The Book Blog Tour: What It Is And Why We Do It
The Book Blog Tour: What It Is And Why We Do It
What is a blog?
"A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world.
Your blog is whatever you want it to be. There are millions of them, in all shapes and sizes, and there are no real rules.
In simple terms, a blog is a web site, where you write stuff on an ongoing basis. New stuff shows up at the top, so your visitors can read what's new. Then they comment on it or link to it or email you. Or not.
Since Blogger was launched in 1999, blogs have reshaped the web, impacted politics, shaken up journalism, and enabled millions of people to have a voice and connect with others." - taken from Blogger, one of the largest sites which publishes blogs.
What is a book blog tour?
A book blog tour is set up when you have a book to promote and you visit as a guest blogger, either giving an interview, writing a blog to post, or if your blog host does them, having them write a review of your book. This is the book blog tour and it has rapidly gained popularity.
When my first book, A Desperate Journey, came out, it came out first as an eBook and six months later came out in print. So I have had experience with the blog tour as well a book signing tour, which took me to four states.
Book blog tours are replacing book-signing tours for many authors and there are good reasons for doing a book blog tour. We can reach many more readers, in fact thousands from all over the world with one blog post. We can visit anything from a handful of blogs to dozens, over just one week, or an entire month when our books launch. And we can do it from our homes, or wherever we are traveling with a laptop.
Most authors before they are published dream of the glamorous book signing tour. We may continue to dream of this even after we are published, but with a bit more reality once we've experienced enough signings to get a good taste of them. Some authors love book signings and some do not. Whichever side an author falls on this subject, two facts remain. Book signings require travel, which can be expensive, tiring and time consuming and they require time.
Before you begin to lament the loss of the book signing tour, that grand old institution, let me share something many of you may not know.
The author book tour was invented in the 1960's by author Jacqueline Susan. She rented her own plane and flew around the country to visit as many bookstores in as many towns as she could. Memorizing the names of store employees before she arrived, she was marketing herself, not just her books and she did it in that grand and glorious way of Hollywood stars. It was a new way of hand selling books to retailers who would then hand sell her books to readers.
Oh, but what about authors such as Charles Dickens, Mark Twain and Oscar Wilde, who toured the world selling books before Jacqueline changed the way things were done?
Yes, they did tour and sign books, however it was their lectures that brought in the crowds. They offered more than a signed book, they offered entertainment.
Most booksellers would likely tell you the average book signing doesn't bring in much revenue for them. My experience has been that signings where the bookseller asked me to read a portion of my book were way more successful than a simple book signing.
Now having said all that, I still love a good book signing. Why? Because I love connecting with my readers. Writing a book requires quite a bit of time spent alone, creating a world and getting it down on paper. A good book signing is a chance to connect with my readers, a chance to hear which books they like and what they want more of. The best book signings do that. So I am certainly not saying do away with book signings.
Authors must spend their time wisely. This, for me, means being selective of where and when I will sign books. One simple fact remains for an author of any level, the beginner all the way to the multiple NYT bestselling author. Time spent doing anything else is time not spent writing your next book.
I believe the most valuable thing the book blog tour does for the author, is to give the author back more of that time. It is possible to visit the blog where you are a guest, read comments, reply, then go back to your writing for an hour before repeating the process. I have done this and it is one of the things I like best about the book blog tour.
My most recent book, Dangerous Ties, came out as an eBook almost two weeks ago and I am currently on a book blog tour to celebrate which will continue through March and part of April. To follow my blog tour, I'll be cross posting on my facebook page, where my readers can find all my interviews.
To follow, visit:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Debra-Parmley/19909053561
Photo is taken from my first book signing/reading at Burkes Books, Memphis, TN
Monica Parks Photography
