Sarah Palin (pictured) will not be stopping at cities that American authors traditionally visit on national book tours. Photo / AP

Sarah Palin (pictured) will not be stopping at cities that American authors traditionally visit on national book tours. Photo / AP

NEW YORK — Sarah Palin's scheduled book tour has raised eyebrows regarding where, and where not, she intends to make stops.

No stops are planned in Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and other major cities and book-buying communities that are standard for authors on the road but where the voters tend to be Democrats.

Beyond a November 16 television interview with Oprah Winfrey, nothing is scheduled for Chicago and New York will feature media appearances only.

However, the itinerary for Palin, whose "Going Rogue" comes out 17 November, does includes Indiana, Washington, Pennsylvania.

But supporters say Palin has every right to choose where she does and doesn't want to go based on her own personal preferences.

"She wants to be unconventional. She is unconventional," HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said Wednesday.

"She feels like this is where her fans are and Harper feels this is where she'll sell the most books."

"Going Rogue" has an announced first printing of 1.5 million copies and has been at or near the top of Amazon.com's best-seller list for weeks.

On Wednesday, ABC News announced that Barbara Walters would interview Palin, to air in five parts over three ABC News broadcasts — "Good Morning America", "Nightline", and "20/20," starting the morning of publication day.

On her Facebook site, Palin says she hopes to schedule interviews with others, including conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, and Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and Greta Van Susteren who are Fox News Channel personalities.

The tour starts 18 November at a Barnes & Noble in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, and running mate Senator John McCain made a campaign appearance last fall.

Choosing Michigan as the first state fits the book's title, which refers to reports from last year that the then-Alaska governor was defying McCain's staff and instead had gone "rogue."

Palin openly expressed her unhappiness with the campaign's decision to pull out of Michigan and effectively concede the state to Democrat Barack Obama.

"It was a mutual decision between Harper and Palin," Andreadis said of choosing Grand Rapids.

"And Barnes & Noble has a great store there."

The tour will take around three weeks, with a break for Thanksgiving, and will end around 10 December, after which the increase in holiday shoppers makes it difficult for stores to hold events, Andreadis said.

Palin will travel by bus for much of the time.

- AP, NZ HERALD STAFF