Where is Rita Now?
Seattle, Washington : Read the Home Page
National Nomad Tour
- Tour Itinerary
(May '01 - Mar '02)
It popped into my head
one day when I was feeling frustrated and it’s
been growing ever since. What if I bought a car or a van and just took off
around the country promoting my book by talking to groups, both in the big
cities where lots of book promotion happens, as well as in the smaller
communities that are rarely visited by authors. What if I piled books into
the trunk of my car and when I got somewhere, I sold them.
It sounded simple until I began
to look at it seriously. Talk where? Sell where? Stay where? Why
would anybody come to hear me talk or buy a book from me if they’ve
never heard of Rita Golden Gelman?
The only community of people
who have heard of me are first and second grade teachers. And for
the most part, it isn’t I they’ve heard of, it’s
MORE SPAGHETTI, I SAY!, or some of the other children’s books I’ve
written. I’m sure it would be easy to find classrooms to talk in, but that
won’t do TALES OF A FEMALE NOMAD much good. Maybe a deal, the classroom
during the day and the parent organization at night. The more experienced
people I spoke to were not very enthusiastic about the PTA. Clearly if I was
going to organize a national tour, there had to be some serious advance
promotion before I arrived -- on radio, local TV, newspapers. And I would have
to contact the appropriate organizations well in advance of coming so they
could notify their members. The whole thing was way beyond my organizational
skills.
But I liked the idea. I even
added to it. If I set out to visit every one of the 50 states,
I would have an angle to pitch to the press. I’d be an
interesting story beyond the book.
And that’s about where I am at the moment. It’s
April 21st.
I am about to hire a publicist to get me radio interviews around the country.
And I’m talking to a friend who might be willing to manage the rest. It
means serious money, at least as much as they paid me to write the book. But I
know I’ll be furious at myself if I just move on with my life and don’t
even give this a shot. It represents more than two years of writing. I hate
to think that its will go the way of most books and be out of sight and print
a matter of months after it is published.
When I get playful about the
idea, I see myself in a Nomadmobile, checking off the states as
I hang out in general stores (if there are any left), go to pancake
breakfasts, and country fairs. I’m going to try. I’ll keep you
informed, frustrations and all.
I hope I’ll get e-mails from
readers offering to help, especially mentioning the names of the
most-read local papers and the most-listened-to radio stations.
And perhaps even organizations that might be interested in a speaker.
The organization can even use the event as an opportunity to raise
money. They can order books from the publisher and get 40% off the cover price
of $23.00. For every book they sell at full price, they will make $9.20 |
 |
Previous Journal Entries
2007
Sept 11 - 25th- Seattle, WA
July 10, 2007 - Seattle, WA
March
13 -
Seattle, WA
2006
December 1 - Patzcuaro, Mexico
October 21-
Seattle, Tanzania, Kenya, Nairobi
March 13 - Seattle
2005
July 30 - Thailand to Mexico
April 9 - Ban Krud Thailand
2004
Sep 9 - Massachusetts
May 27 - Guatemala
Mar 27 - Last days in India
Mar 1 - South India
Feb 29 - Delhi, India
Jan 20 - Delhi, India
2003
Oct 19 - Delhi, India
Sep 30 - Maine
Sep 24 - Portland, Maine
Rita's Summer "Vacation"
Jun 9 - Seattle, Washington
Mar 28 - From France to India
Feb 10 - Last days in Suriname
Jan 4 - More from Suriname
2002
Dec 27 -
On to Suriname
Nov 22 -
Trinidad
Oct 20 -
Rita plans return to nomadic life
Special Oct 20 -
Laurie Billington's letter from Bali
Jul 29 -
Seattle
Apr 28 -
New Zealand
2001
Jul 16-
Upstate New York
Jul 1 -
Shushan, NY
Jun 20 -
Connecticut
May 6 -
Off to Connecticut
Apr 20 -
New York City
|