TOUR IN REVIEW

NOVEMBER 2024

© Chad Corrie

With the end of this month we’ll see the finishing up of the book tour for Rainier’s Legacy. It’s been a long but productive series of stops and events, for which I'm thankful. To date I’ve gone farther than I’ve ever been to sign books and have events that have turned out to be rather enjoyable as well as successful.

As things slow down to a more familiar pace I thought to take a look back and thank everyone who stopped by a table, took part in helping make an event, convention or other venue successful, and say thanks.

Often there’s a temptation to get too lost in the weeds as it were about all the day-to-day aspects of these larger tours: the travel, set up, tear down, promoting, and so forth to forget it’s also about connecting with people and sharing stories with interested readers. And boy, did we did that…

I think it's safe to say we have reached out to plenty of folks these last few weeks, introducing them to the titles and myself. And yet it was even more amazing to see so many places where I was a brand new commodity take such a strong interest (and even liking) to what I was sharing. Usually that sort of thing takes a bit more time—a few more visits and/or encounters—but we were connecting and folks were picking up titles at record pace. And that is nothing short of a miracle.

The stores were another great experience in themselves. So many of them took a step beyond in promoting the event. And so many of them were actually interested in the titles (and their author) that it felt more like a reunion or get together than a book event by a new author in their store. Again, my thanks for such a warm reception and generous support. I continually remind myself that no one owes me anything and that stores and others are doing me a kindness by allowing me to enter their premises (and lives) to share these titles, etc. So to have so many venues do it so gregariously was truly a blessing.

Finally, I was able to interact with so many interesting folks. As a writer it's always been an interest of mine to learn just who are reading these books and why. You don’t often get that sort of demographic from other means and having the chance to do a more face-to-face interaction with people really helped me see just who these people were and what brought them to (and in some cases brought them back to) these tales.

It was especially heartening to have return readers showing up and asking about the next title or series or sharing their insight on things. That hasn’t always happened in times past and it seemed more a common occurrence toward that latter end of the tour—especially at the Twin Cities Con where several approached the table searching for the next book in the series or with questions and commentary about other titles they’ve read.

Again, my thanks for all the support and I look forward to seeing you again down the road for another tour/event. Until then, have a wonderful rest of your November and a Happy Thanksgiving.