Writers! Here are two interesting ideas on how to promote your books from Stephen Elliot in a thoughful NYT essay entitled THE DIY BOOKTOUR.
For review copies, Elliot suggests setting up your own lending library:
Before my book came out, I had set up a
lending library allowing anyone to receive a free review copy on the condition
they forward it within a week to the next reader, at their own expense.
And for that long haul booktour that your publisher won't pay for, he experimented with literary couch surfing:
I asked if people wanted to hold an event in their homes. They had to promise 20 attendees. I would sleep on their couch. My publisher would pay for some of the airfare, and I would fund the rest by selling the books myself.
Elliot sold 1100 books at 73 events. And while it can be stressfull staying in someone's home and meeting their friends, he concludes:
I thought to myself that they weren’t a standard literary audience: they were better.
Thank you Mr. Elliot, for this interesting essay.
