New Kind of Book Tour

A few weeks ago, The New York Times featured an article by Stephan Elliott who chose not to have a standard book tour for his new release, The Adderall ­Diaries, but created something else entirely.

Rather than visiting book stores, he offered to go to people's houses and have a book reading. The host had to gather at least twenty people there.

It's an interesting idea, especially considering some of the horror stories that float around about book signings. I also love the idea of people starting to have "book" parties in their homes, getting their friends reading, and quite frankly I believe if people have met an author, they'll talk about them.

I did see some draw backs to the idea. It could just be me, but I think it's risky to go blindly to a stranger's house. Mr. Elliott spent the night on the hosts couch. (Talk about Misery. . . )

Also, I don't think newcomers should take this approach straightaway. They need to establish relationships with their local bookstores. On a daily basis, those are the people who hand sell books. There, they might tie in with more writers and book lovers.

How he got started, I'm not certain outside of his statement that he gave away free copies of his novel to anyone who promised to passed it on. Yet I think there is a lot potential in this idea.

What do you guys think?