Blog Book Tour: Part 1—What It Is
December 15, 2008 by Lillie
Table of contents for Blog Book Tour
- Blog Book Tour: Part 1—What It Is
I recently took two blog book tours for my romantic suspense novel Dream or Destiny. The first tour lasted three weeks and included seventeen stops; the second tour lasted less than a week and included four stops. After the first tour, I wrote a wrap-up report of the tour that I hope will be helpful to other authors in planning their own tours as well as to bloggers hosting blog book tour stops.
I’ve also hosted several authors on blog book tours and plan to do more of this in the future. Blog book tours, also called virtual book tours, are becoming increasingly popular, but I’ve learned that not everyone knows what a blog book tour is.
More than a year ago when I was planning ahead for the release of my novel, I wrote a post about virtual book tours (VBTs). Since then, it seems that blog book tour is becoming the preferred name.
Authors have often gone on book tours, traveling across the country or within a region to visit book stores for readings and booksignings. Book tours don’t always result in a lot of immediate sales for authors, but they do give authors the opportunity to meet booksellers and readers and to build their and their books’ name recognition. Book tours give readers live contact with authors.
Today, book tours are too expensive for all but best-selling authors. Many authors prefer to spend their time and energy writing rather than traveling, yet they still need to promote their books. More and more books are being sold online rather than in local bookstores, and booksignings don’t often draw large crowds (unless the author is already famous).
Blog book tours are taking the place of physical book tours for many authors. There are no travel expenses and no time away from home. Instead of physically visiting bookstores, authors virtually visit blogs to promote their books. Blog book tours don’t always result in a lot of immediate sales, but they give the authors the opportunity to virtually meet readers and bloggers. Tours build name recognition for the authors and their books, and they give readers virtual contact with authors.
A visit to a blog can take many forms, including interviews—written or audio (podcasts), reviews, excerpts, and guest posts. The schedules for my first and second blog book tours show that my tour stops included most of these.
I’ve hosted reviews, an author interview, and a character interview, a fun and different visit. Hosting authors on their blog book tours is new to me, and I’m looking forward to a variety of different visits.
In the next installment, I’ll offer advice for authors, and in the final installment of the series, I’ll make suggestions for bloggers hosting blog book tours.
As a reader, do you enjoy blog book tours? What do you like or not like about blog book tours or individual tour stops that you have read?
I generally like blog tours. I wish that some of the bloggers would ask more in depth questions of the authors. I also like it better when the blog host do non-generic book reviews. I appreciate different perspective.
Bluestocking,
You are a great tour host, and your blog is a great place for both readers and authors. I like the way you put your personality into your interviews and reviews.
I have great respect for companies that plan blog book tours for authors. They play an important role in the rise of the popularity of blog book tours. However, I think authors who plan their own tours may find it easier to come up with a variety of interesting tour stops.
The author knows her book better than anyone else so she can work with hosts to bring out different elements of the book (such as the way you focused on domestic violence in my book). Also, since the author is planning only one tour at a time, she can be more creative. A company planning a number of tours is more likely to follow a standard format.
Sometimes, it seems that all the tour stops follow a pattern so the last stop on the tour is similar to the first. One of the things I tried to do was to make the visit to each blog unique. Readers could follow me to every stop and find something different each time.
Lillie, please inform Lisa Watson that she won one of my Village Shattered novels in the drawing. She commented on your site. Have her send me her address to my JeanHenry@aol.com address with “I won the contest” in the subject line.
Thanks,
Jean
Jean,
I accidentally deleted your next comment and my replies to both. I have e-mailed Lisa.
You said you’d hoped to send out the books by Christmas but New Year’s would be fine too, and I responded that I’m sure the winners will be delighted to get the books anytime.
Sorry for being a klutz and wiping out the comments!
I too like the different persperctive, and view that is not biased, Keep it coming!
Jean,
A different perspective at each stop makes the tour more interesting.
Lillie, I’m glad you’re introducing this series – I think the blog book tour is something a lot of authors or future authors will have on their list and it’s good to reflect on what works (or doesn’t)
I have to confess that as a reader I don’t find blog book tours particularly engaging. This may be because the interview format doesn’t work well for me – my attention tends to wander.
I also think there are issues for readers at the blog of the person who’s on tour – in relation to your recent tour for example I was pretty much just waiting for you to get back. I’m afraid I’m not loyal enough to follow the links to all the places where you’ve been!
I’d be interested in any reflections on whether it’s better to spread out a tour over a long period of time, or go for a blitz, which has the benefit of quick impact, but may alienate some readers who see the same author popping up in diferent places on the blogosphere.
Joanna Young´s last blog post..On Sentences, Syllables and Simplicity
Joanna,
Thank you for your perspective. I noticed that my blog didn’t get as many comments or even as much traffic during my tour, though it wasn’t a huge decrease.
I must confess I was disappointed that more of my blog readers didn’t follow my tour—disappointed more for my blog tour hosts than for myself. I wouldn’t benefit greatly by having my own readers follow me—they already know about my book, and either they are interested or they aren’t. I don’t think a blog book tour is going to convince someone who reads my blog regularly to buy my book if they aren’t interested after reading everything posted here.
However, I had told my hosts I would publicize the tour stops on my own blog and gave them some traffic numbers. I had hoped to generate some traffic and new readers for my hosts. Although this happened in a few cases, it didn’t happen as much as I had hoped. Now that I know my visit isn’t likely to benefit my hosts with traffic, I’m wondering if there are other benefits for hosts. As you will see on the evaluation, the hosts all made positive comments. But did they really get an value from my visit?
Of course, for blogs that specialize in book reviews and/or author interviews, authors on tour are ideal guests. But what about other blogs—the ones with readers I’d like to introduce my book to? I’m asking the question in first person, but I’m looking for an answer for authors in general. I’d appreciate input from anyone who has hosted authors so I can cover this in my next article.
[...] Some writers do book tours to promote new books. But this can be costly and time consuming. Lillie Amman shares a killer way to promote your book – a blog book tour. She recently did a blog book tour to promote her new novel, Dream or Destiny and she’s sharing how to do it in a series beginning with: Blog Book Tour Part 1 – What Is It? [...]
As a reader, I obviously enjoyed the book tour Lillie. Thanks for compiling them here.
PaddyPower,
Thanks! I’m glad to hear from a reader who enjoyed the tour.
Lillie, I’ve been followed you to the latest interview and I’m happy with your performance…
wilson´s last blog post..A Fast Recap Of WillYouMind For 2008!
wilson,
Thank you for your loyal following. I appreciated seeing your comments along the way as I appreciate your visits and comments here.
Interesting idea and not one i’d seen mentioned before, cool concept for sure and will be sure to help you in the long term.
jackie´s last blog post..General Principles of Treatment for Smokers
Jackie,
Thanks for commenting. It’s always fun to introduce readers to something new.
[...] authors, a delayed series, group writing projects, and several seasonal posts made this thank-you post very late, but no [...]
Thank you, Lillie. I had hoped to get the books out to the winners by Christmas but the new year will do.
Jean,
I’m sure they’ll be thrilled to get them anytime … and might have more time to read after the holiday rush is over.