Please welcome, Babs and Barb who will be sharing their wonderful books and wisdom with us. They’re also giving away two (yes two) of their books. Best thing? You get to pick which two. Now that’s a deal! Take it away ladies!
Today we are going to talk a bit about blog tours. Although most authors know what book blog tours are, there are some common misconceptions about them.
To generalize, book blog tours (or virtual tours) are a series of visits to book blogs or other types of blogs, to promote an author and their book. Book blog tours can last a short time or a long time, with just a few stops planned, or many blogs to visit.
Blog tours are either arranged by the author or their assistant or by a blog tour company/PR person.
So, why would an author arrange a blog tour?
Anyone?
Many of you probably answered with some version of “to sell some books.” This is the number one common misconception surrounding tours!
Book Blog Tours Don’t Sell Books
Now you are wondering if this is true, then why bother with all the work involved in tours. The basic goal of book blog tours is to network. Just like the “old-fashioned” activities of book signings and readings, the aim is to chat and schmooze! Authors over the years have chatted books in various places ranging from their local coffee shop to massive conventions. This is really not much different. You have the opportunity to visit a blog and chat about your book with the readers of that blog.
I strongly feel that authors need to set goals before starting to plan a book blog tour.
If selling books is not a reasonable goal for a blog tour, what should be some basic goals? Here are some suggestions to get you thinking about reasonable goals.
– Do you want to increase the number of reviews posted for your book?
– Do you want to expand your horizons – meet new bloggers who read the genre that you write? Meet some readers that might become future fans?
– Do you want to chat directly with readers or expose your book to an audience in a different country? If you live in Europe, do you want to focus on a North American market or vice versa?
– Do you just want to keep your name and brand in front of a genre- specific audience?
More general goals:
– Do you want to be “on tour” for a few days, a month—or longer?
– Do you want to only visit blogs during weekdays? Do you have a full time job, and weekends would suit you better?
– Do you want to keep what you share with readers quite simple – let’s say limited to a blurb and an excerpt? Or do you prefer to write original posts for each stop on your tour?
– Are you highly creative and enjoy showing that creativity to your potential readers? Or do you prefer to answer questions provided by bloggers?
– Do you want to participate in a Twitter or Facebook party or be on a blog talk radio show?
– Do you want to be on a blog that posts 3 or 4 times a day, or do you want to be the only visitor to a blog for the day.
The answers to these questions will help you develop a list of goals for your next book blog tour.
I wish you good luck on your next blog tour! Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have. I love answering questions!
Media Kit for Barb and Babs
Blurb:Do you feel out of your comfort zone when dealing with book bloggers? They are the New Gatekeepers to book publishing success – but how can you tap into that source of free promotions by putting your best foot forward?
The Author’s Guide to Working with Book Bloggers combines the advice of 215 blogging professionals collected in a survey covering all aspects of communication between authors and Review Blogs. Whether you are a new author, or have many titles under your belt, let us demystify the promotion of your book on a book blog.
You’ll learn about whom and where book bloggers are, and the following:
The Query,
The Review,
The Giveaway,
The Author Interview,
The Guest Post,
The Book Blurb Excerpt and Cover Reveals and more!
“I’ve found Barb’s advice on forging a professional relationship with the blogging community indispensable. Her step-by-step approach will help you garner the reviews needed to increase book sales.”
–Christine Nolfi, bestseller author of Treasure Me
The Author’s Guide to Working with Book Bloggers is available on:
AmazonUS | AmazonUK | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
Creating buzz for your book – and your career as an author – just got easier. Go Global: Building an International Author Platform That Sells will help you decode the mystery behind building a powerful author brand and navigating the social media platforms essential to publishing success. Social Media and WordPress Consultant Barb Drozdowich will steer you through the technology behind international marketing without all the techno-speak. She has helped many authors just like you build an author platform that engages readers and builds sales.
Go Global teaches you why you need the various facets of the author platform to build visibility. Barb uses a simple analogy, Operation Book, to help you understand the steps to successful book marketing in the media age. She covers:
– The Difference between a Website and a Blog
– What Your Blog Should Contain
– The Important Components of a Blog
– The Nine Essential Social Media Platforms
– Newsletters
– Amazon’s Author Central
With simple-to-follow steps,
Barb will help you create and manage an Author Platform to support your career.
Go Global: Building an International Author Platform that Sells is available:
AmazonUS |AmazonUK | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
What are Book Blog tours? Are they something that you have tried yet? “Book Blog Tours – An Essential Marketing Tool for Authors” covers the topic of Virtual blog tours from beginning to end with the following topics explained:
• What is a book blog tour?
• How is a tour different from Online Public Relations
• How to set goals for a blog tour
• How to choose a Book Blog Tour Company for your book
• Giveaways and Tour Graphics
• Author responsibilities before, during and after the tour
• Follow up and planning for your next tour
• Book Blog Tours from the point of view of a book blogger
This book covers all aspects of a Book Blog Tour in easy to follow language that will help any author take on the challenge of a blog tour with confidence.
Book Blog Tours – An Essential Marketing Tool for Authors is available:
AmazonUS | Amazon UK | Kobo | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords
The Ultimate Goodreads Guide for Authors is the must have book for all authors. Every author has heard of Goodreads – some like it, some not so much. With over 120 color graphics, this book leads you through the process of creating your account, adding your books, making friends and so much more.
Let us share with you all those little gems of networking potential that Goodreads offers, such as:
– Blog posts
– Excerpt downloads
– Widgets
– Apps
– Event invitations
– Groups
– Polls
– Lists
– Trivia and Quizzes
– And many more
The Ultimate Goodreads for Authors is the most comprehensive book available today. Suitable for all authors, from the newly published to the experienced. It has something for everyone to learn.
The Ultimate Goodreads Guide for Authors is available:
Getting help to promote your book just got easier. Public Relations for Authors Take Hold of Your Own Promotions will help you locate that special publicist who will help you promote your book the right way. A Publicity Director for two publishers Babs brings knowledge to this book.
Public Relations teaches you why you need a publicist and how to find the right one for you. To understand what you need she covers:
How publicity can help sell books
What you need to know about publicity
Writing Pitches
Media Kits
Press Releases
Where to find a PR agent
What to send to your PR agent
Public Relations for Authors is available:
Amazon US| Amazon UK| Kobo| Barnes & Noble| Smashwords
About the authors:
Barb Drozdowich
Bio: Social Media and WordPress Consultant Barb Drozdowich has taught at Colleges and Universities, trained technical personnel in the banking industry and, most recently, used her expertise to help dozens of authors develop the social media platform needed to succeed in today’s fast evolving publishing world. She owns Bakerview Consulting and manages the popular Romance Book blog, Sugarbeat’s Books.
Barb can be found:
Bakerview Consulting (Business Site) http://bakerviewconsulting.com
Barb Drozdowich (Author Site) http://barbdrozdowich.com
Sugarbeat’s Books (Book Blog) http://sugarbeatsbooks.com
Facebook(Author blog) https://www.facebook.com/BarbDrozdowichAuthor
Twitter http://twitter.com/sugarbeatbc
Google+ https://plus.google.com/110824499539694941768
Babs Hightower
Bio:Babs has been helping authors since 2000. She owns a book review blog Babs Book Bistro which got her started in PR and helping authors promote themselves. In 2012 she started working for Entangled Publishing and worked her way up to Publicity Director over the Scandalous Imprint. She is a publicist for World Castle Publishing. She is also known as Morgan Kincaid writer of Historical Romance.
Babs can be found:
Babs Book Bistro website: http://www.babsbookbistro.net
Babs Hightower PR website: http://www.babshightowerpr.com
Author website: http://morgankincaid.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/babsbookbistro
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BabsMorganKin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BabsHightowerPr
Facebook Author: https://www.facebook.com/authormorgankincaid
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/babsbookbistro/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1970552-babs
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/102563748897854093407/posts
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/babsbookbistro
Thank you for having us today you are very kind.
My pleasure, Babs! Congrats on your books and all the best!
Hi Elke!
Thanks so much for sharing information about our books today! It’s very much appreciated! I’ll be around most of the day and can answer questions if anyone has any!
Barb
Hi Barb,
It was my pleasure! Thanks for sharing these great books/tips with us. Wishing you and Babs much success!
Thank you so much!
Very informative post. I just purchased the Goodreads Guide for authors. I’ve been having a difficult time navigating on Goodreads and so was happy to find this book:)
Hi Carol!
Thanks so much for purchasing a copy! Please let us know if you found it helpful! The whole premise behind these books is to be a helpful as possible to every level of experience.
Thank you, ladies. I will bookmark this, and look it over carefully. Although I’ve been published since 2012, I’ve never done a blog tour. I’ve always believed it to be a monumental undertaking; for me, creating interesting posts for even a few blogs takes a lot of time. Your post has much information and I will consider everything further. Best wishes, Deb
Hi Deborah,
Thanks for visiting! Keep in mind that a blog tour doesn’t have to solely consist of guest post. Sometimes is easier to have a blurb/excerpt type of tour – that has easy content requirements – it allows you to focus on networking with readers. Set goals and then find a company that will allow you to meet those goals.
Good luck and don’t hesitate to ask questions! That’s what we love about our jobs – answering questions 🙂
Barb
I loved this post! A very fresh way to look at things! Really enjoyed it. Thanks for featuring this, Elke and thanks Babs and Barb for the information and a chance to win your books!
Hi MJ,
Thanks for dropping by and visiting! I wish you good luck in the giveaway!
Barb