Let’s break it down a bit for those who don’t know about Virtual Book Tours. A virtual book tour is when an author visits blogs, radio shows, writes guest post, etc. to share their latest work with readers during a specific period of time. The length is up to you–one week, two weeks, a month.
This your can take place before the release of your book, when the book is released, or after the release of your book.
Options
You have two options–hire someone to organize your tour for you or organize it yourself. Every virtual book tour I’ve been on I organized myself because at the time I didn’t have the budget.
DYI Tips
Organize, organize, organize. If you’re not well connected in the publishing world or know a bunch of bloggers and radio show host then you’re going to have get organized, well in advance. Most bloggers schedule posts in advance and they are not going to break their timeline for you.You need to start arranging the tour six months in advance. If you don’t know many bloggers or want to step outside of your comfort zone visit Book Blogger Directory to find bloggers in your genre.
Also, be prepared to be rejected. Some bloggers will not want you, your content, or book. If you’re not going to be spending money on this tour you better be prepared to spend time putting this tour together.
- Beware of sites in which you have to pay to be featured on their website. Yes, this a promo tour and sometimes you have to pay for promotion, but paying to be featured on a blog is a little sketchy unless that blogger has a huge audience with some guaranteed results.
- Some radio shows charge for guests. Don’t be afraid to ask for stats and demographics. If they can’t prove they have a diverse listening audience that includes you ideal reader. Keep your coins and move on to the next one.
- Create graphics for free using Canva, Pic Monkey, Be Funky, or Ribbet
- Select several different excerpts so that your fans, followers, and friends can have a rich experience while following the tour.
- Try to do guest post with content connected to the book and of interest to the blog audience. Those posts usually generate lots of hits.
Know your purpose. A blog tour is to create awareness and announce your presence. Don’t go crazy if after you’ve organized this phenomenal tour the only person who buys a copy of your book is your grandmother in Toledo. People cannot purchase something that they don’t know about. A Virtual Book Tour is your introduction to them.
Have you organized your own virtual book tour before? Share your experiences in the comments. If you haven’t tried one yet make sure you come back and let me know how it goes.
Nigeria Lockley 