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I was recently asked: "Crystal,
what makes or breaks a book blog tour?" I wish I could tell you it's the
blog tour manager (that's me) that makes the difference. Some people think it
matters how many blogs you visit, what day of the week, how many followers the
blog has, how popular the book is, etc... all of those things play a role, but
ultimately it's the teamwork that can make or break the tour. The blog tour
manager approaches the bloggers to line up the stops. Then the blog tour
manager works with the author to set up the initial interview and work through
the guest posts, spotlights, and other stops along the way. Once the tour is
launched, the blog tour manager, bloggers, and the author must do their part to
engage the audience and spread the word about the tour and the stops. The team is only strong when each teammate is engaged and involved (no different than team sports such as swimming, football, etc.)
If the blog tour manager schedules a
tour stop at a highly visible blog but the blogger forgets to promote the
author or the author doesn't take time to visit, comment on, or promote the
stop ... the stop will have limited success. Similarly, if the blog tour
manager drops the ball by failing to provide the blogger with the tour details
or guest post, the tour stop will provide less value to readers and less
chatter about the book.
Whether you are a reader, writer,
reviewer, blog tour manager, blogger, or author you'll want to consistently use
your social media and mailing lists to promote a tour. Use hashtags and tag
people as you are able and spread the word. Publishing a book is a big deal and
we are a team; let's cheer one another on and ensure one another of a
successful tour!
*If you are a book reviewer, optimize your reach by using Goodreads, Ezine Articles, Amazon Reviews, Smashwords, and any other sites you cam (including your personal blog if you have one). You took the time to read and review the book, now tell everyone you can. This is a priceless gift for an author.
*If you are a blogger, connect with readers on as many levels as possible. Use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, G+, and email to spread the word. The author took his/her time to prepare a guest post or interview for your site, help them reach your readership and encourage readers to comment and ask questions.
*If you are an author, be sure to promote your own tour using your social media outlets and then visit each blog. Make comments, ask questions, and engage readers. Enthusiasm is as contagious as a smile, share yours with every one you can!
What role do you play with book blog
tours? What has worked for you? What is your favorite promotional tool? Leave
your comments or links below: we love hearing from you!
Get Involved! If you have a website or blog and would like to host one of our touring authors or schedule a tour of your own, please email us at blogtour@wow-womenonwriting.com.
6 comments:
Well try this again:
I was curious to read this post and your advice. I've yet to see a blog tour and consider it very successful. Most tours I see are writers promoting their books to other writers who write blogs for, you guessed it, other writers. It's a vicious cycle that rarely reaches new potential readers. We all cheer writers on, but the idea--I hope-- is to sell more books. The theory of the idea has merit though and you offer great tips here-- including how to reach readers.
I went on a blog tour with WOW in 2010 with the launch of my memoir. It was the best experience I had and the publicity from it excellent. The difference from WOW's blog tour and others I have seen, is the quality of blogs you land on and the interviews the blog owners set up to make it interesting for readers. I did not just talk about my book, each site had their own questions. I had to think hard to keep up with the task. How do you write essays? What about women's friendships change when you are no longer a couple? It was a fun and challenging tour. It gave me Google presence as each blogger's link to my interviews showed up. I made many friends that I am still in touch with. My new book will be out in a month, and I hope to do another tour with WOW. It was a fabulous experience and I talk about it when I speak to other writing groups. Money very well spent. I highly recommend it.
As a blogger, I think the number one thing is to keep a list of emails of people who are interested in your blog and then when you have a special post or a blog tour or a giveaway, send an email out and let people know about it. This is what always gets the most hits for me. I have had people email and tell me they bought so and so book because of my post, so I know it works. You just have to make your information useful to the audience who reads your blog AND then promote it. People are busy! Help them find what they need.
Glad I stopped by the blog, this is great info! Did not know there were blog tour managers. :)
Thank you to each one of you for your comments and ideas. What I love most about the writing/reading community is how open everyone is to sharing. Thank you immensely!
Hugs,
~Crystal
P.S.
Be sure to stop by the Muffin again tomorrow for the launch of a fun blog tour for Bonnie Milani's Sci-Fi Love Story Home World.
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