travel
when you promote your book at an event far from home
Will I travel to promote my book?
Probably not? If your book is a lead title, your publisher might send you on a tour. Even if your book is not a lead title, your publisher might send you to a few places to promote your book (maybe a conference or festival or signing). But most authors don’t travel to promote their books unless they set this up themselves.
If I do travel, who will pay for it?
Any time your publicist emails you about doing an event that requires travel, you can expect you publisher will pay for said travel. That includes hotel, airfare, and usually a per diem for meals (you might have to ask about this last one). Also, they’ll cover the admission price to whatever conference they might send you to. Keep your receipts while you’re traveling so you can later email them to your publicist for reimbursement for costs like meals and taxi fare to the airport.
Your publicist will send you an itinerary for your travel, which will include your flight, hotel, schedule, and contact info for the travel agent. If anything goes wrong while you’re traveling to promote your book (you miss a flight, or the hotel says your publisher isn’t paying for the room) contact the travel agent or your publicist. Basically, you shouldn’t be paying for anything to do with promoting your book while you travel. (But if you decide to do some sight-seeing or anything extra like that, that cost is on you.)
TIP: Get TSA Precheck if you can afford it and give your publicist your KTN (Known Traveler Number) so they can submit it when they buy your plane ticket! This will save you a lot of hassle and time spent in the security line. It will also get you funny looks from people who think only business-types use Precheck and can’t figure out why a rumpled cool and casual writer would be using an airplane. So entertaining!
How does a publisher decide to send an author somewhere?
It all depends on the marketing budget for your book. But here’s a little more about the process:
Your publicist might pitch you for conferences and festivals, and if those organizations accept, your publisher will send you. If you want to know whether your publicist is pitching you for anything, have your agent ask (but be prepared for a “no, we’re not pitching this treasured author for anything, it’s sadly not in the budget”). Don’t be too bummed if your publicist’s pitch is turned down–not every organization can be expected to recognize what a gem you are.
Your book also has a page on Edelweiss that specifies whether you are available for travel and how far from home you can travel (based on whether/how much your publisher is willing to pay for travel, which depends on their marketing budget for your book). Bookstores can use this page to request that you visit their store. The publisher will then ask if you’re willing to travel to said store, and will pay for you to make your way there.
If you get your hustle on and pitch yourself directly for any out-of-town events, you can try asking your publisher if they can help pay for your travel. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won’t–and sometimes they’ll tell you that the event you have your eye on is really not worth doing and you should save your money.
Should I pay to send myself somewhere to promote my book?
I mean… I wouldn’t. But I also really love my bed (I have a great hybrid mattress). But if you can sleep on someone’s couch or use some points to fly free, maybe it would be worth it? See also: Tour.
What kind of follow-up should I do after I travel to promote my book?
If you visited a bookstore, consider sending a thank you note. This is not only just a nice thing to do (and I bet you like doing nice things!), but it’s also a way to help them remember you so that they keep selling your book long after your event has ended.
If your publisher sent you, email your receipts to your publicist for reimbursement. Also send them a short email on how the event went so that they know 1) that it was worth sending you or 2) that this event isn’t so great after all and they shouldn’t subject other writers to participating in it. “But was it worth sending me?” Yes–even if you didn’t have great sales, you probably made some positive connections that will help your book into the future.
Traveling is the coolest part of being an author!
No, it’s not. It’s grueling and lonely. It makes you feel like a big shot for about five minutes, and then you realize that it’s no guarantee of success. Enjoy those tiny plane pretzels, though!
The Index for Debut Authors 