A Virtual Whistle Stop Tour ; a guest blog by Amanda Kyle Williams

Susan Erickson is the winner of Paul Doiron's THE BONE ORCHARD! Susan, please contact Paul at pauldoiron dot com for your book.


JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: Amanda Kyle Williams is one of our faves here at Jungle Red Writers. We've lauded her smart, damaged FBI profiler, Keye Street, who debuted  with a bang in 2012 in THE STRANGER YOU SEEK. Now she's launching the third in her series, DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS. As Amanda notes below, the third book is often a make-or-break novel in a mystery writer's career, so Random House had pulled out all the stops, planning a big tour with all the bells and whistles.

Then in March of this year, Amanda was diagnosed with endometrial cancer, and all those plans blew up. In addition to the bone-rattling concerns of the disease itself, she had to worry about DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS. How would people find out about it? How would she connect with readers and booksellers? As she explains today, it's been the internet to the rescue...

When I was diagnosed with cancer this year and told the treatment—chemotherapy—would weaken my immune system to the point that traveling is off the table, I had no small amount of anxiety about how to promote my 3^rd novel Don’t Talk To Strangers. The diagnosis presented my publicist and publisher with a bagful of challenges, too. It’s an important book, the 3^rd in a series. Book signings, conferences, speaking gigs, workshops, bonding with booksellers and librarians and readers across the country—the partners in your career—all the appearances an author makes that are so vital to the success of a book were cancelled, including my book launch at the Margaret Mitchell House in Atlanta. 

Every writer hopes for those glowing, fairy-dusted reviews from the big boys, but there is nothing better for a book and a writer than connecting with a bookseller, a librarian, a reader who will recommend your book later. That’s one of the benefits of touring for an author. Faced with a homebound writer, the logical next step was that thing Al Gore says he invented—the Internet—and reaching out to anyone with Skype capabilities, anyone willing to do a Google Hangout, anyone with a webcam, Facetime, a phone with a SPEAKER button, empty soup cans strung together, a truck bed and a megaphone. 

 

I’ve been using Skype for a couple of years as a way to reach out to book clubs. I’ve grown accustomed to how huge my face appears on a webcam. Living room book clubs are a great way to build grassroots support for a book and an author. And it’s relaxed. Book clubs drink a lot of wine. These long distance visits all over the country gave me some comfort with the idea of a virtual book tour. And guess what? It’s pretty cool! Okay, so it’s not like taking a book from someone’s hand and signing it for them, looking into their eyes, sharing a laugh, shaking their hand—another benefit of touring, the stuff that feeds and validates you, that interaction with readers.  

Some writers write for themselves, or so I’ve heard. Their work can go unseen without it disturbing their peace. So. Not. Me. I write for readers. I want those moments with them. I want their voices coming back to me. I want people reading my stuff and talking about it. A reader quotes a line from one of my books or tells me about a scene that stuck with them, and I’m charged up. I want to head back to my desk and write something brilliant for them. Writers spend a lot of time alone in a room with a computer. Those tours are like stepping out into the breeze. The Internet (bless its dark little heart) is the next best thing. It really is possible to sit down in front of my computer and visit a bookstore in Seattle, a library in Mississippi, a book club in Wisconsin, and connect, have a real dialogue. They see me, more weathered than usual, admittedly, but what people are really looking for is the heart of the writer. And I get to see them, and it nourishes me, and I remember why I can’t wait to write the next book. 

What would you like to see from an author on the web, dear readers? What are your favorite ways to connect with writers you love? One lucky commenter will win a copy of DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS!

You can find out more about Amanda Kyle Williams, and read excerpts of her books, at her website.  You can also friend her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter as @AKyleWilliams. Amanda also has her own YouTube channel with a great number of funny videos featuring Spike the Angry Neighbor Cat.