In the two hours we sat in this store on a Friday morning in June, exactly one person came in to purchase a book and have us sign it.<\/p>\n

Despite our luring people to the table with the cookies, chatting them up as they munched, and opening the book to selected pages so they could see my-husband-Nic-the-photographer\u2019s gorgeous photos, they walked off without a copy.<\/p>\n

I should have known better than to schedule a signing instead of a talk. When Nic and I have the opportunity to perform\u2014our tag-team presentations are filled with photos, tips for finding bird species, and funny stories from the road\u2014the stacks of books dwindle as happy customers buy multiple copies.<\/p>\n

Book signings with no talk, however, rarely result in sales for a midlist author whose name does not spark instant recognition.<\/p>\n

Pay your own way promotion<\/h2>\n

In an age when 75 percent of all books are sold on Amazon, face-to-face book promotions have lost much of their power and luster.<\/p>\n

Publishers only pay for book tours when the book has a chance of reaching the New York Times<\/em> bestseller list. As a result, authors who want to travel to promote their books receive little to no financial support to do so.<\/p>\n

We who write about regional nature, history, and other nonfiction topics can build our own book tours, paying for transportation and lodging out of our own bank accounts. We can even generate our own publicity for these events. Or \u2026 we can stay home and find better, more effective ways of promoting our work.<\/p>\n