What do I think of blog touring?

[Beth]

Sheila asked: "I've seen quite a number of authors doing blog tours, writing articles and offering free books...But I'm wondering how it feels to a published writer? Is it fun, boring, exciting, or just life in the internet age?"

Being in the midst of a month-long blog tour, I can tell you that it's a heck of a lot of work! Setting up a schedule by contacting and asking potential hosts took weeks. Then I wrote the articles weeks ahead of time and vetted them with my critique group. Now, I'm reminding hosts to post the articles, promoting them, responding to comments, and tracking statistics.

My hope, of course, is that the tour puts my name, and those of my Claire Hanover gift basket designer books, in the minds of mystery readers and that they end up buying and reading my books. I won't know if I accomplished this until I get my first-half-of-2009 royalty statement this fall. And even then, if To Hell in a Handbasket has increased sales over my first book, A Real Basket Case, I really won't know if that's due to the blog tour or other efforts, like this Q&A group and my Goodreads giveaway for copies of To Hell in a Handbasket.

I figured I had to try a blog tour at least once, though. I am having fun responding to comments and the articles were interesting to write. As for the question of whether or not it was worth it, I'll have to try to answer that this fall.

[Sheila]

Thanks Beth. It seemed like it must be an awful lot of work, so I'm glad you're enjoying responding to comments. And as a reader I can tell you I'm enjoying your responses and your articles.