Last Thursday, I moderated a panel on the Book Tour at the ASJA conference in New York.
Smart authors promote their own books, online or via travel in addition to their publisher’s efforts. In the session, book PR experts revealed how to organize your own virtual book tour or in person tour, who to contact, content options to offer bloggers and how to best utilize your time for peak exposure. Two authors shared their unique tour experiences.
I organized my own month-long virtual book tour last Fall. Based on that experience, here are my virtual tour tips:
- Set up a month long tour. Methodically work your way through a 30-day calendar, finding an opportunity every day for a blog to spotlight your book. Sticking to at least one month is vital. A week or two weeks just does not have the same impact.
- Tap your connections who are bloggers. I found many of my tour opportunities through networking contacts I had established locally or on Facebook. Website owners will be more receptive if they know who you are.
- Do not neglect your day job. Organizing a virtual tour is time-consuming job—you may have to do most of the work at night so you can concentrate during the day on your paying freelance clients.
- Do not write a new blog post for every day of the tour. Mix it up with excerpts, Q&As, giveaways, and reviews written by others. Slot in some easy options. It would be hard for you to do 30 original posts in 30 days. Streamline the process to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
- Consider the blog’s reach. Write original posts for blogs with the best analytics. For smaller blogs, offer excerpts or content already written.
- Interact with people who respond. You will want to respond to comments on the guest posts. Interaction matters—it is important for authors to engage virtually once the posts are published and readers comment.
Hope these pointers are helpful in organizing your own book tour. Good luck!
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
