A Blog Book Tour is incredibly exciting to prepare for a book launch. A traditional book tour is when an author goes from town to town to sign their books and meet new readers maybe do a talk. Public speaking is not always easy for many writers, but something that should be considered (no matter how difficult or challenging) to reach a lot more people and raise an author profile.
A virtual book tour
A blog tour is very much like a traditional book tour. But it is virtual. Instead of going from physical venue to physical venue, you go from blog to blog. Each ‘stop’ on the book tour is on someone else’s blog.
So, the author makes an appearance on different blogs in their book’s niche or a niche that compliments the book topic. The idea is to focus on where the ideal readers of the new book would be ‘hanging out’ online.
Top tips for a book blog tour
- Research blogs and websites that share a similar audience to your book
- Plan to set a week or two between your blog posts being published on these different blogs/websites. Some writers have a few weeks between blog posts, so choose what works best for you.
- Remember that the goal of the blog book tour is to promote your book, so work around your publication and launch dates. You may also have to consider specific dates or seasons, depending on the topic of your book. Your planning has to be done in advance to ensure it all matches your book strategy.
- Make contact with the blogs and websites you would like to publish on during your book tour way in advance. You want to ensure you can get all relevant material sent in with lots of time to space so you can promote your schedule with your own audience. And they will need time to do the same with their audience.
- Each blog post needs to be original content. Google will penalise you (and the blog you guest on) if the content is duplicated. So adapt each blog to that audience and make it relevant to their interests
- Focus on sites with high traffic and bloggers with a large following. You want the biggest reach and the widest possible audience.
A book blog tour is great for writers who:
- Want to have a ‘hands-on’ involvement in their book launch.
- Are located in remote areas which may make physical appearance challenging or expensive.
- May not feel that public speaking is their strength.
- Have a small audience and would like to expand their reach
- May be launching their first book and need to gain credibility in their niche
- Don’t have a lot of money for a traditional book tour. This option is free!
Keep in mind
A blog book tour is time-consuming and needs advanced planning. You really can’t throw something together last minute and expect amazing results. But, blog tours don’t necessarily spike book sales. The aim is more long-term to raise awareness and get your name, as an author, out there.
The primary goal of a blog book tour is to build relationships with your potential readers and, hopefully, some industry influencers, who can help you on your journey.
Reviews
Book reviews are brilliant, but don’t mix requesting book reviews for your book from a book blogger, with a blog for your book tour. Request one of the other. If they offer to review your book on their website, that’s fantastic! Book reviewers are generally inundated with review requests, so accept this with grace and consider it an added bonus. But be clear about what you are asking of them in relation to your book tour.
Writing blog requests is also incredibly time-consuming. You need to research the blogger, and their audience and make the request relevant to them. You do want to give them every opportunity to say yes. Remember, this is a numbers game. So persevere.
A blog book tour is a great way to drum up early excitement about your book’s release. And the sooner you start researching and planning, the more reach you will have once you launch your amazing book!
This blog was very helpful! . It’s a smart way to reach more readers without spending a lot.