The number of ways available to authors to market their books is endless. However, we believe some marketing activities yield greater results than others. One of those activities is going on a blog tour.
Hi Alana, we are really excited about your new book, “How to Promote a Book with a Blog Tour,” so let’s go ahead and dive right in. Could you share why you chose to write this book?
As a novelist, I found blog tours exceptionally helpful in promoting my books. My very first blog tour was instrumental to my debut novel’s success. Several of my author friends asked me how I went about setting up blog tours. Since so many were asking, I figured there was a need, and so I wrote “How to Promote a Book with a Blog Tour.”
If authors only take one thing away from your new book, what would you want that to be?
Well, it’s probably that blog tours are important, but they’re also a lot of work. By spelling out the step-by-step directions for conducting a blog tour (either through a paid service or a do-it-yourself tour), I hope to demystify and simplify the process, but blog tours still require a lot of planning and organizational skills.
In your book, you share 7 benefits of going on a blog tour, but what is the deciding factor for you? How do you decide whether you will do a blog tour for a new book you release?
I think the biggest benefit I’ve received from blog tours has been the reviews that many of the bloggers post on amazon and other book review sites. I don’t do a blog tour with every release, because I don’t want to over-burden the network of bloggers I have. Before I decide to start a tour, I want to make sure this is THE most important book I want highlighted in at least the next several months. That way, I’m not maxing out my blog network or getting over-exposed on a small number of blogs.
What is your favorite part of promoting your book with a blog tour?
I really like interacting with the bloggers I’ve met. Book review bloggers are great people with passion for reading, and I’ve made some great friends through the blog tours I’ve set up.
Would you be willing to share a memorable moment from one of your blog tours? Was there a comment that stood out, or a blog that really stands out in your memory?
I have to give a shout-out to a blogger named Amy Smith from http://myseasonsofopportunities.blogspot.com. Amy was one of the very first bloggers to review my book. She sent me a very encouraging email, and we became friends through our correspondence. Later, I found out she also nominated my novel for the Book Club Network Book of the Month award, which it won. That award led to a large increase in sales and exposure, and I’ll never forget it was all because one blogger nominated it even before we were friends.
Do you have a tip or two that you could share with authors here on our blog about blog tours?
Blogs are social platforms. When you approach your blog tour, the more personal attention you put into each guest post and each email to potential bloggers, the more enjoyable your experience will likely be.
Before we sign off, can you tell us a little bit more about yourself, your history as an author, and where readers can find you online?
My career as an indie author started with a special-needs memoir about my son. My frustration looking for books about homeschooling families led to my Solar-Powered History series, a time-travel/historical fiction series for kids. The Beloved Daughter was my debut Christian novel. It is a Christian suspense title set in North Korea. Slave Again, the first book in its follow-up series, will be coming out in fall, 2014. I also write prayer devotionals. You can see my titles and find my contact information at alanaterry.com.
Alana’s book, “How to Promote Your Book with a Blog Tour” is now available on Amazon – and we’re having a book launch! If you purchase her book before August 2nd, you’ll also get our report, “How to Spice Up Your Blog with Free Images” and 269 high quality royalty free graphics completely free.
PLUS, we just released a corresponding toolkit for this book. It normally sells for $29.oo, but if you purchase Alana’s book during our launch, you’ll get a coupon to get the toolkit for just 5 bucks. That means for just $8.99 (the price of the eBook plus the $5 add-on) you can get all three – a total value of $49.95!
Find out more at: http://www.trainingauthors.com/books/blog-tour
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