In House: The Blog Tour

In this three-part series, author and publishing professional Vanessa Shields demystifies aspects of book marketing, like pre-order buzz, what a blog tour is all about, and how a book launch does more than just sell books.

There’s a new book tour in town – and it’s called Blog! There is an upswing in blog touring: a virtual form of book promotion and author interaction with readers. 

In a nutshell, a blog tour is when an author engages with different blogs during an agreed-upon amount of time. The dates are set in advance so that both the blogger and the author can promote the tour. For example, a blog tour will happen from Monday to Friday, where each day, the author engages with a different blog. The material that will be posted on the blog is also negotiated. Whether that material is answers to pre-determined questions, excerpts from the book and/or other bookish content, this is something that the author confirms with the blogger ahead of time.

The goals of the blog tour include increased traffic to the blog or website, buzz and promotion for the book and author, and exciting and unique original content about the book and author that is offered specifically in this virtual space. 

There are people who put together blog tours for authors. That is, they have an existing relationship with a quantity of bloggers and websites who they can contact to create the blog tour for the author. There is a fee for this organizational effort, but it varies on the number of blogs you’d like to work with and what type of content exchange will happen.

The blog tour that engages directly with the author allows for an interaction with a designated blogger on a scheduled day and time. The author receives and answers questions live, with responses published on the blog. In some cases, the interview takes place in a virtual format, such as a vlog or podcast. Alternatively, the author may provide written answers via email, which the blogger then posts on their site.

Exclusivity of content is a core element to the blog tour. Both the blogger and the author are cognizant of how exciting it is for readers to receive content in their location that won’t be anywhere else. Examples of this type of content could be the announcement of the title of the next book in the series, information about who a character is based on, or a book cover image. There are myriad ideas for exclusive content that both the author and blogger can come up with. Anything that will bring traffic to the blog/website and drum up excitement for book sales can work. 

An author can also create a blog tour on their own. Working with the publisher/publicity person, they can research book bloggers who frequently read in their genre, and follow the guidelines for connecting with the blogger. Often, this includes mailing a hard-copy of the book (if the book is already released) or sending an advanced reader copy (ARC) digitally to the blogger. 

Establishing relationships with book bloggers by reading their content, commenting and/or participating in other blog tours is a great way to get started if you’re interested in building your own blog tour. Maintaining a strong and consistent social media presence enhances the effectiveness of a blog tour by allowing both the author and the blogger to promote and publicize it to their followers.

A blog tour is meant to influence readers to purchase your book as much as it is to increase traffic flow to the blog/website. This is an example of an online content-connected relationship that promotes brand as well as book! 

A blog tour is also an effective and exciting alternative for the author who may have disabilities/illnesses that may prohibit them from doing an in-person/live book event.

For more information about blog tours, talk to your publisher and publicist – or start researching book bloggers and begin to build relationships on your own!

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Vanessa Shields is a writer, mother, reader, laughter, and lover of chocolate and swimming. She’s had four books of poetry published, one memoir, and her young adult novel is dreaming its way into publication. She’s the owner of Gertrude’s Writing Room, a mobile creative writing school. She edits, teaches, and builds literary community in Windsor, ON where she lives with her family. 

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Want to learn more about book marketing? Check out part one of this series, The Power of the Pre-Order.