Do you want some quick and easy visibility for your book? Ask bloggers to provide it.
Yes, blog tours represent a book promotion opportunity that most authors, publishers, and book publicists have known about for awhile. But now blog tours have made it into the mainstream press. The New York Times published an article about Amy Cohen’s blog tour for her book, The Late Bloomer’s Revolution.
A Times-reading colleague sent me a link to this article and asked, “Yes, but how do they do this?”
It isn’t rocket science. To arrange a blog tour, you contact bloggers and request that they review your book (or publish a Q&A, or that they come up with their own idea for featuring your book). How do you find bloggers? Use a blog search engine. Technorati’s blog search engine gets all the press, but I prefer Google’s. Make a list of prospects, draft your pitch, and then start making those overtures.
Arranging a blog tour isn’t as easy as, say, buying a media list, and sending out your media kit and book to everyone on it. There don’t seem to be an prefabricated list of bloggers who might participate in blog tours. There hardly could be, given the fact that most books would need to be promoted on blogs that are narrowly focused on a particular topic and reach small numbers of highly targeted readers.
Nonetheless, arranging a blog tour is worthwhile. Even the New York Times says so!
These tours don’t have to have much sales volume to beat the low sales of most real tours.. and give the author a chance to have more intimate conversations with their readers.
Real people connecting with real people.. that’s waht web 2.0 is all about.
We recommend these tours to our best seller blast authors.
Warren Whitlock
http://BestSellerAuthors.com
What is remarkable about Amy Cohen’s blog tour is the quietness of her own blog. It seems she hasn’t posted content since early summer.
Usually, an author should have an active blog to bounce from, or have as a spot for trading links and/or content.
I’ve seen authors go out on virtual book tour without a blog and still be successful. It’s all about interaction…what the author does while on the virtual blog trail. I’m seeing the ones who visits other authors’ stops who are also on tour, and commenting, making real contact, and they are the ones who are doing the best in terms of sales. It’s all about visibility. I do suggest to all my authors to set up a blog, maintain it and have it ready for their tour so that they can promote their tour on it, and some do, some don’t. We promote the authors’ stops daily (a little perk) to coincide with the authors’ promotions and in the end, it works. It’s been working since April and we’re doing a booming business. I haven’t been over here for awhile, Stacey, and I’m so sorry, but I will do better. You offer great publicity tips! ;o)