Do it Yourself book tour

With publisher publicity departments backing away from traditional author tours, writers are left to their own devices (and strangers’ couches).

“I learned a lot doing the tour,” says La Ganga, who cold-called bookstores to set up readings. Indeed, with no advance publicity and no connection to local literary communities, it was, at times, a steep learning curve. In Pittsburgh, the pair arrived at a Borders store to discover that the staff, unaware of their event, had turned people away. “I’m going to call it ‘tuition,’ ” she continues, “the money we spent on it.” All told, the tour cost $2,500 — modest for their itinerary but significant for the pair. L A Times