Why Do a Virtual Author/Book Tour?

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

You can find out more about VS Grenier’s World of Ink Author/Book Tour schedule at http://storiesforchildrenpublishing.com/BabysittingSugarPaw.aspx. There will be giveaways, reviews, interviews, guest posts and more. Make sure to stop by and interact with VS Grenier and the hosts at the different stops by leaving comments and/or questions.

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

To E or Not to E

by Scott Rhoades

I admit it. For a long time I was resistant to e-books. It's not that I'm a technological Luddite. I've made my living in the tech industry since 1988 and I think technology is really cool, and I like gadgets, and the idea of having a gadget with hundreds, or even thousands, of books with me wherever I go is appealing, especially considering how much it cost me to take books with me for my four-months of working in Germany in 2005, and how much more it cost to send them home again along with all the new books I got while I was there.

It's just that I like books. I love bookshelves loaded with books. Apparently, I love bookshelves loaded with books, along with boxes of them shoved into every closet with space. But the e-book thing for me is the same argument you get from everybody else who resists the new books. I love the feel of books, the way they look, how they smell. When I read I like to keep my bookmark where I started so I can see how much I read and how much progress I made toward the end.

But I've been converted this year. Thanks to both my Android phone and the loaner iPad from work, several of the books I've read this year have been electronic. And, well, there's a lot to like about e-books, like how little space they take up, how easy they are to read in the dark, or to take on trips or to have with me when I'm waiting for somebody at the airport.

I still prefer regular books for the reason I mentioned. I also lament that so much of our media is no longer real, in the sense that you can't touch it. Whether it's a book or music, there's something comforting about being able to pull it off the shelf, look at it, and then enjoy it. In fact, sometimes I just go to the shelf and pull off a book just to look at the book. When it's just a bunch of bits, it seems less real. Insubstantial. Disposable.

Another concern about e-books: I tend to remember things, at least for a short while, that I want to go back and look at again in a book. I can find it by it's approximate location in a book, how far in, and what part of the page it was on. I can't do that with an e-book. On the other hand, most readers I've seen make it really easy to keep notes or bookmark pages you might want to go back to.

And then there's the whole piracy issue. People who would never even consider walking into FYE and stealing a CD have little or no problem with downloading it for free. There's an upside to that, though. Sharing makes the arts more of a community affair. If there's a song you like and your friend hasn't heard it, you just give it to him. That's kind of cool. Sharing is easier with something that doesn't exist in a tangible form, but it's impossible to get around the ethical issue.

Be that as it may, I've been converted. And that's got me thinking about self-pubbing an e-book. If you've ever read author Joe Konrath's blog, it's hard not to admit the advantages writers can have by becoming their own publisher. He constantly writes about what a good thing this new format is for writer, and bluntly calls us dense if we don't see the advantages. His bluntness would turn me off it weren't argued so well.

It still feels second-best to me, as if I were giving up on ever publishing a "real" book. But maybe that's me being old and looking at publishing in an old-fashioned way. Maybe Konrath's right. What I like is that he goes into quality issues, that writing an excellent book, getting it edited, and designing a professional cover are still critical. Anybody can throw out poor-quality books and, as he says, they'll even get some sales which they would never get through traditional means. The good books rise to the top, though. One thing Konrath laments is that the NYT lists ignore bestselling self-pubbed books, including his own, which, he shows, is outselling the online NY Times and is getting better ratings.

I'll have to look into that more. I don't want to jump the gun. But Konrath sure makes a good point.

Whatever I do as a writer, I've now jumped with both feet (minus a few toes, I guess) into the e-book reading world, and have even started to look seriously a readers, which I have yet to buy because I can buy ten books for the same price, and buying ten books is a bigger temptation. But I have no doubt I'll make the jump. I'll keep buying books because I can't stand the thought of not buying them, but when there's something I just want to read and I don't really care about having the actual book, I might as well save some space.

What about you? Have you made the jump, as either a reader or writer or both? How do you like the new world?

Showing Involves Specificity

by Deren Hansen

From time to time, I see comments about pieces having or needing concrete detail. Several years ago I came across a discussion by Annette Lyon about specificity on the Writing on the Wall blog that helped clarify my understanding of concrete details:

"Showing has several elements, but specificity is one of my favorites. The gist is to take a general noun (such as a car) and tell us more. Make us see it.

"Is it a VW Bug? Is it a little red Toyota truck with rusted wheel wells? Is it a sleek, black Jaguar? A yellow Jeep with fuzzy, pink dice hanging from the mirror?

"The more specific you are, the more clearly readers will see the “movie” in your head—and be drawn into your imaginary world."

[You may read the entire post here.]

In your quest to be specific, however, remember that if some is good, more is not necessarily better. If you describe every detail in the scene or setting minute, concrete detail, your story will grind to a halt and you stand a good chance of losing readers with anything less than a Herculean attention span.

In general, a few specific, evocative details, leaving plenty of room for your reader to fill in the rest, work best.


Deren blogs daily at The Laws of Making.

Name Me

I gave a similar presentation during a League of Utah Writers mini-bootcamp back in February. I just really like this topic.

So, what’s the big deal about character names anyway? I mean, it’s just a name. In all honesty, a name is a key characteristic, especially to your main character.

Here’s an example scenario: What if it was called “Draco Malfoy and the Sorcerer’s Stone”? Draco learns that he’s a wizard and goes into the wizarding world where he meets Neville Longbottom, the sixth of seven children in a poor family. They team up with Parvati Patil. Draco creates an enemy in prideful Harry Potter, who’s father works for the Ministry of Magic as well as having been a member of the Order of Merlin, Lord Dumbledore’s evil group of people. Helping Draco is Professor Voldemort, who always seems to know more of what’s going on.

Okay, there are a few things wrong here. First, “Voldemort” can translate to “Stealing Death”. Draco is from “draconian”, which is a reference to dragons. Dumbledore is a kind term, not an evil one. It just doesn’t make sense to use the names this way.

It must’ve taken Rowling some time to research meanings in order to create her characters with names that give them life.

Here’s another thought. Let’s talk about Regency Romance. And let’s say this is your scene: guy and girl flirt with one another in London. Both are aristocrats. Ready go:

Jamal walked up to LaKesha. Her strawberry blonde hair and fair skin always caught his attention. He hoped LaKesha felt the same way about him.
“Jamal!” LaKesha put out her hand for him to kiss it. “Have you seen Mario, Duke of Chester? His family is throwing their annual ball and I must get an invite.”
“No, LaKesha. I would guess he’s with Keiko, he really has taken a fancy with her.”

Besides the obvious (T.J. writes poor regency) these names don’t belong in that era tied to those people. Jamal may be the closest possibility. Even then, it doesn’t feel right for Regency. LaKesha sounds like an African-American name. Mario belongs to Italy and/or Spain. While Keiko is Japanese. A lot of immigrants in Regency Era England? Maybe, but most certainly not ones in an aristocratic society.

If you want to write fantasy, you could claim “I can come up with any name I want to.” I’ll give you that. However, you may want consistency in name types, especially if you’re going with different races. Comparing Earthly races in individual, raw forms, you could go with many Asian cultures and realize, most of them have single syllable names, maybe two syllables. In my own writing, my Dwarfs have “hard” names where there’s a “k” sound or “r” sound in the name and less “ll”s and such.

Just some thoughts. What do you think? What are some comical misplaced names?

Blog Spotlights: T. Lynn Adams

Between finishing off a master's degree and being under contract to write a sequel to her first book, Terry shares with us her insights on writing. We'll take her when we can get her!

http://tlynnadams.blogspot.com/

Blog Spotlights: Tiffany Dominguez

Tiffany loves books! And Tiffany loves to write. And she does both very well-- in between promoting her first book and raising her family. Her blog below is dedicated to finding high-quality young adult books and reviewing them for you. Check out the side bar links to the other blogs she has.

http://scribblebymoonlight.blogspot.com/

Take a Little Time to Write Something Really Important

by Scott Rhoades

With my kids' encouragement, I've been taking some time from my writing schedule (what there is of one, anyway) to write down some memories of my growing up years. I've always resisted the idea of writing a personal history. I never thought I had anything really interesting to say. But now that I'm getting older and the area where I grew up has changed so much, my memories are suddenly kind of interesting, especially to my kids.

I think what it comes down to is, now that my parents are aging, I wish I knew them better and knew more about them. My dad doesn't really talk about that kind of stuff. My mom can be prodded to talk, but doesn't think a lot of what she has to say is interesting.

As writers, we have a talent for writing in an entertaining way, and, when appropriate, assigning meaning to events. I can't think of many better ways to use that talent than to give something to our children that will help them know us better.

It's hard, though, to take the time away from the other things we want to write. We don't have unlimited time to work on our stories. Taking time to write for my kids means it will take me longer to finish my works in progress.

I guess it comes down to priorities. Right now, doing this for my children is important to me. Maybe it's because I'm approaching a milestone birthday. Maybe it stems from my mother-in-law dying earlier in the year. Or maybe I'm just feeling nostalgic and enjoying going back and replaying memories. Whatever the cause, I'm not going to analyze it too much. I'm just going to write this for my kids. They're enjoying it so far, and so am I. And it feels like the right thing to do at this point in my life.

Message or Conversation?

by Deren Hansen

Many of the people who give advice about writing are quick to say that nothing kills a story faster than having a "message." A corollary is that if you have a message, you shouldn't write fiction.

On the other hand, I really dislike books that aren't about anything (e.g., standard swords and sorcery that seem to be a chronicle of the violence perpetrated by a muscle-bound barbarian who is, apart from a few more scars, no different at the end).

I understand the dangers of allowing something about which you feel strongly to subvert your story, but if you don't have anything to say your story is, at best, nothing more than a "me-too" exercise.

So what's the difference between a message (bad) and something to say (good)?

It's the difference between a conclusion you want to promote and an idea you want to explore. Put another way, it's the difference between a lecture and a conversation. Readers have no patience for the former but they're happy (sometimes eager) to engage in the latter.

The Great Books series from the University of Chicago was founded on the belief that the classics are part of a great conversation that has been going on for thousands of years. I like that idea because I believe the best new books contribute to that grand conversation.

How will you contribute to the grand conversation?


Deren blogs daily at The Laws of Making.

Blog Spotlights: Julie Daines

Julie is a fresh burst of sunshine on this blog. Her ideas are fun and practical, and I always end up feeling like "yeah, I can do that" when I read her suggestions. She'll keep you posted on contests, good books to be read, and advice on how to keep it real.

http://juliedaines.blogspot.com/

Hate. It's a four letter word.

By Julie Daines

Sorry I'm late getting my post up today. I've been at the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers conference basking in the greatness of Martine Leavitt.

I watched a movie recently with a main character so self absorbed and self pitying I could barely make it through the film. She had a great husband and nice friends who loved her and wanted her to be happy, but she couldn't find "inner peace and balance." So, she breaks her husband's heart by divorcing him to go in search of herself.

After traveling the world on a trip of selfish indulgence, she finally learns the great lesson in life--sometimes you have to lose balance to find balance. Suddenly, she is now capable of love. Whaaaat?

I kept waiting for her to have a change of heart and really learn something about priorities and happiness, especially when she sees kids eating garbage out of the gutter in a third-world country. But no. She's too busy struggling to forgive herself for the huge mistake she made when she married this really awesome and devoted husband. Then she ... Well, I should probably stop there. All I'm saying is that I hated this character.

Anyway, it made me wonder about main characters, and how to give them flaws and shortcomings, but still make them likable.

I think Margaret Mitchell's Scarlett O'Hara is a masterful example. She's kind of a despicable, selfish person and easy to hate, but somehow, she gets under our skin. We love her anyway and want her to be happy, but at the same time, when she gets what she deserves, there is a sense of justice.

Another great example is Harry Potter. He's far from perfect--sometimes selfish, judgmental, not the brightest kid--but his kind heart, sense of humor, and desire to do good despite his mistakes make him lovable.

How do we find the balance? 

Blog Spotlights: VS Grenier

Kudos to our Writing Mama who shows us how to juggle work, family, life, and writing. Not only does she blog for us and run her own website, VS also does an internet blog talk show, a magazine for kids, and interviews with amazing writers. Check out her blog and the amazing tips she offers:

http://thewritingmama.blogspot.com/

(plus, she's a great one to friend on Facebook!)