Lessons Learned-1
I recently completed my six-thousand-five-hundred mile solo motorcycle trip to the Southwest promoting my novel, Murder on Route 66. When I was in Gallup, New Mexico, almost at the end of my tour, Tropical Storm Lee turned the creek at the end of our backyard into a raging river determined to gouge away our property. I was more than anxious to get back to Lesley, who had stayed at home, so I pushed the return run. For example, I drove seven hundred fifty-three miles the last night out. To my delight, Lesley had supper waiting when I finally reached home. Next day, I threw myself into the clean-up. Then I built a shed to store things we did not want to return to the basement. I’m afraid my writing had to take a back seat for awhile. Now, things have settled down and it’s time to do a little reflection on the lessons I can take from the tour. For this blog, I’m going to look at what went well, what did not, and what lessons I can learn from my experiences.
There were a number of things that I felt went well. The radio interview I did in Albuquerque was one. My host, Travis Parkin, did a terrific job with the questions he asked and in taking a few minutes before air time to explain the process and put me at ease. The fact that I had been a guest on radio shows before helped as well. Interviews like that not only get the message out about what you have written, but help to develop a comfortable public persona. The lesson? Grab any opportunity you can to make a public appearance as a writer.
Some of the signings I did went well, and others failed to produce more than a faint trickle of people. I'm told that happens to everyone. I never discovered a magic formula for getting a large audience, but did learn one thing, location counts. I enjoyed sitting in a place where I could meet and greet people as they came in, not hawking my own wares, but rather as a guest member of the team. It was fun, too. It allowed me to be a part of everyone's visit, whether it be a visitor center or bookstore.
People I met at signings mentioned hearing about me on the radio, or seeing an article in the newspaper, or noticing a flyer. The impression I got was, the more coverage the better. I think it helped that I sent out e-versions of flyers and announcements my host could use if desired. Anything to help get the word out.
I’m used to people coming up to exchange a few words when I’m on the motorcycle going cross-country. People often exchange “good mornings” in the motel breakfast room or even at fuel stops at a travel center or gas station. Since this was a business trip, I had to get used to saying I’m a writer doing a promotional book tour. Putting myself “on-stage”, happy to talk about writing, my book and tour, paid off. A number of people were eager to get a signed copy of my book. Lesson learned...don’t be afraid to adopt a public role as a writer, and realize that you’re on-stage twenty-four—seven.
I recently completed my six-thousand-five-hundred mile solo motorcycle trip to the Southwest promoting my novel, Murder on Route 66. When I was in Gallup, New Mexico, almost at the end of my tour, Tropical Storm Lee turned the creek at the end of our backyard into a raging river determined to gouge away our property. I was more than anxious to get back to Lesley, who had stayed at home, so I pushed the return run. For example, I drove seven hundred fifty-three miles the last night out. To my delight, Lesley had supper waiting when I finally reached home. Next day, I threw myself into the clean-up. Then I built a shed to store things we did not want to return to the basement. I’m afraid my writing had to take a back seat for awhile. Now, things have settled down and it’s time to do a little reflection on the lessons I can take from the tour. For this blog, I’m going to look at what went well, what did not, and what lessons I can learn from my experiences.
There were a number of things that I felt went well. The radio interview I did in Albuquerque was one. My host, Travis Parkin, did a terrific job with the questions he asked and in taking a few minutes before air time to explain the process and put me at ease. The fact that I had been a guest on radio shows before helped as well. Interviews like that not only get the message out about what you have written, but help to develop a comfortable public persona. The lesson? Grab any opportunity you can to make a public appearance as a writer.
Some of the signings I did went well, and others failed to produce more than a faint trickle of people. I'm told that happens to everyone. I never discovered a magic formula for getting a large audience, but did learn one thing, location counts. I enjoyed sitting in a place where I could meet and greet people as they came in, not hawking my own wares, but rather as a guest member of the team. It was fun, too. It allowed me to be a part of everyone's visit, whether it be a visitor center or bookstore.
People I met at signings mentioned hearing about me on the radio, or seeing an article in the newspaper, or noticing a flyer. The impression I got was, the more coverage the better. I think it helped that I sent out e-versions of flyers and announcements my host could use if desired. Anything to help get the word out.
I’m used to people coming up to exchange a few words when I’m on the motorcycle going cross-country. People often exchange “good mornings” in the motel breakfast room or even at fuel stops at a travel center or gas station. Since this was a business trip, I had to get used to saying I’m a writer doing a promotional book tour. Putting myself “on-stage”, happy to talk about writing, my book and tour, paid off. A number of people were eager to get a signed copy of my book. Lesson learned...don’t be afraid to adopt a public role as a writer, and realize that you’re on-stage twenty-four—seven.
I'll have some more lessons-learned to share on my next post. Love to hear what lessons others have learned about the business side of writing.
