Talking Virtual Book Tours with Travel Memoir Author Paul V. Stutzman

Paul was born into an Amish family in 1951. His family left the Amish lifestyle soon thereafter and joined a Conservative Mennonite church. Now they could travel by car instead of horse and buggy, but most of this travel was only to visit other strict Mennonite churches in the area. His opinion of God was formed under a rigid set of rules that needed to be followed to please God.

As Paul grew older, he gradually started questioning the basis for his beliefs. The church taught a strict adherence to dress and outward appearance while often neglecting to address the emptiness within his life. He eventually left the strict church environment for a more liberal Mennonite church, married a liberal Mennonite girl and started a life and family with her.

The years were filled with the joy of raising three children and building Paul’s career. As with many other couples, life was rolling merrily along. The couple’s goal was to get out of debt, retire early and do mission projects for the church.

That all changed with a phone call informing Paul that his wife had cancer. Stage four breast cancer was the diagnosis, with several months to several years to live. On September 7, 2006, his wife passed away, and after 32 years of marriage he was once again alone.

Paul had, however, met one goal—getting out of debt. He now questioned the wisdom of working so hard and spending so much time away from his family to reach that goal. A year after losing his wife, he made a life-changing decision. He quit his job as a restaurant manager and took a “hike from life.”

Paul hiked 2,176 mile on the Appalachian Trail in a quest for peace. Along this famous pathway stretching through 14 states, he questioned everything he had ever been taught. Somewhere between Georgia and Maine, on a difficult rock-strewn path, he realized that God really had been with him all along. Along the trail, he discovered the peace and freedom he had been searching for all his life.

The book Hiking Through is his telling of this journey. His web site is located at www.hikingthrough.com.

Paul V. Stutzman will be on a virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours in March/April and is here with us today to give his impression of virtual book tours and online book marketing.

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

The book “Hiking Through” is about two pathways. The first is the pathway of life, and its continuation after encountering a condition we know as death. The second pathway is the Appalachian Trail and the thru-hike I undertook in the summer of 2008 while on a healing hike after losing my wife to breast cancer.

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?

Whether you are self-published or published in a more traditional way, the success of the book still falls on the author’s participation in the promotion of his book. The internet is the quickest and most efficient way to get a product in front of people.

Hiking Through: Finding Peace and Freedom on the Appalachian Trail by Paul V. Stutzman (click on cover to purchase at Amazon)

Is this the first time you have heard of them?

Yes it is. I discovered this book tour while searching the internet for resources to promote my book.

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

Obviously I hope folks will be interested in buying my book, but I also hope that I can reach folks with my message not to take their spouses and families for granted.

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

I have a website where the book can be purchased at www.hikingthrough.com I also have a blog accessible from that same site.

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

I am on Facebook under my personal name.

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

This is my first attempt at an online book tour. I have done numerous book signings and have really enjoyed meeting people. I do look forward to sitting in my easy chair while this tour is ongoing.

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

I would give a copy to everyone I met.

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

Wow! That sounds so final. Do I get a final meal? I will say this. Enjoy the folks around you. Appreciate your family and friends. Do not take them for granted. It really is true that you don’t know what you have till it’s gone.

You can visit Paul’s official tour page here!