New Client on Virtual Book Tour July ‘08: Humor Writer Tim Bete

I’m happy to announce new client, humor writer and author Tim Bete who will be touring with us in July!

Tim, along with his sidekick, Cap’n Billy “The Butcher” McDougall, is the author of the new humor/parenting book, Cap’n Billy “The Butcher” MacDougall’s Guide to Pirate Parenting: Why You Should Raise Your Kids as Pirates and 101 Tips on How to Do It (Cold Tree Press, June ‘08), which will be on tour starting July 7 and will continue until the end of the month.

Tim Bete (pronounced “beet”) began his nautical adventures as a child sailing on Buzzards Bay off the coast of Massachusetts. At age 10, he longed for a small cannon to put on his grandfather’s 30-foot wooden ketch – a quick, two masted vessel that is perfect for catching other ships so you can plunder’em. His parents scuttled the cannon idea, saying he “would terrorize other boats with it.” That’s exactly what he had in mind.

Bete’s humorous parenting advice has been published in dozens of newspapers, magazines and Web sites, including the Christian Science Monitor, Atlanta Parent, Big Apple Parent, Northwest Family, FathersWorld.com and ParentingHumor.com. His first book, In the Beginning…There Were No Diapers as well as and Guide to Pirate Parenting were finalists in the Foreword Magazine Humor Book of the Year competition.

Bete’s hobbies include pushing his luck and skating on thin ice. In his spare time, he’s director of the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. You can visit his website at www.timbete.com.

Captain Billy ‘The Butcher’ MacDougall (pronounced “MacDougall”) has been hiding from authorities for most of his life. He lives on his ship, The Frightened Flounder, but can sometimes be found at the Crow’s Nest Tavern. His hobbies include plundering and rum.

About the Book:

In Guide to Pirate Parenting, Cap’n Billy “The Butcher” MacDougall provides everything you need to know to turn your little powder monkeys into happy, healthy buccaneers! Cap’n Billy answers difficult parenting questions, such as:

* At what age your child should be able to remove a bottle cap by taking out his glass eye and using his eye socket?

* Which offense requires administering The Flying Dutchman Wedgie?

* How do you prevent sogging the quartermaster?

* What is the best place to maroon your disobedient child?

* How do you remove chewing gum or a giant octopus from your child’s hair?

* What’s the difference between “plundering” and “pillaging?”

* How do you convert your minivan into a pirate schooner?

* When should you smack your teenager in the side of the head with an oar?

Each information-packed section ends with “Your pirate’s progress,” a short quiz that shows whether your child is reaching his or her pirate development milestones.

Before Tim embarks on his first virtual book tour with us, we asked him a few questions:

Hi, Tim, and welcome to Pump Up Your Book Promotion Virtual Book Tours! Can I ask why did you decide on a virtual book tour to promote your book?

For my first book I did both a virtual book tour and a traditional one. I found you sell a lot more books doing a virtual book tour plus you get the residual value from the blog posts remaining up forever. With traditional bookstore signings, there’s no residual value plus it takes a lot more time and money. I traveled to one store that had contacted me and asked me to do the event, and discovered the entire event included a table filled with my books. There was no pre-publicity and a single in-store announcement that I was signing books. That’s a total waste of time.

How did you find us?

Networking. We’ve been in a few online groups together. Then we reconnected when I posted my first video book trailer to a book marketing social networking group. Participating in online writers’ groups can help find the people you need to help further your career.

What are your expectations in what a virtual book tour can accomplish for you?

My book, GUIDE TO PIRATE PARENTING, is being re-launched and I think the virtual book tour combined with the two humorous book trailers I produced will create some new buzz and re-energize sales.

Do you have friends who have toured online and are you familiar with the process?

I’m familiar from the online tour process from my first book. My first book was Christian humor and all the blogs had a Christian focus. GUIDE TO PIRATE PARENTING has a broader tour focus.

How can we make your tour a more pleasurable experience?

Provide plenty of rum and plunder enough tour hosts to fill me ship with gold!

Thank you for this brief interview, Tim, and good luck on your tour!

If you would like to find out more about Tim and his book, Guide to Pirate Parenting, visit his tour stops which will be posted at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in July!

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