A Case for Touring Twice

make the most of your time with readers

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A couple of weeks ago, on a virtual coffee catch-up with my friend Robbin Mangano, publicist and bookstagrammer who is really immersing herself into the industry landscape, we started talking about the relationship between authors, books, and readers (my favorite conversation).

I could probably write 12 Substack posts based on points in our conversation, but the one I want to focus on today is author events, and I want to start by posing a question to you:

If you follow my Instagram, you’ll be familiar with this question, as I asked it immediately after Robbin and I hung up. She also posted about it on her Sunday Reading Book Club Instagram (because clearly, this topic planted a seed in both of our heads).

Here’s what we know

As an author, a lot of pressure is placed on your launch period, which spans from about 21 days before publication to about 30 days post-launch. That’s less than two months for you to become a knockout hit. Many authors plan their book tours to align with this window in order to maximize visibility and sales, and the logic is there: Your writing is your livelihood, and your book needs to reach the people who will buy it. BUT. Are your readers ready?

The results are in

Like many concepts in the publishing industry, there was no black-or-white response to my poll. ‘It depends’ won by a long shot. No matter what we do, publishing stays living in the grey. But this one makes sense.

Readers who go to an author event before reading the book are there for discovery. They love the author and whichever book is being promoted is secondary. Or, they’re on the fence and want to hear what the author has to say before digging in. Either way, you likely come out of that event with a few new fans and a few books sold. The tradeoff is that you can’t go too deep on the plot, because your audience may not want spoilers before letting their imagination do the work reading requires.

Readers who go after reading the book are there for depth. Once you’ve read a book, everything else, the talks, the reviews, the podcasts, the events, becomes supplemental content that takes you deeper into the author’s world. It’s a tried and true model across industries: the ‘making of’ is always released after something is a hit, when consumers are still connected to the concept. When your event is filled with readers who’ve finished the book, you can get into real discussion: plot, premise, characters, your process…almost more like a book club. You may sell fewer copies of that particular title, but if you have a backlist, you might be surprised to see those books fly off the shelves. The readers loved your latest enough to show up for more, and you connected with them in a way that makes them want to stay close to your work.

In both scenarios, author events significantly strengthen the relationship between author, book, and reader, and that directly affects the health of your writing career.

So how the heck do you capitalize? Well.

Here’s what I recommend, and don’t kill me: do both.

The year before your book launches, start befriending independent bookstore booksellers. Start locally, and expand intentionally. Where do many of your comped authors go on tour? Are any locations central to your storyline? And beyond bookstores, what types of spaces would make sense based on the themes in your book? This is also the time to build relationships with aligned authors who are publishing around the same timeframe, local or otherwise.

Your launch window. Throw yourself a really cool launch party. Publishing a book is a huge milestone that deserves to be celebrated, not stressed over. You deserve a moment to acknowledge yourself and celebrate this accompilshment. That said, do it right (lol). Create an on-book-brand theme, curate the guest list, have a photographer. The primary goal is to indulge in your success, but the secondary goal is always to create a little promotional buzz.

Your new release tour. Depending on your current fanbase (debut vs. seasoned will weigh in here), you can approach this in two ways: One, go for it. A traditional book tour focused on sales and visibility, which is arguably easier for a seasoned author with a strong fanbase. Two, volunteer to be the moderator for other authors’ tours. The moderator always gets a bio shout out and has their book propped up too. It’s a great way to spread the word about your book without being the focal point, and many readers will walk away with it at the end of the event, once they’ve met you and heard what you have to say.

Your backlist tour. Wait about six months, and then go on tour. Pause for reaction.

This gives readers a chance to have read your book and interact with you when they get to your events. Between launch and this tour, promote your dates and encourage readers to come having read the book, so you can discuss it together like a book club.

If you want to incentivize readers to read ahead in either scenario, consider pricing your ticket to cover a copy of the book, and mail it out ahead of the event. You can even include a note sharing that your tour contains spoilers and bonus content, both of which will be most rewarding for readers who come prepared.

When you shift your mindset and remove the time constraint and pressures of launch, time and opportunities to connect with readers will feel endless.

By the way, Robbin recently launched the Sunday Reading Book Club website, with a really cool feature that catalogues all author events in the area. It starts with Boston (her city,) and will expand to others in the coming months.

xx

Jessica Sorentino specializes in branding and marketing for authors, helping them connect with readers and position their work for agents and publishers. With over a decade in publishing, she transforms stories into lasting brands through strategy, connection, and visibility.