Why Doesn’t Gail Visit ME?

First of all, Gentle Reader, it’s so very kind of you to think of me and to want to see me in person. I would, I promise, genuinely love to meet all of you. I adore my readers and have been charmed any time I had the opportunity to meet any of you face-to-face. I’m a particular fan of tweet-ups and kaffeklutches, as I feel I really get a chance to know you best at small impromptu gatherings.

However, please understand that when I travel I’m not writing.

So you really have to decide whether you want the next book or Gail in person. Because you can’t have both. I need to sleep… sometimes.

That said, these days, whether I visit a convention, city, country, school, library or bookstore rides on many factors.

1. Have I been to that area within the last few years?

Since my books are published all over the world and I only do one event a month, I try to be as fair as possible and visit as many different places as I can where I can meet the most readers. Events take a lot out of me so I need to be judicious in my choices.

I’m not one of those authors who can write on the road and I usually need a few days either end to prep and recover. Thus I can lose a week or more writing time every time I travel, even if only for the weekend.

I try to spread the 12 events I do a year evenly: book tours, overseas visits, steampunk cons/gatherings, comic cons, large conventions, small conventions, book fairs, writing workshops, industry expos & conferences, drop in signings, speaking gigs, and library appearances.

I hope you understand that as a professional, events that are willing to cover my expenses always take priority. Most events run on a tight budget and can only fly Guests of Honor, for which I’m not always popular enough to qualify.

Here’s a blog on the subject of conventions.

Sometimes, I’ve never been to your area because no event/bookstore/etc has ever asked me to come. 

There are definitely cities that have the reputation for not supporting author events (New York, LA). And conversely those that seem to love them (Seattle, Portland).

I prefer to drive rather than fly, so if I can do events around my home without saturating the fan base, I do. That home is the greater San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California.

When on book tour, I’m most often sent by my publisher to bookstores where I’m well known and well liked. That’s why you see me turning up regularly at the usual suspects: Mysterious Galaxy, Murder By the Book, Borderlands, Powell’s, and Books Inc. These stores make an effort to ask my publisher to send me to them, they know a lot of people want to see me in their city. And yes, it is always a city.

This is my job, after all. It must be worth the sacrifice in time I should be writing.

I really hope this makes sense and that you do not take offense. I know 12 seems like I ought to have a lot of options but the spots fill up fast! Also early on in my career I fought burn out due to too much travel so I have drastically pulled back since 2017.

These days I’m often booking events 3 years in advance! And much as I love to see you all and travel, in the end what’s most important is that I write.

You don’t have to take my word for it… Kevin Hearne: The Book Tour FAQ

One last thing, I do Facebook Live events on my Author Page regularly. It’s almost like seeing me in person. I promise. You can follow my page, check back on my events listing on my website, or subscribe to my newsletter to find out when the next Live is scheduled.

I’ll see you somehow, somewhere!

Yours in motion,

Miss Gail

GAIL’S DAILY DOSE

Your Moment of Parasol . . .

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