Greetings from contemporary fiction author, Deborah Vogts. We all know the story of the little engine who didn't think he could make it up the giant hill. That's sometimes how I felt the past two years as I considered everything involved in marketing my debut book series with Zondervan.
This month I want to visit with you about scheduling blog tours. Some publishers will take care of this for you, but if not, there are steps you can take to do it yourself.
The last two years, I have been fortunate enough to have blog tours scheduled for me by my publisher, but I also took steps to make the most of my influencer spots. I did that by: 1) checking in with those on my influencer list to make sure they received a copy of my new release, 2) making myself available to them for author interviews and other promotion, 3) sending them an email attachment of my author photo/book cover, and 4) offering to give away a book, should they request it.
These same steps can be taken when you want to schedule your own blog tour. The first thing you'll want to do is to decide how many books you want to make available for the tour, and then decide what dates you want the tour to take place. Usually, blog tours take place a few weeks after the release date and may run for one or two weeks, though there is nothing wrong with them lasting as long as a month.
Once you have the dates, you can begin collecting a list of bloggers interested in helping you with promotion. Keep in mind that it is most helpful to you to seek bloggers whose readership would have an interest in your book. For instance, for my Seasons of the Tallgrass series, I could seek bloggers who have an interest in country living, horses, or ranching. That way, you'll be reaching your target market when the tour takes place. Another way to find bloggers is through online reader or social groups that you belong to.
Oh little engine, I don't know if I can do this. Promoting myself this way may be too big of a hill to climb.
Yes, it is hard to put yourself out there to people this way, but remember, bloggers are always looking for content they can publish. Most will be more than happy to help you with promotion. Besides, once you reach this step, you're halfway there. The rest is downhill. . .
After you have your list of bloggers, you'll want to prepare items to send to them such as your author bio and photo, your book cover and blurb, links for ordering and for your Web site, and possibly even a "canned" interview with prewritten questions and answers they might use. (Answering multiple interviews can be fun but also very time-consuming, so the canned interview can be a real blessing.) Email these items to your blog tour list, or you could even make the information available to them on a temporary blog. If you're unable to provide extra giveaway books, you may want to inform your bloggers that they are welcome to give away the book you send them, should they want to offer a book drawing for their readers.
When it comes time for your blog tour, take time to visit each site and leave a comment for the readers. You will also want to share your blog tour links on your own blog and social sites, and be sure to mention if a book is being offered as a giveaway. Lastly, be sure to show your thanks by sending a personal email or letter to those on your blog tour. It will go a long way to create a lasting and favorable impression.
If all of this seems too intimidating or time consuming, here are a few resources that will do the job for you:
www.christianfictionblogalliance.com
www.firstwildcardtours.blogspot.com (free)
Next month I'll visit with you about social networking. Until then, keep chugging up those hills . . .
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Deborah Vogts and her husband have three daughters and make their home in SE Kansas. Visit her Author Web Site to learn more about her writing and her second book in the Seasons of the Tallgrass series, Seeds of Summer, available June 2010.
I checked out your website Deborah, lots of interesting information!! Thanks for this post! I wonder if there is a club for non fiction writers??
Posted by: Marja Meijers | August 26, 2010 at 11:37 AM
Hi Margarie, Thanks for taking the time to visit my Web site. I'm glad you found it interesting. As for nonfiction writer groups, have you checked out Sally Stuart's Market Guide? I'm sure there would be groups listed there that you might join. Christian Writers Guild comes to mind. Hope that helps some.
Posted by: Deborah Vogts | August 26, 2010 at 06:29 PM