Many authors are still unsure how effective a virtual blog tour can be. I have been asked many times, before I started offering the World of Ink Author/Book Tours, if blog tours are really an effective way to market a new book. My answer is YES, but not if you are looking to only increase sales of your book. I say this because no marketing strategy you put into place or pay a publicist to do can guarantee book sales. If they do…run away fast!
With that said, there is a reason to have a blog tour as part of your marketing plan. One very big reason is that they are 70% more effective in drawing traffic to your book and the sites it is being offered on for sale. Second, 98% of readers will tell you they use the internet to do their research in seeking out a book on any given topic. Just from those numbers alone you can see the importance in having online visibility.
Now you can create your online presence through a website, blog and social networks, but a blog tour goes beyond this. It creates “BUZZ”, back links (which put your book higher in the search engines) and reviews. You can also use blog tours to help grow your author platform. And who wouldn’t want to do this?
By growing your online presence, you not only create buzz about your work you also show you’re an expert in your field by doing guest posts. You also let your readers get to know you better through interviews. There are some many “win-wins” in a blog tour to even name. Yes, the goal is to, hopefully, sell books, but what you really are doing (and is more important for your overall career as an author) is building a fanbase; people who will recognize your name and want to buy your next book or series of books. And I don’t think I need to tell you the value in that!
Now, I know you’re wondering, “Okay, so do I put a blog tour together myself or do I hire someone to do it for me?” That all depends on our marketing budget. You can put your own blog tour together, but the thing you need to ask yourself is, “Are the people I know who are willing to host me going to really reach my readership?” In most cases, you know other writers who have blogs and their blog following in most cases are other writers. Okay, that isn’t all bad and I still suggest you put your own blog tour together with your writing buddies, however, you should still seek out tour companies that can help you reach your readership. I mean isn’t that the whole point of the blog tour…to build your fanbase, create buzz and hopefully sell some books, too?
If you hire a publicist to help promote your book, ask them about the blog tour they will be doing for you. I hate to say it, but I get a lot of PR companies who contact me and very rarely do I see a lot of buzz from the blog tours they create. Some do a good job, but others are only okay because they look for high traffic blogs only and not at the blog following. This is all very important when doing a blog tour. Some blogs may not have a lot of followers, but the followers they do have…is whom you need to reach because they are your target readership.
I have worked with a few companies who offer this service before and after I started offering mine. I will list only two who I truly believe in. There are others out there and I suggest you contact the authors who have used them, but the two I’m going to list other than my own deal with children’s authors and know how to read your readership.
Pump Up Your Books, who I have used before. They are hard working and really know what they are doing. (http://virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/)
Author Showcase is another one that only focuses on children’s books and is good about creating buzz. (http://workingwriterscoach.com/)
World of Ink Virtual Author/Book Tour (http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/worldofinktour.aspx) I also get the buzz and word out to your target readership. I have a bit of an advantage because of my online Ezine, Stories for Children Magazine. I already have a fanbase I can network to when doing a tour and I know a lot of book review and mommy bloggers. All this helps when doing a blog tour.
The thing to remember is a blog tours can be fun, but they are a lot of hard work, not only for the blog coordinator or hosts, but for YOU the author as well. You don’t get to just sit back and let the blog tour host do it all. If you want your tour to be successful, you need to help promote. You will also be filling out interview questions, writing guest posts/articles and sending books out for review. You’ll need to visit each blog stop during your tour to say, “Thank you” to the host and answer any questions followers may have.
If you offer a giveaway, you’ll need to make sure the information for the contest is correct and keep track of who is entered (some blog hosts will do this, but not all). You will also need to follow up on each tour stop (unless you hired someone, they should be doing this as part of their service) to make sure each host has all the information they need for their hosting date.
The beauty of a virtual author/book tour is your book will be appearing all over the Internet without you ever leaving your home.
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Stories for Children Publishing will be touring award-winning author VS Grenier and her book, “Babysitting SugarPaw” a picture book about friendship and telling the truth all month long in June 2011.
In addition, come listen to Blog Talk Radio’s World of Ink Network show: Stories for Children at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/worldofinknetwork. The hosts VS Grenier, Kris Quinn Chirstopherson and Irene Roth chatted about Grenier’s picture book, writing, the publishing industry and experiences with virtual tours.The show aired live June 6, 2011. You can listen on demand at the World of Ink Network site at http://www.blogtalkradion.com/worldofinknetwork.
To learn more about the World of Ink Tours visit Stories for Children Publishing at: http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com
4 comments:
I think book tours are a great way to get the word out about your books. I was very pleased with the World of Ink Tour I did in March. The result was an increase in book sales as well as an increase in traffic to my website and Facebook/Twitter pages.
Excellent post! Thanks.
Glad you both liked it and that you had great buzz and sales Sherry.
GREAT information. Thanks : )
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