I haven’t written any novels, so the situation is academic, but as a one-time publisher’s rep whose daily round was to visit bookstores, if a publisher did want me to go on an author tour I’d do it and be OK at it – and be polite to the long-suffering bookstore staff too. I worked for a college publisher, but it still involves going round bookstores and universities on a regular basis meeting lots of people and building relationships and making friendships (and in one case buying a house and living with her for several years) – and it beats sitting in one place for months on end.

I don’t think I’d have liked to accompany specific authors, though – they’re naturally interested in the promotion of their own books, whereas I was thinking about all the other books too (and since I worked for Prentice Hall there were thousands of them).

But I guess trade publishers have dedicated one-on-one author minders on tours, who can provide the requisite tlc, rather than reps responsible for the whole list, and that might be fun, assuming the author is not some precious prima donna.

I was in a quiet corner of Waterstone’s in Bristol as a customer and a bod came along to sign a pile of his books, presumably after a more formal event. I overheard him chatting amiably and non-prima-donna-ishly about the film version to the bookseller, who carried on doing his own thing putting books on shelves. Curious, when he’d gone I had a look at the book: Starter for Ten, by David Nicholls. I didn’t buy it but I did go and see the film (which he also scripted). So it had some effect… and if he’d come over as a preening tosser I might have given it a miss…

and yeah, the insanity to which i was referring above was a stephenie meyer signing. it’s a little better if you go see her at a conference. but then you get broke paying for the conference, and it’s not all that less crowded. damned if you do, damned if you don’t! yeah. and i never even bothered entertaining the idea of meeting j.k. rowling or anne mccaffrey.

My dream would have to be, though, not just meeting you all and getting autographs…but to actually sit down and have a chat with you. Throw ideas back and forth, just…talk. that would be amazing good fun!!! If only, if only.

Didn’t stop me from standing in line for his autograph some years ago, though… I only had a cheap paperback of one of his books, but i do treasure it. It’s a second-degree relic, indeed.

but still i want him to stay put and write more, not dilute himself giving things/autographs/time to people who are not me.

scott and you are going to create an indelible memory for a number of people – but in return you are going to lose writing time that would have made permanent things for (potentially) lots more people. there’s a william gibson novel in there somewhere, i think.

so basically, the value of a book tour is about making a connection with the person responsible for the story that one loves and asking questions and making comments and hearing cool stories about struggles or “outtakes” or whathaveyou. this sort of interaction is especially valuable to wannabes like me.

Hearing an author read their work can be very illuminating. I never realized quite how funny Margaret Atwood’s writing can be until I heard her read. One of my favorite author events ever was Alison Bechdel’s talk on how she wrote “Fun Home.” (You can’t really read from a comic book, so she had a slide show when she went on tour.) That was fascinating. On the other hand, there are a few writers that I wish I’d never gone to see, either because they were jerks or because their reading voices were unpleasant.

As for autographs, some people like them for their collectible value; either they’re collectors themselves, or they’re hoping to sell to collectors. But I think for most people having a book signed is their one opportunity for face time with a favorite writer. I remember how thrilled I was, years ago, when Ursula Le Guin said she liked my t-shirt!

As to authors signing books, I don’t have a strong sense of its importance, except for those funny times that (a) an author signing his/her page in an anthology helps me remember that I met that person (usually late at night, and sometimes involving our friend Al K. Hol) or (b) the time I met Patrick O’Leary and he drew a caricature of himself on the title page of my copy of The Impossible Bird.

That last is something important because he did it for me, you know? Because he was nice and we chatted and I did like the book and liked the person even more.

Oyce: I do think the intramanets has changed everything. When I was a kid it never occurred to me I would ever get to meet a real live writer. When I attended a reading by Angela Carter when I was 21 I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

Patrick: I’ve always wanted to meet my favourite writers but not actors. This is a huge and horrible prejudice on my part but I kind of see actors as automatons animated by the writers thus they do not interest me (except as objects of gossip and mockage) unless like Tina Fey they’re the writer too.

I do think that booksellers and lenders *DO* tend to want to meet and hear writers speak. so by that token, I think they are where the opportunity to sell more books come in. they by nature are avid readers and are prone to recommending what they read.

As a reader I’m now less into seeing authors than I used to be, but I think part of that is because of growing author presence online — I don’t have to drive for an hour and find parking to see what authors think about their books! On the other hand, if I really like an author’s online persona, I’ll be much more inclined to go see them and buy their books in hardcover and get them signed. Also, there are some authors that are just awesome in the flesh, like the Yarn Harlot from the knitting world and Neil Gaiman.

btw, it was great to meet you the other night!