End of Watch Book Signing?

[TCCBodhi]

Baked goods are always appreciated but afraid Dallas had their opportunity with 11/22/63 so time to give someone else a chance this time around.

Ah well. I had to try. 17 total hours in the car is a long time, but still worth it.

I hope you enjoyed them at the holidays.

 

[DianaRose]

Yes, Steve needs to get out here to the west coast again!!

Agreed! Seattle or Portland, please (even better, Bellingham...) Or, I see you're in Spokane--I would GLADLY make that drive! I guess Reno or Salt Lake City are our closest this time around... Yikes!

 

[BrendaZJ]

Any chance he'd come to Canada? Oh man, if only....

 

[Geminii23]

Yes, Steve needs to get out here to the west coast again!!

I have had a very tough time since moving from Los Angeles to VA. Reading and collecting SK novels has given my life a lot of joy this year. Has kept my passion for writing alive as well. When I was young and only able to get books from mail order book clubs, it was a dream to one day go to a book signing and meet SK. Better late than never!

I am smack in the middle of 3 of the locations it seems. 6 hours in any direction. But man is it gonna be worth it!

 

[TCCBodhi]

I have had a very tough time since moving from Los Angeles to VA. Reading and collecting SK novels has given my life a lot of joy this year. Has kept my passion for writing alive as well. When I was young and only able to get books from mail order book clubs, it was a dream to one day go to a book signing and meet SK. Better late than never!

I am smack in the middle of 3 of the locations it seems. 6 hours in any direction. But man is it gonna be worth it!

So you get to go to all 3 then since they are all the same distance.

 

[Cowboy]

Nashville is only a couple of hours, I could have an SK weekend and hit two cities in two days.

 

[Geminii23]

Well...um doubt that will happen. But if I could take the whole week off...yeah I would get a signed copy at each one. LOL

 

[fushingfeef]

SO EXCITED Stephen King is coming back to my home town of Pittsburgh (Sewickley is just down the river) after all these years! I sure hope I can get tickets or whatever is needed to be able to see him! I might start camping out at the bookstore tomorrow!

 

[kingricefan]

SO EXCITED Stephen King is coming back to my home town of Pittsburgh (Sewickley is just down the river) after all these years! I sure hope I can get tickets or whatever is needed to be able to see him! I might start camping out at the bookstore tomorrow!

I bet John aka jchanic is excited about it too!

 

[king family fan]

Can't wait for details on Nashville

 

[DianaRose]

I have had a very tough time since moving from Los Angeles to VA. Reading and collecting SK novels has given my life a lot of joy this year. Has kept my passion for writing alive as well. When I was young and only able to get books from mail order book clubs, it was a dream to one day go to a book signing and meet SK. Better late than never!

I am smack in the middle of 3 of the locations it seems. 6 hours in any direction. But man is it gonna be worth it!

That is great! Make sure you get to at least one of them and really treasure it!

 

[Rrty]

Moderator, I have a few questions about the tour.

I noticed that the dates are all one after the other, with no days off. Are his book tours always like this, or is there a reason for this kind of schedule? I imagine that could be simply the way it's done, but I can't recall how other tours worked.

Why is a tour being organized for this book? I don't believe he does signing events for each book. What makes one book different from another in that respect?

Why have these particular cities been chosen for the tour? Are these strong markets for King books, or are they markets that need a little help in that regard?

Does he enjoy doing these events? One assumes he must, but then again, why would he want to do this when he clearly likes writing more than traveling to book signings? Does the publisher have to aggressively convince him to do this?

I hope everyone who wants to meet King on this tour gets a chance to do so. Best of luck! I'd love to see everyone on SKMB who plans on trying succeed (maybe there could be a special raffle for some of the very long-term members?). It's too bad there wasn't some extra cost to getting a book signed, maybe like a charge of $50 plus the expense of the book. It could raise money for a charity (maybe a local library), or, if it is an independent bookstore, it could go toward the bookstore itself. The reason for the premium would be to keep the crowds down and to only have serious fans attend the events. Then again, I wonder if $50 would be enough to keep the crowds down.

 

[Moderator]

Any chance he'd come to Canada? Oh man, if only....

Sorry, not this time.

 

[Moderator]

Moderator, I have a few questions about the tour.

I noticed that the dates are all one after the other, with no days off. Are his book tours always like this, or is there a reason for this kind of schedule? I imagine that could be simply the way it's done, but I can't recall how other tours worked.

These cities were relatively close in terms of travel time between them. The back-to-back schedule is to get him home in time for Father's Day.

Why is a tour being organized for this book? I don't believe he does signing events for each book. What makes one book different from another in that respect?

Stephen decided to do this as it's the final book in the Bill Hodges trilogy. Book tours are hardly ever done for story collections. I don't recall of any of them having a book tour while I've been working here. The book itself and his schedule at the time of the release are the primary factors for whether or not he does a tour.

Why have these particular cities been chosen for the tour? Are these strong markets for King books, or are they markets that need a little help in that regard?

As Stephen's career winds down we've been trying to mix up the locations for book tours to give areas that have either never had an appearance or it's been a long time in between to give fans in those areas the opportunity. He gave us some general parameters of where he wanted to go this time and his publicist at Scribner came back with suggestions. He tweaked a couple but for the most part where she suggested got the thumbs up.

Does he enjoy doing these events? One assumes he must, but then again, why would he want to do this when he clearly likes writing more than traveling to book signings? Does the publisher have to aggressively convince him to do this?

The publisher is always thrilled when he decides to do a book tour but they do not push him at all to do one and there's no contractual obligation to do a certain number. He'd rather be home writing, for sure, but that's the case the majority of the time. He does enjoy doing the events as a way to give back to the fans for all the success they've afforded him. The travel is the least enjoyable part of the book tours but there's no getting around that.

I hope everyone who wants to meet King on this tour gets a chance to do so. Best of luck! I'd love to see everyone on SKMB who plans on trying succeed (maybe there could be a special raffle for some of the very long-term members?). It's too bad there wasn't some extra cost to getting a book signed, maybe like a charge of $50 plus the expense of the book. It could raise money for a charity (maybe a local library), or, if it is an independent bookstore, it could go toward the bookstore itself. The reason for the premium would be to keep the crowds down and to only have serious fans attend the events. Then again, I wonder if $50 would be enough to keep the crowds down.

In the past, some tours would have VIP receptions for which attendees would pay a premium admission price (usually in the range of $125-150) to have the opportunity to have one-on-one time and a photo taken with him but in recent years he's asked not to include that as part of the book tours. It's not something he's comfortable doing.

 

[king family fan]

We are all blessed for what he does do.

 

[Spideyman]

Wow- SK gives so much to his CR. May he have safe travels, kind and appreciative fans, restful nights and a Happy Father's Day with family.

 

[Machine's Way]

Jersey City or Some weird named place in PA?? Jersey City is about a half hour closer, but umm its Jersey. I think the ride to PA would be more pleasant. Maybe both?

 

[carrie's younger brother]

With the help of Google maps and a little sleuthing, I've narrowed down a possible bookstore where SK will be appearing in Jersey City, NJ. If I am correct, I literally can walk to this event! Now I just hope I don't miss out on the chance to get a ticket or whatever will be needed.

 

[Moderator]

Jersey City or Some weird named place in PA?? Jersey City is about a half hour closer, but umm its Jersey. I think the ride to PA would be more pleasant. Maybe both?

Jersey City is within driving distance of NYC so he'll be able to do the network morning show and the NJ event on the same day. From there he'll be traveling by plane. Pittsburgh is the largest city close to Sewickley.

 

[Moderator]

With the help of Google maps and a little sleuthing, I've narrowed down a possible bookstore where SK will be appearing in Jersey City, NJ. If I am correct, I literally can walk to this event! Now I just hope I don't miss out on the chance to get a ticket or whatever will be needed.

I'll be posting the update with the names of the book stores at 2 PM, so in just a few minutes you'll know for sure. Check on the Home page, though, as it takes about 10-15 minutes to sync with the SKMB News.