What exactly is a media tour and why should you consider it?

Media tours are without a doubt one of the most effective ways of building momentum for your book. When a publicist books a media tour, she is reaching out to all the local media in a particular city. She will be pitching the NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX affiliates who have morning shows that feature guest interviews. There may also be popular cable shows with a loyal book audience that feature author interviews. A good media tour is often rounded out with one or two radio interviews and a print interview as well. Many cities have NPR programs that will only interview authors in-studio, so media tours are a great way to get on book shows that have a built-in reading audience.

If an author is touring in a particular city, that city’s local newspaper will be more inclined to feature an author profile or book review to tie in with scheduled booksigning events, as recently happened when I toured an author in Seattle. She received a rave review in The Seattle Times which she would not have otherwise received had she not set up book events in that city.

With a media tour, you will get media exposure and create a buzz, all of which results in book sales. National shows, whose ratings are more high-stakes than ever, give priority to bestselling authors who are household names. It is a long-shot to expect that you will be invited to be a guest on Oprah or a morning show unless you have name recognition. And the morning shows typically require that you have had previous exposure on television and will not even consider booking an author without first seeing a dvd of a previous interview. If you hire a publicist for national media only (that is, national TV, national radio and national print), you may find yourself having spent thousands of dollars with nothing to show for it. If you had spent that money, however, on a media tour, you will be guaranteed the exposure that is so necessary these days to have an impact on what books readers buy. Many bestselling authors became household names by doing media tour after media tour for their books before they were ever invited to be guests on national TV.

It is even getting more competitive booking local TV as more and more authors recognize the advantage of touring in as many cities as possible. How do you think Presidential elections are won? Sure, getting on Oprah has helped some Presidents. But Obama’s grass roots campaign proved just how effective local TV is. Local television programs are still hungry for stories and interesting guests, and author interviews are a much sought-after segment in many media markets.

TV coverage is still the best way of getting the most bang for your buck. A three-minute live interview will be seen by thousands of people. It will create word-of-mouth about your book. Often a live radio interview on a popular station in a particular city will also create a buzz. A TV viewer or radio listener in Seattle may call a friend in Philadelphia and talk about your interview. That friend may call or e-mail another friend in another city, and before you know it, one TV interview has created a buzz across the country, and among booksellers. If you are addicted to checking your sales ranking on Amazon, your ranking will frequently spike dramatically following a live interview on a local TV or radio program. Many of my clients have reported that their books have seen a dramatic sales increase after completing a five-city media tour.

For novelists, media tours can guarantee you the exposure that is becoming more and more difficult these days as the pages in the book reviews sections shrink. And even if your book event doesn’t attract a huge crowd—and more often than not they don’t—your time will not be wasted if you hire an independent publicist to handle a media tour to complement your book signing events. You just may be pleasantly surprised with what it does for sales and your reputation.

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Susan Schwartzman
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