Paid vs Promotional Author Visits

Reflections on the differences and why to do them both

Like many authors, I am sometimes asked to do paid visits by schools and sometimes asked to do free visits by my local bookstore. Why is one version free and the other paid? Why would I do the free ones? Why would a school book a paid one? This was all mysterious to me, but is starting to make more sense to me as I embark on some proper promotional visits this year.

A lovely welcome poster at a local school!

Paid Vs Promotional Visits

Promotional visits usually coincide with a book’s release and promotional window. With AVA LIN launching this year, when I was communicating with my local bookstores, two of them suggested we collaborate on promotional visits, which I agreed to! From there, the bookstores are taking care of the logistics, from finding the school visits to organizing the timing and book sales.

Paid visits happen any time, at a school’s request. These are booked through my booking agent at BookedAuthors.com and usually involve multiple visits in one day, sometimes with a writing workshop as one of the sessions. (I used to manage these visits myself until I joined forces with Booked Authors this summer.)

To be clear, there are also other kinds of free promotional visits/events that we do for our local bookstores—appearances at book fairs, festivals, story times, educator nights, etc. We do these for the local community and to grow our connection with bookstores, educators, readers, and even other authors.

Local book fair with local authors, librarians, and booksellers thanks to Linden Tree Books!

In this post, I’m not talking about these types of events so much as author visits in schools, including assembly presentations or writing workshops.

Paid Visits May Be More Convenient/Customized

Because paid visits are dictated by the school, they can be more convenient and customized to the school’s needs. They can select from any of my presentations, not just focused on the newest book that I happen to be promoting (and which may not yet be as tried and true as my earlier books.) Because I’m often doing several sessions for paid visits, my presentations can also be tailored for different age groups. It also may be easier for the organizers because they don’t need to coordinate with anyone else. It’s also just a nice way for them to support and compensate authors for their time and experience!

Christine and Vicky doing a joint paid school visit—it’s always more fun with friends!

I recently offered a librarian friend the option of working with a bookstore for a free visit or paying my rate, and she opted to pay the rate because she had the budget, she wanted to compensate me for my time, and it was less hassle for her. Plus, she was able to pick the presentations I would be giving, to best fit the groups she wanted me to present to and the books she wanted to highlight.

Promotional Visits Can Mean Targeted Exposure and Book Sales

When a bookstore organizes visits, they only make money if they sell books. I’m realizing that they probably choose to work with schools that they have good track records with or that can promise sales. I often see more book sales from these visits than I do from paid visits, though this may just be my personal experience. I see now how promotional visits can be a useful tool for getting a new book—and a new presentation—out there! Plus, it’s a nice way to support your local bookstore and gain from their support as well.

At a promotional school visit, thanks to Hicklebee’s!

In terms of exposure, I know that idea can be exhausting because we are often asked to do things for “exposure”—but it’s worth considering that school visits are directly communicating with your target audience of readers and teachers while also collaborating with your local bookstore. So, especially when launching something new, it makes a lot of sense! Partnering with bookstores is a great long term strategy to build relationships with teachers, librarians, readers, and booksellers.

Why Did It Take Me This Long To Figure It Out?

When you’re first starting out, almost all of your efforts are just trying to get your name and books out there, so there’s not a lot of difference between your paid visits and promotional visits. A huge thank you to all the organizers who did take a chance on me in my early years for either kind of visit! This year (four years after my first book published) is the first time I’ve made a concerted effort to do proper promotional visits with bookstores around a new book and I can see the difference in what I’m offering and how it’s being offered. My promotional visits are specifically designed to promote a new book that I’m trying to get out into the world. My paid visits are more established, tried and true, featuring the books that teachers and librarians are familiar with or specifically request. And I think there’s audience and value for both.

Christine and Vicky doing a joint promotional writing workshop, thanks to Books, Inc. Campbell!

For some authors, I know their publishers set them up on promotional school tours with bookstores for their debuts! I still haven’t been asked to do a promotional school visit tour by a publisher. I’m just pursuing it myself. It’s not the same timeline for everybody. And it may not be the right fit for you and what you enjoy doing. So, go at your own pace and trust that it will make sense when it needs to.

That’s where I’m at now! I hope that’s helpful as it only just now is starting to make sense to me. And all that said, I’m still learning as I go. If you have experiences or insights to share, please do!