When I published my first book, I had no idea what a blog tour was. But when I was ready for book three, "Worth it All," to release I was much more familiar with blog tours and how beneficial they can be to spreading the word about your newly released book. So first of all, what is a blog tour? A blog tour is the virtual way of doing a book tour. A lot of times when a published author (usually with a traditional publishing contract) releases a new book they'll have a book tour where they go and speak at certain places, or they'll set up and do book signings all over the place. A blog tour is your way of doing that from the comfort of your own home. You'll pre-set a list of so many blogs that you'll be visiting during the week or month of your book release. At each blog stop, the blogger can do something fun such as: an author interview, giveaway, author guest post, character interview, or book review. Or you can get creative and come up with your own idea. By doing this with lots of other blogs, you're exposing your writing and new book to a fresh audience. This begins circulating your work around the internet. Second, how do you host a successful blog tour? Well, I'm probably no expert at this because I've only actually done one blog tour, but I've definitely learned a few things from my experience with marketing. The first thing you'll need to do to make your blog tour a success is schedule everything ahead of time. Trust me on this. Procrastinating or planning-as-you-go with a blog tour is not the way to do it. Lives get busy and if you wait until the day of the tour to start organizing things, it's going to go crazy. Have posts scheduled in advance. If this is your first blog tour, maybe start out small with 5-7 blog stops. Organize which blog post you'll be on what day and if you're doing any guest posts or author interviews at the blogs, always schedule them in advance. Don't wait until that day to write them. Please, you'll be doing yourself and everyone else a favor by staying organized. Organization shows professionalism, and when promoting a book it's always best to stay professional. The second thing to do to have a successful blog tour is to spread the word. Even if you have blogger friends who aren't on the blog tour, maybe ask them to spread the word. Ask your social media pals to tell others about the tour. Join blog link-ups which are a great way to spread your blog to a higher audience. Use your own social media to direct traffic to every blog stop and always ask your readers to show each blogger some love by leaving a comment. You should also leave a comment and share/follow each blogger as a way of saying thank you. If you're hoping to reach a really big audience with your book release, try something fun by asking a more experienced or popular author/blogger to join your blog tour. Maybe offer to do a giveaway on their blog or have them do an interview with you on your personal blog which will drive their blog traffic your way. Do you have a favorite author or blogger? Just go for it and ask if they have some time in their schedule. The worst they can say is no, but the best they can say is yes. Finally, to have a great blog tour, focus on having fun. Don't make it all about selling books or getting blog traffic. Although those are very important things, always keep your focus on what truly matters: Developing relationships, having fun, and most of all, glorifying God. Support the bloggers on your tour, have fun creating the posts, and point every message back to God. Have fun creating your blog tour! Have you done a blog tour before? What tips or advice helped you most? 10/20/2017 02:32:57 pm
Thank you so much for the helpful advice! With my first blog tour coming up I needed to read this!
Bella Morganthal
10/21/2017 12:04:13 pm
I'm so glad it was helpful, Chloe!
Bella Morganthal
10/21/2017 12:05:39 pm
Oh, yes, you totally should! It's a lot of fun. :) Well, kind of. With a blog party that's usually on your blog and a one time thing. But with a blog tour it's going to several other blogs over a few days :) But it's still fun like a party :D
Anna P.
10/21/2017 12:35:17 pm
Neat!! Oooh that sounds fun!! :D Thank you so much for this post, Bella!!!
Bella Morganthal
10/21/2017 12:06:02 pm
I'm so glad Riley! <3 Comments are closed.
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About this page:
This page of my blog is dedicated specifically to writers. I've been writing for over half of my life. I live and breathe writing. Because of that, I'm passionate about helping other writers grow, develop, and succeed. This section of my blog will include blog posts dedicated to writing, encouragement, and resources. Feel free to read through some posts and my contact form is always open if you ever have any questions or need encouragement! ♥ Archives
April 2018
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