I’ve scheduled blog tours for my last few releases, and I’ve often wondered how effective they’ve been. I’ve tried my best to measure the value. To contact bloggers and invite them to participate, and then have those who are interested reply positively, is a great feeling. Depending on the blogger’s followers, and on the author’s ability to get the word out, not to mention if the bloggers write reviews, post an author interview, post the author’s guest blog post, and/or offer giveaways, blog tours can be valuable avenues to take prior to release date. My most successful blog tour garnered daily reviews for one-week leading up to pub day.
As the tour links are posted, I try to repost the blogger links via social media and email, which provides visibility to the blogger’s page and to the new book release, which should include a book purchase link and author website. A few tips: Sometimes, blogging on weekdays garners more replies than weekends. Also, I recommend limiting it to three to seven bloggers. Some bloggers might forget and fail to post, but most will remember and are actually excited, and very creative. It’s important to follow-up. Live up to your word to provide books, tee-shirts, etc. And live up to your commitments as far as delivery dates. Make it worth their while. If things fall through the cracks on our end, you don’t want the bloggers to have to suffer, so it’s best to plan ahead, keep everyone posted, communicate regularly, and be sincerely thankful to each blogger for their time and interest. Bottom line, they are basically agreeing to be your publicists during the tour. That’s awesome and not to be taken lightly. Also, you want them to be proud of the book you’ve written if they are representing you and promoting your work, so give them a page-turner to be proud of.
Have you had a blog tour lately? Has it proven to be a success? How did you measure the effectiveness? (Please inbox me if you need someone to plan and coordinate your blog tour. I will send their information to you)
Ciao and write on!
4 comments:
I have not tried one, having been unconvinced of their value. But I'm going to try for one for my next book to see it helps.
I often host writer friends for their tours, but am skeptical of their effectiveness. One, I think too many do blog tours on writers sites read and visited by other writers. I'm not sure that's the target audience of your book, unless you have written a craft book on writing.
I'm not sure what the answer is on this issue. It's tricky for fiction writers.
I have never done a blog tour, but I am planning on doing one for my next book. I notice that most of the tours I've seen are simply the same excerpt repeated at each stop. I'm planning on doing something a little different; a blog written from the perspective of each main character of my book, where I can inform potential readers of previous and future stops...sort of an ongoing blog with different stops. Wish me luck!
I haven't, but I haven't ruled it out. It's difficult to measure the value of blog tours; sales, reviews, the important name/title recognition factor--all of these might redound to our benefit somewhere down the road and in ways we can't possibly track. Go for it.
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