Be forewarned. For the next month I am all about SE Asia and my tour with A Clash of Innocents. I leave in 5 days! But before I go I thought I’d write about how this all came together.  Lots of people have been asking who arranged it all, how did you do it, did it take time away from writing (that last question is my favourite, she says cynically). So today my blog is all about the hows, whys and wherefores of executing a book tour.

1. It’s up to you.  First thing to note is that unless you are a superstar or perhaps a twinkling wink in the writing firmament, you must take all the responsibility onto your own shoulders. Lord knows no one was banging down my door asking me to come speak to them.  But the good news was that when I got in touch with people and offered myself to them, they happily agreed and were even downright excited.

2. Get help wherever you can find it.  When people offer to make contacts for you or reach out to new people on your behalf, always say yes. Leave your “I don’t want to bother you” hat lying in the hallway. You do want to bother them and anyone else who might even be in the vicinity of offering help. When I first had the idea of taking my book, set in Cambodia, back to readers over there, my blogging friend, Jennie Beattie wondered out loud if maybe I could include Bangkok in my trip and that she could help find some places to talk if I did.  If I hadn’t accepted her help, none of this would have happened.  I would have been stuck in a fantasy. I can’t thank Jennie enough for turning my fantasty into a reality. And once I found my courage to ask people for help, I became  overwhelmed by the generosity of people out there happy to spend their time making my trip possible.

3. Embrace spreadsheets.  Once you decide this tour will really happen, you will be inundated with suggestions.  Everyone will know someone for you to contact.  Leave no stone unturned because for each ten ideas only one may turn out. But all that has to be kept track of — who did you email, what’s their address, when did you write, when did you  hear back or, more likely, when did you follow up, where did the contact come from?  This may sound obvious, but I didn’t get myself organised in this way until a few months into the process and by then I was a complete basket case, wasting hours looking for things I vaguely remembered doing, maybe.

4. Be prepared for the fact that this becomes your job.  I am the very first to say that I am lucky. I have resources and time to invest in my writing career – which is different than my writing. The career part of it is a job, and when it is time to promote that book which you spent years of your life writing, you need to take the time to do it right.  I certainly had to wait until my primary job, ie the kids and family, needed less of me before I could ever have done this. Like with any job, something has to be sacrificed. In this case, it was not only time with friends and some activities which were important to me, it was my writing time. Putting this tour together has literally taken a minimum of 5 hours a day. I know you don’t believe it. Here’s a list of what I have been doing every day:
  Wake up to find countless emails from all over the world waiting to be answered.
   Follow up on all the suggested contacts people have given me.
  Go onto facebook and twitter to remind people that I still exist.
   Keep up the blog at least 2ce a week so, again, people don’t forget about me.
   Follow up on all the contacts I made because ALMOST NO ONE responds.
   Follow up again.  
   Update my spreadsheet.
   Research new possible venues.
  Do the logistics of plane/train reservations, hotels,etc.
    Once events start getting scheduled set up  a calendar so I could keep everything straight
   Put together the workshops and presentations that I’ll be giving
   Leave the house and look away from all electronic devices, if only for 15 minutes.

Please don’t get me wrong. I am not complaining. But it is important to know that all this has to be done and that, generally speaking, you are the one who has to do it.  Again, I am very lucky. My publisher, Adele Ward at Ward Wood Publishing, has put more time and effort into this tour than most publishers would.  She and Mike Fortune-Wood have often taken on the tasks of contacting, and following up with bookshops and journalists all over the world, and then shipping books to them.  But ultimately, as the writer this is still primarily my job.

 5. Sure – get frustrated, but don’t let that stop you.  None of this will work out the way you envision, but if you keep at it, it will work out.  I think perseverance and creativity are the key words here.  People will not necessarily want to hear you talk about what you want to talk about. But that’s okay. Mold your presentations to fit their needs and that in itself will serve the same purpose. Yes, much of the time I will be giving my powerpoint presentation and reading excerpts from the book. But other times I’ll be talking to 10 year-olds about poetry or discussing how to reinvent yourself with a group of older expats.  And this leads to my last point:

6. Know your goals.  What is the point of the tour, anyway?  Everyone will have a different goal and their tour will reflect that. One of my goals is, of course, to sell books.  But that is actually a secondary one. To be honest, most of the money I make from the sales will be turned over to several charities I’m involved with over there. A tertiary goal is to research my next novel which will also be set in Cambodia.  But my primary goals are different: to increase my readership and name recognition, and to have the experience of presenting myself as a professional writer around the world.  Five years ago I would never have believed that it was possible.  I still can’t really believe it now.  But if I can do it, anyone can.  Maybe we writers are especially good at ignoring reality, or at least creating new ones.  I certainly am creating a new one for me.

I’m afraid that this is sounding preachy now. All I really wanted to do was to answer the how’s and why’s people have been asking.  Forgive me — I guess I’m getting excited and all a bit emotional about this.  Putting this trip together has taken most of the last 6 months of my life.  It’s now actually around the corner and I can’t believe it.  I do hope you’ll come along with me.