I recently finished a grueling, self-funded book tour to promote my YA hardcover novel,
THE ROOKIE. THE ROOKIE is a scifi/football/crime mashup that I market with the tagline "Any Given Sunday meets Star Wars meets The Godfather."
Because the book is primarily about football, we booked an unconventional tour -- instead of bookstores, we hit family-friendly, all-ages sports bars. Given the current publishing climate, and the fact that most tours don't happen or are canceled due to lack of attendance, I'd consider the Tailgate Tour a major success. We did 20 cities in 24 days, averaged 35 fans per stop, sold over 300 books and sold out of a run of 250 T-Shirts. More importantly, I met a lot of old fans and made many new ones.
It's important to get out on the road and tour. If you do it by bookstore tour, book clubs, sports bars, speaking events, it's all good, but it's what you're doing with social media that will make the difference.
That's right, my ABC friends, podcasting and audience interaction isn't just about getting downloads, it's about generating
fans, fans that are dying to come and see you when you roll through town. I didn't spend a penny on advertising or promotion. All of that attendance came because my fans are at scottsigler.com, seeing what I'm up to, or listening to the podcasts that I put out every week. Bottom line: because of my constant social media work, we booked at 20-city tour without any funding from a big publisher, and we
made money. Not a lot, mind you, but I didn't lose any, and that's important whether its a tour of two cities or two hundred.
Now imagine this for a second -- the majority of tours for authors from major publishers draw four or five people per stop. Check your sources if you doubt me, but that's typical. So typical, in fact, that most publishers don't put new authors out on the road. Seth and I draw at least 15 fans everywhere we go, and some of my stops have drawn 130 fans. Why? Because we
connect with our audiences via the podcasts, the forums, the comments and the blog posts.
So what we are teaching here at ABC has many benefits. Just remember your CCP: content, consistency, promotion. You have to create the content to get the fans, so go back on what you learned in class and get cracking!
A shot from the Dallas stop of The Rookie Tailgate Tour, showing some of the fans that bought T-Shirts or jerseys. 
