And Now, The Kaiju Preservation Society Tour
Posted on February 11, 2022 Posted by John Scalzi 25 Comments
Yes, there’s a tour, yes, it’s going to be in person (knocks on all the wood), and yes, I’m excited. This tour is going to be a little shorter than some of my most recent in-person tours, in no small part due to an abundance of caution, but a) nine stops is not a small amount, and b) after the official tour I will still have a number of in-person appearances at book festivals, events and conventions, both in the next couple of months and through the rest of 2022. You’ll have opportunities to see me, promise (knocks on all the wood again). I’ll update my Scheduled Appearances page with those events when they’re confirmed and scheduled.
Here are those tour dates again, with direct links to the event pages:
Mon March 14th (VIRTUAL)
Barnes and Noble, 7:00 PM ET
Event details here
Tue March 15th
Flyleaf Books (Chapel Hill, NC), 5:00 PM
Event details here
Wed March 16th
Eagle Eye (Decatur, GA), 7:00 PM
Event details here
Thur March 17th
Fountain Bookstore (Richmond, VA), 6:00 PM
Event details here
Fri March 18th
Brookline Booksmith (Boston, MA), 7:00 PM
Event details here
Sat March 19th
the United Theater/Savoy Bookshop (Westerly, RI), 7:00 PM
Event details here
Tue March 22nd
Cuyahoga County Library (Parma, OH), 7:00 PM
Event details here
Wed March 23rd
Boulder Books (Boulder, CO), 6:30 PM
Event details here
Thur March 24th
Prairie Lights (Iowa City, IA), 7:00 PM
Event details here
Fri March 25th
St Louis County Library/The Novel Neighbor (St.Louis, MO), 7:00 PM
Event details here
And now, a tour FAQ, which I’m cutting and pasting from a previous tour FAQ, albeit with updates:
Can you also come to [insert town here]?
Nope. The tour dates are locked for this year. Again, however, I’ll be doing other various events through the year; stay tuned for information about those.
Why aren’t you coming to [insert town here]?
For various reasons, but mostly due to a) who wanted us when we asked earlier in the year, b) what made sense for travel this time around.
What do the events cost?
It depends on the venue. Some are free, some are free but ticketed, some have charges associated. Check with each venue for details, please.
Will you be signing books?
Pretty sure I will be doing a signing at every stop, yes.
May I bring previously purchased books for you to sign?
I’m fine with with it but doublecheck with the venue to be sure (if you buy a book there I’m sure it will help with your request). Note also that depending on the size of the signing line, I may only sign three books at a time, after which you’ll be asked to get back in line for any additional books you want signed.
Will you sign my eReader/limb/other non-conventional object?
Generally speaking, sure. If you’re asking me to sign something dark, please bring your own sparkly/light-colored pen; I don’t usually carry those with me.
Do you allow pictures?
I generally allow pictures but again, check with the venue for their policy. If you want a picture with me, please have your camera ready before you get up to the signing table; you’d be surprised at how much time it takes to fire up a camera if it’s not ready. And that’s not great for everyone else in line.
May I give you a gift?
Sure. If it’s something edible please have it secured in something I can take back to my hotel room with a minimum of fuss. If it’s something else, smaller is better. Please note that I am usually traveling very tightly packed so you may see me hand the gift over to the venue in order for them to ship it to me at a later date.
May I take you to a meal/show you around my city, which is awesome if you know where all the cool things are, which I do?
Well, one, thank you, and two, I’m generally very tightly scheduled on tour stops and/or have already arranged to see friends who are local to the area, so probably not. I do appreciate the thought, however.
I’m a member of the local media in a town to which your tour is coming and I would like to interview you. May I?
Possibly! Please contact my publicist, Alexis Saarela, at Tor Books (alexis.saarela@tor.com). Please note that if you contact me directly for an interview, I will ask you to contact Alexis, because she’s the one who will be keeping my schedule straight. So please eliminate the middleman (in this case, me) and check with her directly. Thank you in advance.
I will not be in a town to which your tour is going but I want a signed book anyway. Help!
Here’s what to do: Contact any of the bookstores hosting a tour stop and order the book you want from them, and ask them to have me sign and personalize it when I come through. I will be happy to do so. Alternately, I am likely to sign stock for each store at which I have an event, so if you contact a store that I have already been to on the tour, they will likely have signed stock on hand.
Also, you can contact my local bookstore, Jay and Mary’s Book Center in Troy, Ohio, and request a signed book from them. I go in regularly to sign their stock and take care of requests. Note they prefer phone orders to email.
I have an additional question you have not addressed.
Ask it in the comments.
See you all soon! I’m very much looking forward to this tour.
— JS
In my capacity as a member of the town government of Brookline, can I ask you to correct the location of Brookline Booksmith? It’s in Brookline, not Boston. Hence the name… :-)
Yay! Brookline Booksmith! Worth a trip into the city for sure :-)
Safe travels and have fun!
John graciously signed every book he’s ever written for me back in 2015. Conveniently they were all in kindle format so he only had to sign once.
I hope you eventually get to Florida. We really do read books!
You have, from time to time, discussed the economics of aspects of authorship and publishing. I’m struggling to make sense of a book tour — even taking into account some halo effect resulting in some backlist sales as well as the primary book, it’s hard to imagine that (net) even covers the costs of the tour.
Could you discuss? Thanks.
AC:
There is no expectation that the sales I make on the tour itself will cover the cost of the tour. The tour is designed to create and maintain long-term goodwill with both readers and with booksellers. Also, it’s designed to book early numbers of sales of the book, so it has a better chance of getting on the bestseller lists.
You’re coming to my area, yea! I’ve been to several signings at this store and they do a nice job. I’m looking forward to it!
Will you be reading from “Kaiju”?
I may but I may also read from something upcoming!
Yay! St. Louis!
I live in down in the southern part of the state, but I’ll drive up for this!
Nothing west of Colorado?
You do realize that there are lots of people with lots of money out here.
You leverage 怪獣 as a story idea and then you don’t add California, the heart of Japanese culture in the US to your book tour? Talk about cultural appropriation!
I’ll skip Boston/Brookline (closest) but really looking forward to the online events.
(Also have my order in with Jay & Mary already, lovely folks to deal with, ***** recommended.)
Got two tickets and one book purchase for Richmond, VA. Richmond gets skipped for everything in favor of DC or Raleigh, so thank you for coming to our humble state capital.
What are we in Canada? Chopped liver? (pouts)
Good luck with the tour.
Got my tickets and book order for Richmond. I was there for The Collapsing Empire too.
Due to a sudden family medical emergency (he’s fine now) I missed seeing you in Nashville @Parnassus Books. Maybe your next book tour 🤞
Have fun!
Can I assume the B&N stop is in Dayton? I may be stupid but I’m missing a location here.
I am so excited to learn you’re coming to Cleveland (Parma)!!!! I am signing up next! Signing up the husband too! I can hardly wait!! (Obviously really looking forward to this!!!!!!)
“What are we in Canada? Chopped liver? (pouts)”
Cold, congealed poutine. Sorry.
tfic/
I ordered a signed copy a while back (not sure if I got it yet!) Really wish I could go see/hear you! I’ve missed doing that! (In Boulder, be sure to wave at the settings of the opening credits of “Mork and Mindy!”)
When in Rhode Island, please visit the near by Mystic Whaling museum, and the near by submarine museum in Connecticut.
Taking a cold boat ride to see the multi-billion dollar submarines under construction is unique.
It is hard to understand how “big” these things are until you see them.
Also highly recommend is Battleship Cove in Fall River Mass. You will probably see as you cross the bridge, it if you drive from Boston to Rhode Island. Climbing on board the various surface ships is unique.
Also please go out of your way to go to a local grocery store to purchase “Polar Soda brand” The ginger ale has much more ginger. The orange dry soda is excellent. Double Fudge Soda sounds horrible, until you use it to make an ice cream float. All come in a diet version to protect your waist line.
Polar Soda, the pride of Worcester – I love driving up 291 and waving to ‘Orson’ ;-)
Wow, you’re coming to a bookstore about a mile from my house! Unfortunately you’re coming the one week this spring that I will be out of town for a conference. :-/ Oh well, next time!