost like a miniature science fiction convention.
The next day I drove the length of Massachusetts to a second Barnes & Noble appearance at the store in Hingham. That was a Saturday with much nicer weather, so the turnout was better. (The bookstore staff did something clever: they set up our reading/signing right next to the store cafe, which effectively doubled our audience. At least a couple of people from the coffeeshop drifted over to the signing table afterward.)
Another couple of days off. I discovered that it isn't as easy as I thought to alternate between road trips and writing, especially since I still have to squeeze in parts of domestic life as well.
On Tuesday the 11th we met in Portsmouth, New Hampshire at RiverRun Bookstore. That whole day exceeded expectations. Portsmouth was a lot bigger, nicer, and more interesting than I had thought it would be. I drove out early and had time for a nice dinner with Ms. Wheeler and her companion. If you happen to be in Portsmouth I can unreservedly recommend the restaurant Cava.
RiverRun Bookstore is not a huge store, but the manager is intensely professional. The event was well-planned and well-promoted, with New Hampshire SF giant Jim Kelly serving as moderator for a panel discussion by the three touring writers. We drew the biggest crowd of the tour so far.
Another day off, during which I worked to catch up on stuff I'd missed while on the road, and kept an anxious eye on the weather forecast. Note to self: see if I can arrange for my next book to come out in a more pleasant time of year.
On Thursday the 13th I drove out to Cambridge in light snow which turned to sleet as I got closer to the coast. I stopped off at the legendary Pandemonium Books and Games to "sign some stock" as we old hands at the book-promotion game put it.
Personal aside: I don't understand buying a signed copy of a book. I'm happy to sign them, and if my scribble helps move inventory, then I'm all for it, but I don't understand it. The signed books I own are signed by people I know or writers I admire, and I got them to do it myself. But just a random signature? I don't get it.
After an unpleasant walk through deepening slush (doesn't anyone shovel their sidewalks in Cambridge?) and a sub-par dinner I got to the mighty Harvard Coop bookstore feeling a little cranky. The staff there, however, were extremely professional and enthusiastic. They must have done a fantastic job of getting the word out, because we had a very good crowd despite the vile weather. Ms. Wheeler was unable to get there, but Brian Staveley and I managed to keep the audience entertained. Afterwards we adjourned to a nearby pub with some of the people from the signing, and the weather even started to improve. Definitely a successful evening.
As the Boskone science fiction convention began the following day, I simply stayed the night at the convention hotel on my publisher's nickel (a whole bunch of nickels, really). I signed more stock in the dealer room at Boskone and participated in a group reading by the mighty Cambridge SF Workshop. It probably says something about how frazzled I was getting that I can't remember what I read. Something, probably fiction.
I only had about twenty-four hours at Boskone, because on Saturday the 15th Brian and I were scheduled for a reading on his home ground: Bartleby's Books in Wilmington, Vermont. I drove directly there from Boston and had some moments of genuine anxiety as I penetrated deeper and deeper into the wilds of southwestern Vermont with the low gas light on my dashboard glaring at me. Happily I had enough fumes in the tank to reach a station in Wilmington, so Tor Books didn't lose a promising new writer to bears.
After that I had a whole week off, with no worries but my kids home from school on vacation and another seige of abominable weather.
The big finale to our tour was this past Monday, at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in sunny Manhattan. I spent the morning getting to New York by car and train, and then spent the afternoon strolling from my hotel to the bookstore on foot. Along the way I got to visit the Tor Books offices in the historic Flatiron Building. (Sadly, the inside of the building is fairly generic-looking, unlike Daniel Burnham's wonderful gaslight-era exterior.)
I was a little uncertain whether a bookstore in New York's trendy SoHo district would draw a lot of science fiction readers, but the Housing Works event blew away all my expectations. The store volunteers did a superb job of promoting it as part of their ongoing "Geek Week" event showcasing science fiction, fantasy, and comics. Tor Books ponied up for an open bar, and the result was a packed house. There must have been more than a hundred people in the store.
For this event the travelin' threesome were joined by California dark fantasy writer David Edison, author of The Waking Engine. The four of us answered questions about our books and random topics, played a round of "Exquisite Corpse" to spin a story based on elements suggested by the audience, and (of course) signed a lot of books.
I spotted several New York-based writers in the audience: the fantasy-writing duo of Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman, and fantasy-technothriller pioneer Myke Cole, among others. A great time was had by everyone.
Lessons Learned
So what do I think about book promotion?
I suppose this is where I get to go all rock star and talk about how hard it is being on the road, but the simple truth is that I enjoyed the hell out of this book tour. Writing is a solitary activity, so getting out and meeting people who like books — my book among them — is a tremendous ego boost. For now I'm perfectly willing to go wherever my publisher feels like sending me.
BUT, I have learned that book tours are pretty much full-time work. While I did get a little mental plotting and brainstorming done during my solitary hours behind the wheel or in the hotel room, I eventually gave up taking my laptop along. (For one thing, having it in my bag made me worry all the time about losing it.)
I got a few opportunities to have nice meals, but I also wound up gobbling down something at Burger King a couple of times. In future I'll try to allow more time for travel, especially when I'm driving in dodgy weather.
There's one stop left on the tour: Flights of Fantasy Books and Games in Albany, New York. I'll be there March 30. Come on out and get a book signed!
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