Going on tour by Tara Lyons
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| You don't even have to pack a bag! |
Think of an excited author travelling from city to city, bookshop to bookshop, eagerly waiting for readers to bombard them in their droves, desperate for signed copies of said author’s new book. Maybe even have a little conversation too. Well, ditch that image because a blog tour is quite different (although you’ll still have the excitable author).
A blog tour happens via social media – namely blog posts, Facebook and Twitter. Each day of your blog tour a blogger will hold their ‘stop’ on the tour and feature your new release on their blog. It could be a review, author guest post, book extract or giveaway. Or a combination of these things. Usually, the blogger will then share their post on various social media websites, book club and sometimes to their email subscribers.
I’ve just finished my second blog tour and I think they are an invaluable tool for promoting not only your new release/book promotion, but also you as a person. Bloggers have such a passion for books and in the past year I’ve bought many recommended reads because of a blog post I’ve read. My blog tour for In the Shadows last just over a week and The Caller’s was just over two weeks. On both tours I wrote gusts posts for some of the bloggers – namely about the idea about the book and co-writing – and I took part in quite a few Q&As (some of these questions were very probing and thought-provoking). These were all accompanied with a review and the blogger posted these on Amazon, iBooks, Goodreads etc on the day of their ‘stop.’ For both tours I created a poster with a list of the bloggers taking part, the date of their ‘stop’ and their website – and in the weeks leading up to my publication date all those involved shared it. I think it’s a fantastic way to interact with a variety of readers – they already follow this blogger because they enjoy their posts or share their interests, and so they’re learning about me as an author and what I have to offer; there’s a personality behind the name on the front cover.
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| My promotional posters for In the Shadows and The Caller blog tours |
It can be quite daunting to organise a blog tour. I mean, you’re handing your ‘baby’ over to a variety of bloggers and then have to wait until their ‘stop’ to find out what they thought of it. What if they hate it? What if they don’t read it? What if they decide to pull out of the blog tour? Luckily, I haven’t encountered this, but the bloggers I’ve worked with so far have not only been fun to work with but they’re extremely professional and I’m sure they’d handle their critique and feedback in the same manner. It’s easy to forget that this is a hobby for them, not a career.
I’m a new author, only publishing my books this year, so I know I still have a lot to learn. But, what I do know for sure is that bloggers, online book clubs and reviewers are worth their weight in gold. As an indie author I don’t have the funds or contacts to organise a real-life-travelling-the-country book tour – but, at the moment anyway, I think that’s okay, it works for me. I’m still finding my readers and they’re still getting to know me, so a blog tour is perfect. I get to meet and interact with new people all over the world from the comfort of my home (yes, sometimes even in my PJ’s, but shh, that’s a secret). I’d just like to thank all the bloggers for their support, for sharing my new releases, book promotions, reviews and my story.
So, what do you think of blog tours… Do you bypass them because it all gets too much seeing the same cover on your newsfeed day after day? Or do you religiously click into the link to find out what that blogger/author is sharing each day? Have you taken part in a blog tour yourself? As authors, bloggers and readers I’d love to know what your thoughts are.
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