Listen to or download this article:

We have a LOT of terrific sessions planned for CAC17, and we are still adding more. One of those amazing sessions will be:

My Life as an Unconventional Book Tour – Gone are the days where an author simply reads, opens the floor to Q&A, and then signs books. (Can you say YAWN FEST?)

Your audience craves engagement, and you want them to leave with your book in their hands—and with vivid memories in their minds.

The presenter for this class, Susan Conrad, is an author, adventurer, and speaker who has been living her own whirlwind book tour since the release of her debut memoir in May 2016. Susan gives us a sneak preview into the session she will be teaching.

  • Is your book’s unveiling looming excitedly on the horizon? Or are you deep in the throes of promoting a recent release—but feel like you’re spinning your wheels?
  • Or maybe you’re just curious how to get the best bang for your take-over-the-world-book tour campaign.

A box of chocolates from one of Susan Conrad’s fans who read the book and knows that she adores chocolate!

Just as there’s so much more to being an author than “simply writing a book,” there’s so much more to a book tour than contacting a few bookstores. Whether you are self-published or traditionally published, you’ll be sure to pick up some priceless tips and tricks to launch your own kick-a&$# book tour.

You didn’t write your book, pour out your heart, and create interesting characters, plots and themes just to make money, right? I’m assuming you (also) wrote your book to share your passion, spread your message, and tell your story. Indubitably, the next step is about making connections and building relationships—essentially finding your TRIBE!

This session will help participants wrap their brain around who their audience truly is, where the best venues are to secure those audiences, and once that audience is all under one roof—how to invite them to come into your book. We’ll brainstorm ways to find your audience, organize and present a killer book tour (and not go broke doing it), set the mood, engage and dazzle your audience, and more. We’ll also discuss ways to generate clever promotions and land the venues you want.

I look forward to meeting all of you at CAC17 and sharing ideas on how to get a leg up on your book tour competition! – Susan Conrad

Susan Conrad is an adventurer, author, educator, and speaker. She’s also an accomplished paddler. Her tenacious exploration by sea kayak has fueled her stories and images of the natural world for decades. Her articles and photographs have appeared in Sea Kayaker, Canoe and Kayak, Adventures Northwest, and Figure magazines. Countless newspapers, guidebooks, and historical journals also feature Susan’s work.