We’ve got our tour dates posted, and we’re starting to think about what the weather will be like in Little Rock, Arkansas, or Birmingham, AL or . . . This is about the time we get emails saying, “But you’re not coming to my city. You NEVER come to my city.” It’s not because we don’t want to. Honestly, we are very fortunate to be going on a publisher sponsored book tour at all. Like everything else, book tours are not what they used to be. They are generally shorter—more like a sample than a tour, which means there are a lot of folks we haven’t seen in a long time. Like the folks in Texas—Dallas-Ft Worth, Austin, Houston, Florida—Tampa-St.Pete, Orlando, Miami, St Louis, Kansas City, Portland, OR, Phoenix, Denver. . . It doesn’t mean we don’t love you. It just means we—meaning you and us—have to figure out our own way.
How do we do that? Well, it’s about joining forces. We find it difficult to get to individual book clubs these days (although when our schedule permits, we can arrange a phoner). There aren’t enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month. . . But if you reach out to other book clubs to make a larger group, invite other visitors—you get the picture. The more, the merrier, because we like to visit with as many readers in an area as we can. Besides, who doesn’t love an excuse to get together and meet new people.
How do we get there? Well, we have a four hour rule in terms of driving—if your City is within four hours of the metro NY-NJ area, we will consider driving. We actually enjoy car trips—and we do sing along with the tunes—loud and wrong. If you are further away, then you need to provide transportation—not Greyhound, although we have done Amtrak. We have had sororities, professional groups, and book clubs (Like Tabahani in Long Beach, California and Turning Pages in the Bay Area) fly us out for events. Hey, turn it into a fund raising brunch or lunch. All kinds of amazing things happen when folks put their heads and dollars together! Nothing like having a great time and doing some good too. As for accommodations--what we need is a place to stay if it’s more than a day trip—not cousin Mary’s spare room, although we’re sure it’s very nice. One hotel room, two beds works fine.
Bottom line—if you’d like us to visit your city-we’re definitely game, so come up with a plan, contact us, and let’s see if we can work it out!