You've hosted an author tour and you've read piles of pre-publication publicity, but have you had the pre-tour tour? If you are one of the 50 stores targeted by Sourcebooks' new fiction imprint, Landmark, to help launch Michael Malone's latest novel, First Lady, chances are you have. Malone, after nearly a decade away from novel writing, is touring the South, New England and the West Coast, getting reacquainted with former supporters and introducing himself to new booksellers. But this is not a tour to sell books—it's a way to reintroduce the handsell favorite from the '80s to those who do the best handselling—booksellers.
Malone, author of Handling Sin and Foolscap (both of which are being brought back into print by Landmark) is signing and giving booksellers galleys of First Lady, his new mystery. The pre-tour will serve to test the waters and build word-of-mouth for his 12-city book tour this fall to coincide with the release of First Lady on September 17.
At last year's launch of Landmark (Book News, Dec. 18, 2000), publisher Dominique Raccah announced that booksellers could expect something unusual to help sell Malone's list-leading novel.
"We knew that there was an existing fan base in stores that had helped make Malone's previous novels Uncivil Seasons and Time's Witness such a success," said Raccah. "People remember these books and characters long after they are read. We thought booksellers would be delighted to meet him, and to personally receive his new book. We think of booksellers as the cream-of-the-crop readers for most books, but especially for a sophisticated literary book of this kind. They are really the front line of support for literature and we wanted to be on the front lines."
Tracy Wynne of Cover to Cover Booksellers in San Francisco told PW that she appreciated the author visit because she was able to focus on a personal encounter in a casual way. "Usually at an author signing, we're too busy running the event to really spend any time with the author," she explained.
Most of Malone's visits averaged just 30 minutes to an hour, less of a time investment than a signing. And while owners and buyers often are invited to events, having an author drop by gives other store employees and friends the opportunity to meet him and get a book signed.
