The end of author tours?
Matthew Dicks has never been a fan of the conventional book tour.
The author and Newington resident — whose most recent book, “Twenty-One Truths About Love” was released last year — has never seen the point of traveling all over the country to speak to small audiences about his books. “I don’t think I should be flying all the way to California to meet a grand total of 100 people,” Dicks says.
He’s found it much more efficient to guest on podcasts or make promotional videos on YouTube. It’s less expensive and even the less successful podcasts can reach anywhere from 100 to 500 people, Dicks says. He says his preferred method of promotion used to make him something of an outlier among authors, but he predicts that will change.
With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, authors, both new and experienced, have had to cancel conventional book tours and get creative. Some are doing virtual “appearances,” recording videos of themselves reading their works, and using social media and podcasts more liberally to promote that work.
Even after the world settles down a bit, Dicks predicts that these methods of promotion will at least partially replace more conventional book tours as a form of promotion. “I think this is going to accelerate something that I’ve felt has always been the norm,” he says.
Indeed, many well-known authors have jumped on the virtual promotion bandwagon, including sibling authors Lynne Constantine and Valerie Constantine, who write under the name Liv Constantine.
Last week, the Fairfield University Bookstore announced it would host a virtual book launch with the Constantines at 7 p.m. May 19, in support of their new book “The Wife Stalker.”
Other authors have gone grassroots in promotion of new works, including Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, whose nonfiction book “Pop Star Goddesses” came out on April 7. To plug it, Armstrong posted a series of videos on her Twitter page, in which she plays hits from the pop divas featured in her book on an acoustic guitar (usually while seated on her bed and donning leisurewear).
But it’s not that these authors have had any choice other than to get creative.
“It’s not a great thing to have a book coming out right now,” says children’s author Karen Romano Young of Bethel.
She had two books in the works before the pandemic hit, and one has been already pushed from its original publication date of fall 2021 to spring 2022. Young says she isn’t sure what the longterm impact of COVID-19 will be on authors and the publishing industry, but agrees with Dicks that using social media, videos and other technology to promote books could become more common.
Young says she didn’t necessarily start recording videos of herself reading her book “A Girl, A Raccoon and the Midnight Moon” to promote the middle-grade novel. Rather, she wanted a way to connect with her young readers in the absence of visits to schools or book conferences.
“It will be a long time before I know whether it’s making books sell or not but It’s not really about that,” Young says.
However, whether or not it’s been lucrative, it has been a fun way to connect with her readers and Young can see herself doing it going forward.
“I think it’s empowering to kids and it’s empowering for me,” she says. “I think that has been a fun impact of this.”
Dicks, meanwhile, is kind of looking forward to the rest of world realizing what he has — that there are lots of ways to sell books and connect with readers and they don’t always involve leaving home. “What’s happening now is probably what always should happen,” he says. “We’re expanding our reach.”
Monroe native and bestselling author John Searles says he also expects promotion to change as a result of COVID-19. The author of such books as “Strange But True” (which was recently made into a movie) and “Help for the Haunted” says he, too, tried to be creative about marketing his work even before the pandemic hit.
“I launched an initiative called ‘50 Books Clubs, 50 States,’ in which I met with a book club in each state across the country,” says Searles. “Most of those meetings happened on Facetime or Skype and were lots of fun. Since so many of us are used to conducting a big part of our lives online, these sorts of events feel totally natural. Given the restrictions of this pandemic, writers will definitely have to ramp up new initiatives to get their books seen.”
Though he’s enjoyed watching the way promotion has evolved, Searles says he does hope that conventional promotion methods aren’t totally abandoned long term. “I’m very much hoping to go on tour for my new book when it is out next year, so I can see readers in person and give so many of them a hug,” he says.