[James Bruno]

Two well-connected friends have offered to arrange book presentations/signings as well as media interviews for me when my upcoming Cuba thriller is published, which will happen sometime this spring. One resides in Miami; the other is in St. Louis, a city with a large defense dept. presence. I'm torn on whether to take up these offers. While, of course, I welcome any publicity I can muster, I don't care to get myself into a situation where I'm shelling out thousands of dollars in transportation, lodging, etc. costs just to sell twenty books and receive ephemeral media attention. I used to do these kinds of things in my region back before self-publishing took off and found them wearying and largely a waste of time. I took to heart Joe Konrath's conclusion that peddling your stuff in person just isn't worth the time and expense. My books were Kindle bestsellers throughout 2011-12, but without my having to do traditional p.r. Buzz got them there, boosted by Select. I was discussed on a national morning news program and in prominent newspapers. It was a thrill, but the impact on sales wasn't great.

So, I'm curious about other veteran authors' experiences and views on this. On a cost-benefit basis, is old fashioned book touring worth it?

 

[Amanda Brice]

If you're already going to be in a particular place (perhaps on vacation), then arranging a signing while you are there isn't too much trouble. You might not sell more than 20 copies, but you're not really out any extra money because you were going to be there anyway.

Same with doing a local signing. Still might not net you much money, but the goodwill and exposure could be worth it in the long run.

But actually spending money to travel to attend such an event? You're probably unlikely to sell enough to recoup that, so unless you desperately want to go for some other reason (such as the event is at a conference you've wanted to attend and would have gone to anyway) or you're such a big name already that readers will be lining up to buy your books and there will be preorders (in which case, mostly likely your publisher will be paying for the trip anyway, not you), then only do it if you really, really want to.

But since you've already experienced fatigue from doing these things in the past, then I'd stick to local/regional signings and radio/TV interviews that can be done remotely.