If
You Publish It, They Will Come
That may have been true ten, five
years ago in indie publishing. It is no longer the case today. Readers have a
lot of authors and books to choose from. They don’t know you, so you have to do
something to get their attention.
Okay, but what something? After
visiting Google, I decided to do my own blog tour. I went to listservs and chat
rooms for authors and asked questions. Established authors said a blog tour was
a waste of time. But new and indie authors said to go for it. I had nothing to
lose, and no money to spend, so I did it myself. Here’s how I did it.
1.
Build a MEDIA KIT
Honestly, this wasn’t the first thing
I did. I realized I needed it as responses started rolling in with bloggers
requesting the same materials over and again. But I recommend it be the first
thing you do.
A media kit is everything a blogger
could possibly want or need in order to host you on their webpage. Include in
your Media Kit the following:
Your book blurb. I included different lengths of my blurb, including the
full blurb that’s up on Amazon. A shorter three sentence blurb. And a one
sentence blurb. My debut book was erotic romance, so I also had to be sure and
include a PG version of my blurb for bloggers who also showcased YA books.
Book
excerpts. Choose one to two scenes that you feel would get readers engaged
in your story. I recommend the excerpt should start somewhere in the middle of
the scene and end before the scene is over at a high point of tension. If you
choose well, this tactic would naturally lead a reader to push the ‘buy now’
link so they can find out what happens next. Again, make sure you have a PG
excerpt for bloggers who showcase YA books.
Guest
Posts. I wrote three guests posts for my tour. I found that bloggers liked
craft pieces, writing tips, and social commentary. So, I wrote one of each. I
also found that some bloggers wanted you to answer their list of questions
instead of using your posts. I complied, and then saved each question and
answer. I included these Q&A’s in my media kit and made them available to
all subsequent bloggers.
Author
biography. Be sure to include the bio you’ve written for yourself and
posted on your website. I found that some bloggers preferred a one sentence
bio, called a tagline. So, I paired my long bio down and included two options
in my kit.
Links.
Be sure to include your store purchase links, your website url, and all social
media links and handles. In my ebook, I have fancy graphic links. I assumed the
bloggers would do something graphical with my link, but few did. Instead they
just left the entire URL up under my name. I didn’t like that, but I had to
realize that many of these bloggers weren’t graphic artists or any more tech
savvy than your average person. Moving forward, I’ll need to think of a better
way to list these links.
Images.
Attach images separately, as well as in the body of the kit. If you have a lot
of images, make them available upon request.
That was a lot of information, but I
suggest you get started on that before contacting bloggers. Many get back to
you straight away and begin making requests.
2.
Find BLOGGERS
Once your media kit is assembled, you
need to start finding blogs to host your amazing information.
I began my search at the Book Blogger
Directory: https://bookbloggerdirectory.wordpress.com/
I made certain to check for bloggers
who were in my genre.
I also checked their sites to see when
their last activity happened. You don’t want to spend time querying a blogger
whose last post was in 2013.
3.
Make CONTACT
Once I had my list of vetted bloggers
in my genre, I began to contact them. Be aware that some of these bloggers have
handy Google Docs. They’d prefer you use these instead of emailing them
directly.
For those I emailed directly, I made a
form email, but I sent each blogger an individual email with their name in the
salutation. I also tailored the form email to each blogger where possible. For
example, if I saw that a blogger was only interested in author interviews, I
didn’t mention that I had blog posts and excerpts because I knew they wouldn’t
be interested in those items.
Here’s an example of the basic form
email that I sent out:
Dear [Book Blogger],
I write erotic romance, paranormal
romance, and fairytale retellings under the pen name, Ines Johnson. My newest
release, Pumpkin: a Cindermama story, which
is a fairytale retelling of the Cinderella story will hit the print and virtual
shelves on March 17th.
I’ve planned a book tour throughout
the month of March to create some buzz and garner a bigger audience for my
book. I’d love to make a stop at your site. I’m happy to do a Q&A, a blog
posting, submit my book for your review, or any combination of the three. I’ve
prepared three posts for the occasion. If you feel that one of the topics might
interest your readers, I would be happy to make it available to you any day
during the month of March and April. Attached you’ll find my Media Kit for your
convenience.
4.
Keep RECORDS
It looks bad to contact the same
person over and again. Or to forget that you agreed to give this blogger that
post on this day. I kept a spreadsheet in Google Docs so that I had access to
it at all times.
On the list I listed the blog title,
the blog URL, the contact person’s name and email address. In other columns, I
placed what each blog looked for from guest bloggers, when I contacted them, if
they responded, if they said yes and what they wanted, when the post would be
live, and when they needed the information by. You should also note if they
want exclusive content, and if they want you to provide them a giveaway.
BLOG NAME
BLOG ADDRESS
CONTACT
|
|
Review
|
Interview
|
Blog
Post
|
Promo
|
NOTES
|
CONTACT EMAIL
|
RESPONSE
|
DATE Requested
|
|
* a note about giveaways: try where
possible to offer your book as a giveaway. I got my highest sales on the days I
offered my book as a free giveaway. I didn’t want to offer a gift card,
remember I was broke by this time.
5.
Be SOCIAL
As the blog tour began, I made a fancy
banner announcing the tour for my webpage. I linked to each blog that hosted
me.
On the day of each tour stop, I
tweeted and posted each blog. And I visited each site to try and interact with
any commenters and responded where appropriate.
6.
Send THANK YOU NOTES
But the most important thing I did,
was mind my manners. After each post I wrote a personalized thank you note to
each blogger. I told them how they affected my sales rank that day. Each one
invited me back!
The
VERDICT
I had phenomenal success with my tour!
I was on thirty blogs over the course of my launch week. As soon as those posts
went live, my debut novel was launched into the Top 100 where it’s stayed for a
week after my launch. I could see the effects in real time. When a tour stop
went live, an hour or so later, I’d see sales. I didn’t see much of a blip on
social media (ie, my newsletter or Facebook Likes). My twitter followers did
see some of an uptick, but mostly from the bloggers themselves as they tweeted
about the post.
UPDATE
I repeated these steps fro the When
Black Women Fall promo tour. This time I had over 50 bloggers sign up for the
tour, many were repeat bloggers who I built a relationship with over the year
I’ve been published. To see the other authors on the tour, please visit our
site at http://whenblackwomenfall.com!
