In addition to being one of the best fiction writers of our age, Margaret Atwood is a savvy blogger and social media maven. She’s got a dynamite Web site for her new book, The Year of the Flood,  is active on Twitter and knows book tours like no other writer.

On her blog, Ms. Atwood gives 15 helpful tips for surviving a book tour, all of which I can endorse. I’d also add a couple of my own, including:

16) Always carry two copies of your book, one to gesture with and/or prop on the table in front of you during your speech, just in case the bookseller hasn’t arrived when you start.

17) Carry an extra day’s supply of anything important — meds, socks, underwear, chocolate — in case of travel delays. You don’t want to be without your essentials.

Thanks for the suggestions, Ms. Atwood! Here’s hoping some of your great good fortune rubs off on my modest book, too.