The demise of the book tour and the rise of its replacement

The Los Angeles Times published a piece on how book tours have transformed over the years, and especially now in this economy. 

Author Carolyn Kellogg writes:

"As the business of publishing changes, book tours increasingly look like bad risks. 'In 99.9% of cases," says Peter Miller, director of publicity at Bloomsbury USA, "you can't justify the costs through regular book sales.

Book tours used to be about local media. "You would go to these places to get reviews, interviews, TV and...