An Event Grid is basically just a list of authors of upcoming titles that publishers are planning on sending out on tour. Event Grids are posted well in advance of the publication date, often even before those titles are even listed in publishers’ catalogs, due to the complicated logistics of planning such a tour. The grids are your opportunity to essentially give a sales pitch in the pursuit of hosting an event on one of these tours.

Note:  Access to Event Grids is fully controlled by each publisher. Edelweiss is open to the public, but the grids are not, and so publishers grant access to individual users based on their email address. To gain access, ask your sales rep or email the publisher directly (contact information for a publisher is generally found on the Contact Us pages of their websites).

In a grid, you’ll see a list of titles (with all the available information you’re used to seeing in Edelweiss) with a little bit of Tour Information. You’ll have an area designated for your sales pitch. Each grid will have an expiration date, after which the grids will be closed. You’ll write your pitch for the authors you’d like to host and submit the grids. Afterward, your sales reps have an opportunity to advocate on your behalf by writing notes on your pitch. Then the grids go to the publicists who make the tour decisions. To be blunt, not all of the publishers are great about telling you if you were not selected for the tour, unfortunately, but you will certainly hear back if your pitch was accepted.