By Denise Turney

Hitting the road and going on book tours is an effective way to connect with readers in person, answering their questions about your writing process, characters in your books and what inspired or motivated you to create the stories you’ve penned. By taking your books on the road you can also increase your book sales in the short and long term.

Get the Most Out of Book Road Trips    

Readers appreciate meeting authors of their favorite books. In this regard, readers are akin to sports and music fans. They want to get close to the people who use their talents to captivate, entertain, inspire, educate and/or motivate them. Truth be told, many of us book authors, who are also avid book readers, get excited when we meet other writers whose works we admire.

Book events are fun. Take events like Book Expo America (BEA), the Maui Writer’s Conference or Miami International Book Festival and its clear to see why millions of people trek out to book events each year. There are author discussion panels, editor and literary agent meet and greets, keynote speakers and, of course, book signings.

To get the most out of book road trips, consider creating an itinerary so you remember to visit certain booths, connect with media outlets and engage readers while you’re out and about. You can also:

• Introduce yourself to event organizers (it’s a great way to learn about upcoming appearance opportunities)
• Schedule interviews with talk radio stations within 15 or fewer miles of the book event you’re attending (make sure you announce the dates, times and locations of local events you’re attending)
• Bring enough books to sell at local events you’re scheduled to attend (no sense in running out of books one to two days before you’re scheduled to leave town)
• Visit other author books (it’s a great way to network and make friends)
• Focus on building relationships with book lovers (keep in mind that if you don’t sell lots of books at an event, if you make enough rewarding connections, you may see an increase in book sales days or weeks after you return home)
• Giveaway free bookmarks, brochures, book excerpts, etc. (be sure to include your website URL on all giveaways)
• Volunteer to read from your books at events

At the end of events be sure to thank the event organizers, supporters and book lovers for coming. In fact, make it a point to thank each person who stops by your booth, even if they don’t buy a copy of your book. I made a point to do this while on the road with my books Portia, Love Has Many Faces, Long Walk Up and Spiral. I plan on taking my new book, Love Pour Over Me, on the road this autumn; hope to see you while I’m on the road!

While you’re on the road with your books, meeting readers, media, booksellers and librarians, remember that life is truly about communicating and relationships. Above all, love what you’re doing. Stay in the moment and allow yourself to absolutely love and enjoy attending each book event you travel to!

Thank you for reading my blog. To learn what happens to Raymond, Brenda and the other characters in Love Pour Over Me, hop over to Amazon.com, B&N.com, Ebookit.com and get your copy of Love Pour Over Me today. And again I say – Thank You!

Purchase Love Pour Over Me at Ebookit

Purchase Love Pour Over Me at Amazon.com

Purchase Love Pour Over Me at Barnes and Noble

Thank you!