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The DIY author tour
Publisher not planning a book tour? Go it alone—it’s more than worth it.
I’m sending this from Rutland, where today I talked to both children and cows in a barn at Ahimsa Farm. A cow is the hero of my new book, an illustrated novel for eight to 12-year-olds about a cow who becomes super-intelligent and escapes an abattoir. After this, I’m heading to Newcastle, Durham, York, Preston, Oakland, Solihull, Oswestry (a child is bringing a cow to this talk too – the more animals the merrier), Llandyrnog, then south to lots more places. It’s a trip that I’ve organised myself.
Authors might assume that organising a book tour is their publisher’s job; I have previously toured America twice, with my Molly Moon books, published with Harper Collins there. However, for Albi the Glowing Cow Boy, I didn’t expect my publisher UCLan to allocate the time and resources for a tour – it’s a major undertaking, even if you restrict it to the UK. But Albi is a timely book with what I believe to be a very important message, so especially in Veganuary, I was keen to take the discussions it generates far and wide. Hazel Holmes at UCLan connected me with bookshops that might help, Meat Free Monday kindly donated books to the schools, Read For Good gave me fliers to encourage children to read, and soon, with my musician fiancé who loves being on the road, I was off.
Whatever type of author you are, if your publisher doesn’t have a tour planned for you, I really do recommend just sorting one out yourself. Yes, it takes time, effort and money, but I’ve economised everywhere I can, plotting the route near friends who have spare beds — and it is worth it.
There isn’t a pamphlet or YouTube channel that tells you how to organise a tour. I just got on with it. All you need is energy and a phone and perseverance
Last week I talked to 1,060 children in 10 schools. In the next few weeks I’ll talk to 1,500 more. I heard their ideas and saw their reactions, heard their laughter and saw their amazement when I told them things, and heard them listening as I read. And the kids are brilliant. There was a boy who told us that, if he had the power to hypnotise, he would persuade everyone to give him all the Blu Tack in the world. At the same talk there was a serious and extremely clever girl who had a half-alien, imaginary friend; since her, I have found out that there are a surprisingly large number of children that no one sees in British schools. In a small class of 30 when I asked who had an imaginary friend, four hands shot straight up.
How wonderful to be in rooms with those bubbling imaginations. It’s lovely to be able to inspire these children to see that they can be writers too. I make sure to include lots of audience participation, often with bursts of on-the-spot short story writing. Kids all over the country are brimming with ideas for what they want to write. Many have already written books. A nine-year-old had written one on capitalism, and there are lots of poets out there. It’s been humbling to meet so many good teachers. Primary school teachers are a very special, dedicated bunch. Where would we be without them? Thank goodness for them. And I’m very grateful for the support from the teachers who’ve invited me to their schools.
If you’re nervous about facing a classroom of children don’t worry, you get used to it. You’ll become as relaxed about facing 160 secondary school 12-year-olds as 30 seven-year-olds (or seven 30-year-olds, as you might encounter on a different sort of book tour). The challenge of fidgeting pupils or sulky kids in back rows is something I’ve started to relish.
There isn’t a pamphlet or YouTube channel that tells you how to organise a tour. I just got on with it. All you need is energy and a phone and perseverance. Before you know it, you have memories of all the interesting places you’ve been and the lovely people you’ve met. You have the satisfaction of having spread the love of reading — and, importantly, you come home with better ideas about what to write next.
