Why I Love My Job as a Blog Tour Manager

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About two years ago, I came across an ad that WOW! was looking for blog tour managers. Although I wasn’t really familiar with what a blog tour manager did at that time, the job description certainly appealed to me and I’ve always loved the positivity in the articles and blog posts I read here, so I put together a cover letter highlighting my qualifications and submitted my resume for review. I got the job, and after absorbing a wealth of information about how our tours run and the variety of packages we offer authors, was off and rolling.

If I’ve learned one thing over the years as a writer, it’s that in most cases, we can’t just rely on one income stream to keep us going. I started out working in public relations, meandered into a brief stint in media planning, eventually navigated my way into freelance writing and editing, and am now an aspiring children’s book writer. Every time I begin work on a new tour for an author, I am reminded of how all the little details that go into each launch also benefit me as a writer.

Working with other authors keeps me motivated. There’s nothing like watching another writer’s hard work pay off to keep me writing. Reading the promo copy, author’s bio, book, and researching blogs that are the perfect fit to host the author always provide me with an added dose of inspiration. I find myself itching to get back to my latest book revision and thinking, “When my book gets published, I’ll be sure to do X, Y, and Z when I go on a virtual tour.”

I’ve been exposed to some great books I probably wouldn’t have stumbled upon on my own. I’ll admit it—sometimes I get stuck in a rut when it comes to deciding on what book to read next. For the longest time I reached mostly for women’s fiction or young adult novels. With my job as a blog tour manager, I never run out of options, whether fantasy, dystopian, memoir, anthologies, or middle-grade children’s books, and it helps me to be a more well-rounded writer and editor.

I continue to hone my PR skills. As I mentioned before, I had a background in public relations before I started working as a blog tour manager, but I’ve been able to build upon those existing skills. Depending on what book is touring, I research blogs that cater to a variety of readers and discover some hidden gems I never knew were out there. I get quite a thrill out of finding a new blog I know will be perfect fit for an author’s book, getting a positive response from the blogger, and having an author write a blog post that resonates perfectly with the blog’s audience.

I’ve made some wonderful connections. Between the other blog tour managers and staff at WOW! Women on Writing, to the amazingly talented authors, book publishers, and creative and organized bloggers, my normally-introverted self has made connections I never could have made on my own. When you work from home, this can sometimes prove to be difficult, and I’m grateful for the connectivity with these people I have on a daily basis.

Renee Roberson is an award-winning freelance writer and editor who also works as a Blog Tour Manager for WOW! Women on Writing. Right now she is currently booking tours for children’s author Fiona Ingram’s book The Search for the Stone of Excalibur and Myrna J. Smith’s memoir God and Other Men: Religion, Romance, and the Search for Self-Love. Contact her at renee@wow-womenonwriting.com if you’re interested in hosting either of these two authors.