With every tour or signing announcement, I always feel bad because there's a lot of places always left out. Just not outside the U.S., but some states that it just doesn't make sense for a publisher to send me to. There is always a lot of questions about signings and requests for me to come to certain areas after a signing is announced or a contest. Which by the way makes me all warm and fuzzy, because I am beyond flattered that anyone, anywhere would want to meet me.
But sometimes I get emails where people are really upset that a country or location is left off the list, sometimes at me, so I thought it would be good to address the issue of signings. Keep in mind, this is not the same for every author, but it's a pretty widespread practice.
1. I don't pick the places where I do a tour. Sometimes I have a say in it. Like with the Deity tour, I told the publisher I wanted one day I could spend in Salem. Yep, that's the extent of my control. The tour is almost always set up by the publisher and the author goes where they are told, because nine out of ten times, the publisher is paying for the tour and related expenses. While I'd love to hit up every state, a publisher isn't going to pay for something like that and I'd go bankrupt trying to fund something like that.
2. Events are totally different. Authors usually have to be invited to attend an event, like PAYA or YALLFest or they have to register to attend the event. And attending those events are not free usually. Some cost upwards of $500 or more for the author to take part in and most of the time the publisher doesn't pay for the event or the cost of traveling. A lot of authors, including me, foot those bills because some of the larger events like BEA and RT are well worth that kind of investment because you get to meat hundreds if not thousands of readers. So sometimes the reason why an author doesn't go to an event near you is because a) they weren't invited b) they didn't register in time to attend c) they have a book to write/deadline and therefore cannot attend.
3. Tours can cost a decent amount of the money. The publisher needs to have the expectation that they can recoup the loss through the tour or during and afterward through exposure. That's why you see a lot of author tours in big cities. It's all about markets. I'm sure they have a crazy complicated formula for it, but they target certain cities based on reading statistics, event participation, population, and a whole slew of other factors. For example, authors never EVER come to Martinsburg, West Virginia, because of all those factors. I live there and don't do signings there. The best advice I can say is keep an eye on your favorite author. They may not ever come to your town, but they may come to one that is pretty close.
4. Overseas. Here's the sad fact. Overseas tours are rare. For several reasons. Cost is a big thing and is probably the same reason why readers who live in Italy don't fly to Nashville for an author's signing. Also, if a book isn't sold into a foreign territorial, meaning that the foreign rights haven't sold to an Australian publisher or UK publisher for example, most likely an author won't do a signing there because the book isn't even being sold in that country. Usually international tours are done when a book becomes an international bestseller or really takes off in a country that it's being sold in. Trust me guys, I'd love to visit places overseas than I would in the US, but if the book isn't translated and/or sold in that country, it's probably not going to happen.
Here are the countries that are selling or will be selling my books:
Daimon- Turkey and Spain
Half-Blood- Spain, Turkey, Germany
Pure- Spain, Turkey, Germany
Deity- Turkey
Lux Series
Obsidian- Spain, Romania, Turkey,
Hungary, France
Onyx-- France
Opal-- France
Tempting the Best Man- Greece, France
Tempting the Player- France
Tempting the Bodyguard- France
Don't Look Back- Israel, Serbia
The Daemon Invasion contest is the exception to the rule. We are letting the fans choose where a signing will be, but I'd be smart about it. If you know your town is small but you live near a bigger city, go with that bigger city due to the amount of votes it could receive. You have a better chance at winning. =)
I hope that clears up some signing and event questions.I can tell you that next year I will be at St. Augustine Florida Olde City New Blood conference, RT in Kansas City, and BEA in NYC. That's what I'm scheduled to attend so far. That will be added to, but just to give you an idea.
