Tours and Fees

Touring

Touring is a major part of the writer’s life. A new book will bring with it many opportunities for promotion on a wide range of platforms, including literary festivals, libraries, arts and community centres, bookshops, universities and schools. Live literature still remains one of the ways to establish a fan base and, of course, to sell those books. Audiences are persuaded by professional and charismatic readings. Publishers put a great deal of their marketing drive behind securing appearances for their authors at high quality venues before discriminating audiences, particularly at the major literary festivals, because they know it can work wonders for enhancing an author’s profile. In a tough market, authors need to go out there and actively promote themselves, taking their work to an audience rather than expecting that audience to come to them. If you get that book out, your publisher will expect you to take up invitations to speak and read as much as possible within Wales, the UK and – possibly - beyond.

Touring will inevitably involve reading from your collection or novel, but very often these days it also involves much ancillary activity including participation in discussion and debate, as well as workshopping with adults and children. Increasingly, it is not simply a matter of performing before an audience but also actively engaging with that audience. Some events are privately run and organised by individuals, but many are supported by organisations involved in the promotion of literature and the live word. In Wales, Literature Wales plays a crucial role in uniting audiences and authors at venues across Wales through its Writers on Tour funding scheme.