Marketing Tip #2: To Pay or Not Pay For a Blog Tour?

The Blog tour.  I had no idea what that even was before I entered into this industry.  I'm still old-school in that I don't have a Kindle or Nook and that I thought book tours were still done in book stores.  So imagine my surprise when I was invited to participate in my very first blog tour back in February.  My reaction was, "Huh?"  

Not to say I'm a professional blog tour guru now, but I definitely do have the hang of it.  For those of you who may not know what a blog tour is, here is some quick info:  A blog tour is basically a virtual book tour.  There are many ways you can do one.  You can do a one day book blast (usually on the day of your release), a cover reveal tour (usually a month before your release) or one-, two-, three-week tours.  You can even have a blog tour last a month!

There are many companies that offer blog tour services.  Some of the most recommended ones are:

Xpresso Book Tours
Enchanted Book Promotions
Goddess Fish Promotions
Rockstar Book Tours

Before I hired a blog tour company, I wanted to try to do one myself.  Plus I'm a total type-A personality and it's hard for me to not be in control of my own stuff.  I didn't want to bother my friends again so soon after hitting them up for my book blast (which apparently didn't matter because I got yelled at anyway for not contacting them...love my friends!) so I searched online for some blogs.  I basically started on google and typed:  "Best blogs for book tours."  After searching through many great sites, I found these two sites to be the most helpful:

http://www.bookbloggerlist.com
http://bookbloggerdirectory.wordpress.com

Both sites divide genres so it's easy to find bloggers who will have the audience you are targeting.  I sent out a basic e-mail to each individual blogger:

Hi (NAME)!

I am looking to organize a blog tour from September 21 - October 4. I was hoping you could participate. If those dates don't work for you, I would love for you to review my book any time!

My memoir, Who Am I? How My Daughter Taught Me to Let Go and Live Again, was released on August 2, 2014. My book is about my journey into post-partum depression, anxiety disorder, panic attacks, stays in the psych ward, divorce, domestic violence, law school, how I managed to graduate from law school and a beautiful little girl who emerged from all of this chaos. There are two extremely important messages I would like to get across:

One: Postpartum Depression still has a negative stigma attached to it. Women shouldn't be afraid to seek treatment if they feel something is wrong.

Two: Emotional abuse is a form of domestic violence and is not to be taken lightly. It took 10 strangers in a group therapy session in the hospital psych ward to tell me that I was in an emotionally abusive marriage and that I needed to get out for the sake of my daughter.

I am looking for hosts to review my book, feature an author interview or just copy and paste my media kit. Please let me know if you are interested by replying to this e-mail. I REALLY appreciate this!

THANK YOU!!
Meg


I think I sent out about 75-100 e-mails.  The response I got was fabulous!  In fact, I got so many responses, that I extended my blog tour by two weeks; it ends on October 4.  Most of the bloggers wanted to post my media kit, which I made into a zip drive so it's easier for blog hosts.  Some offered to review my book.  Some bloggers even apologized for not being able to fit a book review in the timeframe of my blog, but offered to review it at a later date!  

So far, the blog tour has been pretty successful.  My book has been back on a couple of Amazon Best-Selling Lists and that's always fun to see!

PROS:
Some blog tour companies will charge over $500 for a 4-week blog tour.  For the cost of sending a couple of hard copies and ebook copies of my book, I was able to have my 4-week blog tour for under $50.I got to connect with some really great bloggers and am able to help them out on my blog too.By using the sites above, I was able to connect with bloggers that directly targeted my genre.
CONS:
It take a LOT of time to organize your own blog tour, especially if you are new to marketing.  You have to e-mail each blogger (most do not like group e-mails and I completely understand), organize, schedule and check the day of to make sure each blogger posted.Unfortunately, not every blogger will follow through.  When I sent follow-up e-mails, a couple of them genuinely forgot, which to be wasn't a big deal because there have been some deadlines I've missed myself.  They were quick to reschedule.  Not a big deal.  The bloggers I'm talking about are the ones that don't post something, don't respond to a follow-up and I never hear from them again.  That's frustrating.Some bloggers (like myself) don't list their following so I didn't know if my post reached 10 people or 100 people.  I'm a numbers person, but like I said, I don't list my following so I can't be too much of a hypocrite!

WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENT:
I definitely do not regret doing my own blog tour.  I had to try it at least once.  In fact, I may do it again in the future. However, the next blog tour, I will probably hire a company.  The organization, scheduling, checking the blogs - it just took up a lot more time that I thought.  If I can find a company that can do all that at a comfortable price, I will definitely try them.I was so blown away by the responses that I extended by blog tour by two weeks.  Next time, I should keep to the two week schedule and double or triple book dates to cover those bloggers who don't post my information.I have to remember to leave a comment on EVERY blogger's site who posted my info.  It's just a courteous way to say "thanks" and to let them know I took the time to check out their blog.  I also have to remember to share their blog on my social media pages.

*As always, if you have advice or more ideas, please share in the comments below!  

Next week:  How to get reviews for your book