Reblogged from the Authors Helping Authors blog:
So many of my clients have reached out to me wanting a blog tour, but all too often I end up cringing when I hear what it is they want. If you’re not familiar, a blog tour is a really interesting concept in which you as the author “appear” on several different blogs and talk about your book. It’s organized into a tour because it has defined start and end dates, which helps with the promotion and the generating of the all-important buzz.
There are a couple of inherent problems with a blog tour.
First, they’re not new anymore. Everybody’s doing it. Even worse, tons of people have decided that just because they know how to work Facebook, they’re now suddenly qualified to create a blog tour AND charge money for the service. I’ve seen companies spring up overnight with flashy little websites that charge hundreds of dollars to get all of their blogger friends to let you write a blog post to pimp your book.
Second, there’s no very concrete data on how good an investment this is going to be. There are so many variables that come into play, such as the genre you write and the quality or pricing of your book, that it’s impossible to say, “Blog tours are the best promotional tool EVER!” or “Blog tours are the biggest waste of time and money EVER.” It’s impossible to say whether or not investing your time and money in this promo concept will pay off in terms of book sales.
Third, how can you be sure that the blogs you’re being hosted on actually have a readership? If you’re scheduled on ten different blogs whose only traffic is the blogger and whose only shares are coming from the account she made for her cat, you’re not going to sell any books or build your audience.
Finally, the biggest problem is they are so easy to screw up. As an author, you are relying on other people to post the writings that you send them, and sometimes they just can’t post them for one reason or another. I’ve also clicked a link that some author tweeted, announcing that today’s stop on his blog tour was at such-and-such a website, and was HORRIFIED to see that his political spy thriller novel was being featured on a website whose background was a deep blue starry field filled with fairies and unicorns. The unicorn crowd who pops over to that particular website doesn’t strike me as huge Alex Cross fans. I may be judging here, but that’s just the feeling I got.
So, does that mean we should all shun blog tours? Of course not. But it does mean you have your homework to do.
First, there are lovely people out there who really just care a lot about indie authors, and those people will be happy to help you find book reviewers or people to let you talk about your book. For free, even.
Second, if you are paying a company to set this up, ask for the concrete numbers of book sales or audience shares that they have generated from the last three tours they set up.
Third, find out who these blogs are before you pay anything. Make sure they are specific to your genre and that they have a genuine audience who shares the posts, not a cat walking across a keyboard who accidentally hits the Share button.
The most important thing you can do is to remember that a blog tour is NOT a way to shove your book in people’s faces and get them to click the BUY button. It is a way to connect with readers, to share a little bit more about yourself and your craft, and to build connections within the publishing industry. And make sure that you use your tour to reciprocate, and to share the bloggers’ generosity in hosting you by supporting them and their readers.
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