Talking Virtual Book Tours with Young Adult Fiction Author Larry Sweitzer

Larry Sweitzer was born in western Maryland and grew up in a small town where baseball was a way of life. He moved to southern Virginia as a teenager and has lived there ever since. The Ghost, the Eggheads, and Babe Ruth’s Piano is his first novel.  You can visit his website at www.larrysweitzer.com

Larry  will be on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours in December 2009 and is here with us today to give his impression of virtual book tours and online book marketing.

Thank you for this interview, Larry.  Can we start out by having you tell us briefly what your new book is about?

The Ghost, the Eggheads, and Babe Ruth’s Piano is a story about a teenage boy and his friends and their adventures at a summer camp for gifted teens.

At Camp Mason, a science fair pits the eggheads against one another for the top prize of a five thousand dollar scholarship. But, when the projects go missing, friendships are put to the test, relationships get put on hold, and everyone’s a suspect. To make matters worse, the camp is haunted by young Billy Mason who died there decades ago. The boys are determined to solve the mystery of the ghost and the missing science projects.

Freddie’s quest to win the scholarship—and the girl of his dreams—are constantly in jeopardy. There are complications at every turn: the ghost, a creepy caretaker, Freddie’s high school nemesis, a cantankerous camp manager, and a saboteur all threaten his chance to win the prize and Ginny’s heart.

More and more authors are realizing the potential for sales that derives from virtual book tours.  Can you tell us your personal reasons why you chose a virtual book tour to help get the word out about your new book?

Online book sales continue to increase. I’ve heard that more books are now being sold online than in bookstores. Touring online has the potential to reach far more people than doing a “physical” book tour because it continues on long after the tour is over. Posts at a host’s blog, reviews on websites and other online venues remain there as long as the site exists.

Is this the first time you have heard of them?

No, I’ve known about them for a while and had planned to include a tour as part of the launch and general promotion of my new novel.

What do you hope to achieve through promoting your book through a virtual book tour?

I hope to reach a wide audience and create some buzz about my book. Word of mouth can be a powerful thing. Combine that with the internet, and how information can propagate across the world quickly, a virtual book tour can be a very potent marketing tool.

I also look forward to hearing from readers!

Do you promote online through other means?  Website?  Blog?

Yes, I have a website and blog at www.larrysweitzer.com.

Do you promote through Twitter and Facebook?  What are your links there?

I’ve just started a page on Facebook for my novel at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ghost-the-Eggheads-and-Babe-Ruths-Piano/171113023194

What are your experiences with offline booksignings?  Which do you prefer – online or offline and can you give us the reasons why?

Well, since my book has just been released, I haven’t had any signings yet. I have some events coming up and will have to get back to you on that. I always look forward to interacting with readers, so I suspect I’ll enjoy them equally.

Here’s a fun question.  If money was no object, how would you promote your book?

Hmmm, with unlimited funds I could promote my book in so many ways! I think I’d start with an ad strategically placed on the side of the space shuttle and work up from there!

Thank you for this interview, Larry.  Do you have any final words?

Thank you. I’ve enjoyed it! I look forward to my virtual book tour and connecting with readers out there!

You can visit Larry’s official tour page here.