After six blog tours of my own, there are a few things I have learned. This is a continuation from Setting up a Blog Tour.
Dates are set, you have your topics.
What happens leading up to, during, and after your tour?
Before tour:
List your upcoming tour on your blog and website.
Make sure you know exactly what each host expects and wants.
Prepare all guest posts and complete interview questions. This should not be something you rush through - it will take time. Go over these several times, looking for errors. You don’t want mistakes or poorly written guest posts.
A week or more before your tour begins, send your hosts all information, including:
Guest post/interview
Short bio
Short book blurb
Links to your site and where to purchase book
Jpg images of your book cover and a promo photo if you have one
Your book’s information - price, ISBN, genre, etc.
Html code or link to book trailer
Confirm dates, information received, and time of post with all hosts.
During tour:
Post link to tour stop on your blog and all social sites. Entice your followers, readers, and fans to visit your host’s site.
Check your guest post several times a day and respond to comments. The key to a successful tour is your interaction with the host’s followers. And remember, no matter what is said, remain positive. Even if your stop that day is a review and it’s not the most flattering.
Check back on earlier stops, as some people will comment late.
Be sure you have made it easy for people to follow your blog and other sites. (Because you should gain during a tour.)
After tour:
Thank each host!
For sites featuring giveaways, be sure to get winner’s contact information for sending books or passing along to your publisher.
Thank your followers and fans for keeping up with your tour.
Continue visiting your host sites. If you never visit again, you are sending the message that you were just using them.
Problems can arise at every stage of your tour, so be prepared:
Hosts that forget to post on time. (Or at all.)
Hosts that are indifferent or don’t interact with those who comment.
Incomplete posts or links that don’t work.
Hosts that continue to make demands or complain even after your guest spot.
(Sometimes things happen. All you can do is learn from the experience and avoid problematic hosts in the future.)
Your tour is successful if any one or more the following happens:
Your book sales increase during or after a tour.
You are exposed to a lot of potential readers.
Your own sites gain followers. (Hits are good, visits are better, followers best.)
Remember to visit Setting up a Blog Tour if you missed the first part of this series.
Now who is ready for a virtual tour?
22 comments:
When I'm ready, I'll be sure to be back to study this series with copious note-taking! Do hosts really return to demand and complain? I guess that there's inconsiderate people in every circle, eh?
I sometimes and go back to check a guest post that's a week old because often there is a really late comment. Great tips!
I would love to do a book tour but there are certain things I haven't got the knack of doing on the computer which a book tour entails.
Great tips and I will keep them handy.
Thanks for the tips.
Yvonne.
I've never heard of hosts returning to demand and complain. That's pretty scary. I usually just thrilled when my guest blogger writes a thoughtful, extremely helpful post.
Will and Stina, unfortunately yes.
More great tips! And I'm with Stina - wow - hosts returning to complain? Yikes!
A blog tour is a lot of work. That's why I'm spacing mine out this time around. like this format better. I agree about visiting hosts sites and new followers too. Show them that you care.
IT's a lot of work. I'm adding this to my google now.
Diane, thanks so much for putting this together. You are an amazing writer's resource!!
Solid advice, Dianne. It sends a negative message when writers don't respond to those who comment and then never visit again after being hosted.
Thanks for sharing all this. I've hosted authors but I'll be doing a tour myself this year. This is all a huge help.
I really like that you suggest following up on guest posts after the post date for late comers.
Thank you! I hope this list will help other authors have successful tours.
More great suggestions, Diane! I hope to be able to use your advice one day! :)
I jotted down a few notes. Because of the demands of my day job, I've decided I can't do a blog tour until the summer so I can be available to interact with commentors.
These posts are definitely a good place to come when I finally am at the stage where a blog tour is a good idea. :)
I doubt I'll ever do a tour, but I've learned to tell the difference between them. I follow a lot of blogs, and sometimes I'll see pretty much the same generic post on a whole bunch of blogs, whilst other times there will be something different at each stop. It really does make a difference to the attention I'll pay to a new book.
Blog tours sound like a lot of work. Again, great, informative post.
Bookmark #2! :) This is all great information.
Great advice Diane. I've seen tours where it feels like the author writes the post then disappears. Those where the visiting author comments or answers questions in the comments feel more interactive. If the author doesn't do that then it just feels like a guest post and nothing more.
Great tips!
I especially agree with your point about staying positive.
This is excellent advice Diane. Some of my own thoughts after hosting a blog tour/guest author upon occasion.
......dhole
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