{"id":2089,"date":"2012-09-03T08:30:54","date_gmt":"2012-09-03T12:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.old.caraghobrien.com\/book\/?p=2089"},"modified":"2012-09-03T09:09:26","modified_gmt":"2012-09-03T13:09:26","slug":"a-book-tour-ahead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/promised-2\/a-book-tour-ahead\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Tour Ahead"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When I told one of my friends Macmillan was sending me out on a book tour this fall, he said, \u201cOf course.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what publishers do for all their writers?\u201d<\/p>\n

As readers, we know from activity at our local bookstores that writers are regularly coming through, giving readings and signing books. Because these events are so visible, it seems like publishers are always sending out writers on tour.<\/p>\n

But actually, from a writer\u2019s perspective, it\u2019s rare to be sent on a real, publisher-run book tour, and I was surprised to be chosen. It turns out that Gaia\u2019s story has gained followers. Those nice readers have made their numbers felt, and that\u2019s why MacKids picked me for a book tour. For that, I’m thankful.<\/p>\n

Usually, if writers visit bookstores or libraries, we do so because we\u2019re friends with the booksellers, or the librarians have invited us to come.\u00a0 We personally arrange the events with our contacts, and if the venues are out of town, we coordinate the dates around travel when we\u2019re visiting family.\u00a0 For me, bookstore and library visits are a low-key, grassroots way to connect with readers, and a chance to get excited about reading and writing with like-minded friends. If cupcakes are involved, all the better.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Check out the smoky flying purple star. Irresistible!<\/p><\/div>\n

On the other hand, the tour MacKids is sending me on this October works on a different scale. First of all, the tour has a name, The Fierce Reads Tour<\/a>, and I\u2019m in the second wave of appearances along with three other writers, Genn Albin<\/a>, Marie Rutkoski<\/a>, and Leigh Bardugo<\/a>.\u00a0 Aside from shipping the four of us around to six cities, MacKids is also investing in advertising and various tie-ins, like the free chapter sampler<\/a> which is now up on Kindle, Nook and elsewhere.\u00a0 A bunch of us will be doing an open Twitter chat\u00a0(#FierceReads)<\/a>\u00a0next Wednesday, 9\/5 at 7 EST, and a MacKids publicist is running a Facebook<\/a> page for us. \u00a0Lest we take ourselves too seriously, a rather hysterical book trailer<\/a>\u00a0has a smoky flying purple star that swirls around our book covers. \u00a0I can’t help thinking of Tinkerbell on a bad day, and it makes me giggle every time. With all this coordinated activity, I already feel like I\u2019m part of a team.<\/p>\n

You may be wondering why publishers don\u2019t send every writer on tour, or what they expect to get out of a group tour like mine.\u00a0 Plane tickets, hotel stays, and ads are expensive, and arranging them takes man-hours.\u00a0 That\u2019s why publishers can\u2019t send everybody.\u00a0 I told my publicist, Allison Verost, I couldn\u2019t see how the tour would sell enough books to cover its costs, and she said it doesn\u2019t work that way. \u00a0MacKids is taking a risk, and they don’t expect a short-term payoff. \u00a0Instead, we, MacKids and the individual writers, are expanding goodwill and sharing good times with readers, booksellers and librarians.\u00a0 We hope people will read the books, enjoy them, and spread the word. \u00a0That\u2019s a philosophy I can embrace.<\/p>\n

What does this mean for me in practical terms? \u00a0At some point, I\u2019ll have to pack a suitcase.\u00a0 So far, I\u2019m still just writing on my couch most of the time, exploring new ideas. \u00a0I’m swapping emails with the other tour writers, who are lovely and funny behind the scenes. \u00a0In my usual way, I\u2019m arranging my own visits to my favorite bookstores around the time when Promised<\/em> comes out, because there’s nothing like being happy in familiar places. \u00a0For all of it, I\u2019m getting a wee bit excited.<\/p>\n

Okay, actually I’m pretty psyched. Promised<\/em> comes out in less than a month!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Fierce Reads Tour:<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at 5:00 pm
\nLake Forest Book Store<\/a> – Lake Forest, IL<\/p>\n

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm
\nBethesda Public Library<\/a> – Bethesda, MD<\/p>\n

Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 6:30 pm
\nCover to Cover Book Store<\/a> – Columbus, OH<\/p>\n

Friday, October 19, 2012 at 5:00 pm
\nSquare Books Book Store<\/a> – Oxford, MS<\/p>\n

Saturday, October 20, 2012 at 1:00
\nRidley Township Library\/Children\u2019s Book World<\/a> –\u00a0 Haverford, PA<\/p>\n

Sunday, October 21, 2012
\nNew York City (Location and Time TBA)<\/p>\n

Additional bookish events are listed under Upcoming Events in the side column.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I told one of my friends Macmillan was sending me out on a book tour this fall, he said, \u201cOf course.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what publishers do for all their writers?\u201d As readers, we know from activity at our local bookstores that writers are regularly coming through, giving readings and signing books. Because these events […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[203,109],"class_list":["post-2089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-promised-2","tag-fierce-reads","tag-promised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2089"}],"version-history":[{"count":37,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2107,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2089\/revisions\/2107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.caraghobrien.com\/book\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}