Setting up a Blog Tour for Your Book

When I first released Encrypted and The Emperor’s Edge at the end of last winter (yes, I’ve been doing this almost a year now!), I signed up for a couple of blog tours. This is where you guest post or answer interview questions on other people’s sites. It can help with promotion if the sites have a decent amount of traffic. I ended up paying a little bit for someone else to organize things, but if I were to do it again, I’d probably save myself some money and set up the blog tour myself.

That’s exactly what up-and-coming fantasy author, Darke Conteur, has done. She’s here to talk about how she set things up (and to plug her new ebook–The Watchtower–of course).

Setting up Your Own Book Blog Tour

I want to thank Lindsay for allowing me to take over her blog for a day. I’ve been a fan of hers for a while now, and yeah, I’m the one that did the video reading of her first novella FLASH GOLD (sorry about the cleavage shot, it was just so hot that day!).

When I first heard of a blog tour, I literally thought it was someone driving around blogging while they visited holiday destinations. I know, stupid, right? I couldn’t understand why someone would do that. Wasn’t there better things to do than blog while on vacation? That was then, this is now, and I so totally get it!

If you’re a regular follower of Lindsay’s site, you know there are a pile of new authors coming out of the woodwork on a daily basis; all clawing and scratching to get your attention. Some of their self-promotion is good, and some, well, let’s just say it isn’t and leave it at that. Granted, what works for one person doesn’t always work for another, and if you don’t feel comfortable doing something others say worked for them, then fine! That’s them, not you. For instance, when I posted the video of FLASH GOLD, I had a few people state there was no way they could do something like that. One woman said I was brave for doing it. Brave — no. Crazy — maybe.

I saw videos as a unique way to promote myself. Sure, it took a while to get comfortable in front of the camera, and I must have sent a dozen emails to Lindsay fretting over one thing or another, but I didn’t give up on the idea because I thought, and still do, think it’s a good idea.

Another good idea to promote oneself, is what I’m doing right now — a blog tour. When I first started talking about it, I had a lot of people ask me what it was. Seems it’s a new thing, but I’m seeing more and more authors doing it. Think of it as a virtual book tour, and I think they’re great. If you’re planning on a tour of your own, here are a few things to keep in mind.

1. What kind of tour do you want to do: There are a number of ways you can go about this; author interviews, character interviews, post about what your book is about, or the genre, or a mixture of all three. I’m doing a character interview tour, but because Lindsay’s site is about marketing, she asked me to do a post along that line. Being prepared for sudden changes in the lineup. Not everyone may want an in-depth analysis of your genre.
2. How many ‘stops’ should you do: I’ve seen some authors talk about doing thirty to fifty posts on one tour. That’s a lot! Might I suggest a number a little more manageable, say ten to twenty? Especially if this is your first tour. My only concern with doing high numbers tours, is that after a while you may run out of things to talk about. It’s always good to have a fresh post for each blog. It entices the reader to keep an eye out for your next post, and in the end, isn’t that what the tour is about? Gathering interest in our work?
3. Who should I ask? This is completely up to you. Right now, there aren’t that many people other than  authors/writers who would host a blog tour. This is still a new marketing tool, but I’m sure as it gains more in popularity, more options will become available.
4. Offer to return the favour. Karma, my friends, is a good thing. With each blog tour stop you make, you’re exposing your work to new and potential followers, but this isn’t just a one way street. Offering to host blog tours will bring in more potential followers, and if they like what they see, they may stick around.
5. If you’re hosting a blog tour, might I suggest that you inform the guest blogger of any comments on their post. This will allow the guest blogger to reply in a timely fashion.

Alas, my time has come to an end. It has been a privileged to be here today, and an honour to have Lindsay’s blog as a stop on the Paranormal Pit-Stop Blog Tour. So remember, just because it’s dead, doesn’t mean it’s not alive!

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You can read more about Darke Conteur’s ebook, The Watchtower, on her site, or you might want to download it from Amazon.