Another practice that is becoming much more common is the group signing or the group tour. There are a number of reasons to sign as a group. First, you’re more likely to bring in more people as part of a group. You can sell copies of your work to other readers who have come in to see the other authors, similar to the idea behind panel discussions at a convention. The additional people are a plus, and additions are always welcome to any signing.

An additional benefit to group signings is that you’re suddenly part of a local signing group in multiple locales. Each of the other authors has a local signing base, a number of fans, and a list of contacts that you can use to get your books stocked in other stores. The other authors should be willing to pitch your books as well as their own. A signing group is not a competition, and the book-reading public should not be looked at as a pie, in which there are only a few pieces to go around. There’s more than enough “pie” for all of us. If you remember that maxim, you should have no trouble getting along in a group-signing situation.
Besides bringing other people to the signing to keep you busy, it’s nice to have other authors around to talk to when the signing is slow. They can keep the boredom away while you sit there praying for someone to walk through the door of the store. Misery loves company, and it’s nice to have another person there to share the misery “pie” with. If you’re touring in another part of the country, you’ll have someone to eat meals with and someone to travel with. It’s a nice feeling to know that you have a support system right down the hall from you should anything go wrong.

The group signing or tour method can also save you money. If you’re traveling together, you can share expenses on rental cars, hotels, and food. You can pool money for advertising and press kits. You won’t be shouldering the entire burden by yourself.

You will need to be careful though. You want to find people to travel with who you’re compatible with, professionally and personally. You want to be part of a group that has somewhat similar characteristics in their fiction. If you write humorous soft-boiled mysteries, you’ll want other funny authors. If you write serious historical mysteries, you’ll want to find other writers from different eras. Try to imagine Agatha Christie and Patricia Cornwell traveling together on tour. Despite the obvious draw in pure sales figures, they are not well suited. It’s highly unlikely that a Christie reader is going to like Cornwell and vice versa. Their works are too dissimilar and no synergy is to be gained by traveling as a pair.

Once you find authors who match your style and personality, you’ll need to come up with a catchy title for the group. As authors, you’re always expected to be clever and witty. This will be no exception. You should find a name that you can live with for a while, since you’re likely to be doing this for quite some time.
You’ll also want to make sure that you’re compatible on a personal level. Touring together is like marrying into someone’s family. All of a sudden you have these people that you’re stuck with for weeks of travel time. Be sure to choose them wisely. Besides the proximity in touring, you’ll also be sharing resources. You’ll want to make sure that it’s a good working relationship, because essentially you trust them with your money and your career. You might want to take a trial signing or two on, just to make sure that you’ll be good working together.