Something to consider when booking author tours this fall
There are two things in life I am currently obsessed with (besides Battlestar Galactica): racing and work. I found a somewhat unexpected nexus in … the author tour. When scheduling tours, we try to take into account national holidays, long weekends, etc. ,and it occurred to me it would make sense to at least consider when big-city marathons are held since these races can draw 40,000 runners, many of whom are from out of town. (I wouldn’t go so far as to suggest not sending an author to a city marathon weekend, but I do think it would help to be aware of the races, knowing that hotel rooms and possibly airfares during these periods will skyrocket, not to mention traffic will be a real doozy.) Here are some of the big races for the remainder of the year in the cities to which we often tour authors:
Chicago: Sunday, October 12 (also Columbus Day Weekend)
DC: Sunday, October 26
New York: Sunday, November 2
Philadelphia: Sunday, November 23 (the weekend before Thanksgiving Weekend)
Portland: Sunday, October 5, 2008
San Francisco: Sunday, August 3
Seattle: Sunday, November 30 (Thanksgiving Weekend)
Although few authors will do events on Sundays themselves, keep in mind that hotels will be at a premium all weekend. And if your author is in one of these cities for one of these weekends, book early (particularly in Chicago, DC and NYC) because runners are already snapping up rooms.
[...] and that means road closures, often until the early evening. Here’s a list of some of the major fall marathons. If you have an author leaving town on marathon Sunday in one of these cities, it’s [...]
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