Are Book Tours Worth It?
A Literal Literary Loser Hits the Road
I received so much gratitude for the post I wrote last week, This Little Author Went To Market-(Ing), where I broke down my advertising expenses for The Figure Skating Mystery Series (5 Books In 1) versus how much it actually earned in 2022, that I decided to continue my - possibly ill-advised - campaign of complete transparency in the hope of helping fellow authors.
As I explained, it was OK that The Figure Skating Mystery Series (5 Books In 1) didn’t make back the money I spent on marketing. I was still able to finish my fiscal year in the black, due to my two best-selling, self-published titles.
In 2022, Getting Into NYC High-School earned $455.22 on Amazon. It’s companion book, Getting Into NYC Kindergarten, earned $13.98 on BN.com and $1,018.09 on Amazon.
How much money did I spend on marketing the above? Not a penny. How much time did I spend on marketing the above? All the time.
I have a website about applying to schools in NYC. I do interviews, print and TV, about applying to schools in NYC. I write articles and make YouTube videos about applying to schools in NYC.
And, yes, all of the above sells books. But you know what books sell? Books sell my parent workshops about applying to schools in NYC. And my private consults about applying to schools in NYC.
When it comes to non-fiction, books are, more often than not, not the end goal, but simply part of a broader strategy. The bulk of the profit comes from what opportunities the books open up for you. A book brands you an expert. And experts are invited to write expert articles and make expert speeches. For pay.
That isn’t the case with fiction. Fiction, more often than not, is the end product.
So what sells fiction books?
Do book tours sell fiction books?
Yes.
Do they sell enough books to make a profit?
At the end of this month, I am embarking on a mini-book tour of the Bay Area. It’s where I lived from 1977 to 1994. It’s where the modern day section of my current historical fiction, My Mother’s Secret: A Novel of the Jewish Autonomous Region, takes place.
I would have visited Northern California anyway. I am taking my mother (not the one with the secret, my actual mother) to visit her sister in Alameda. So I am not counting the cost of plane tickets towards the cost of the book tour.
We are staying at my aunt’s house. So there will be no hotel expenses.
I have booked several authors’ appearances while I am there.
A talk with a book club in Burlingame on Tuesday the 24th.
A talk at my old Jewish Day School, The Brandies School, on Wednesday the 25th. (Register here to see me be interviewed by Stanford lecturer Oleysa Shayduk-Immerman - plus, snacks!)
A talk with Masha Rumer, author of Parenting with an Accent: How Immigrants Honor Their Heritage, Navigate Setbacks, and Chart New Paths for Their Children at Green Apple Books on Thursday, January 26. (This is very exciting for me, as I basically spent the bulk of my childhood in their stacks. Register, here.)
A talk with the Jewish Community Library on Sunday, January 29. (I am told that there is free parking. This also is very exciting. Register here.)
The latter three events will take place in San Francisco. I will be staying in Alameda. That’s in the East Bay, over the bridge (no, not the one that gets destroyed in every movie, the other one). I don’t drive. I used to, when I lived in California. But, since moving to New York City, I haven’t gotten behind the wheel of a car in seventeen years. I am not about to refresh my stagnant memory in Bay Area traffic.
Which means that, to get to my events, I will need to take public transportation, a taxi, an Uber, or some combination of all three.
This is the Bay Area. Everything is expensive in the Bay Area. Even excluding plane tickets and lodging from the equation, will I sell enough books at my four combined appearances to make up for the cost of transportation to get there?
Stay tuned for another exciting installment of: I Make the Book Marketing Mistakes… So You Don’t Have To!