Blog Book Tours - Do they leave time for writing or reading?

[Julie Lomoe]

Since May 1st, I've been immersed in the Blog Book Tours group, trying to learn more about blogging as a marketing tool. It's fascinating but overwhelming, so I've been out of touch on CrimeSpace. I invite you to visit my blog at http://julielomoe.wordpress.com. Leave a comment and insert your own link! It's very much like networking here, but with many more technical challenges. Supposedly, with more and more people linking to your blog, your exposure on the internet grows exponentially. But does this translate into more sales? Who knows?

Has anyone here been involved in setting up your own blog book tour? Has it been worthwhile? And does it leave time for you to write or read anything else? I'd love to hear from you.

Julie Lomoe
http://julielomoe.wordpress.com

[I. J. Parker]

No, haven't done that, but I find it an interesting idea. Does anything come from it?

[I. J. Parker]

Do I take it that this works only if you have a blog yourself? So that people can come and visit it?

[Julie Lomoe]

I believe you do need your own blog. Either that or join someone else's group blog if you can find someone who's interested.

[Karen Dionne]

I did a TON of online promotion when my debut novel published last fall, staring with a big, blow-out online launch party, then moving on to Authorbuzz, guest blog posts, online interviews, op-eds for Huffington Post, and on and on and on . . .

After 3 months, I was completely burned out - so exhausted from writing and talking about myself that I could barely bring myself to answer my email. Didn't write a word on the next project during all that time either. If you'd asked me then if it was worth it, I'd have said no.

But then a couple months after that, my publisher bought another novel from me, this time on spec, and a few weeks after that, I even got a royalty check.

Ask me now if I think it was all worth it, and I still don't honestly know. It's impossible to say if my efforts made a difference, though my agent seems to think so.

Which I guess means that when the new novel publishes in 2010, exhausting or not, I'll be doing all that online promoting again . . .

[Julie Lomoe]

Insightful reply, though not wildly encouraging. But perhaps your willingness to put yourself out there and do such intensive marketing made your publisher more inclined to work with you again.

[John Desjarlais]

I plan to try this when BLEEDER comes out in August (and make arrangements in advance), but I'm going to limit myself to maybe 10 or 12 blogs, especially with people I've met at conferences. Then I'll see how it goes. I've heard how exhausting this can become - and how there is no good way to measure the outcome. I'm inclined to focus on booksellers and libraries, along with radio interviews. I do, after all, want to move forward on the sequel.

[Julie Lomoe]

10 or 12 soounds daunting enough to me. Good luck with your new book. Love the title.

[Beth Groundwater]

I'm in the midst of a month-long blog tour during May to promote the release of the second book in the Claire Hanover gift basket designer mystery series, TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET, which was released May 15th. The extensive schedule can be seen at: http://bethgroundwater.com/Book_Blog_Tour.html .

I'm keeping track of statistics, including the # of comments on each blog post, the # visits, and the ranks of both books in the series (including A REAL BASKET CASE) on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. It's too early to tell if there will be a payoff in increased book sales, because on-line sales are a very small portion of my market. I probably won't even be able to wager a guess on the sales effect until my fall royalty statement. I figured I had to try a blog book tour at least once, though, to see if it will do any good.

I am getting about 20-30 comments and 150-250 visits per blog post, so I feel the exposure is good. I'm also getting offers for other promotion opportunities, like radio interviews, and I think mentioning the blog tour to bookstores where I'm trying to arrange signings has helped open doors. All these intangible benefits are hard to measure, too. I made the decision to devote April-June this year to full-time promotion, so I'm not even trying to write fiction during these 3 months, only nonfiction articles.

If you're just starting out on planning your own blog tour, read my pre-tour teaser article on Planning a Blog Book Tour. That should help you get started. Good luck!

[Julie Lomoe]

Hi Beth,
I'm so glad you weighed in on this topic here on CrimeSpace. Studying your tour tactics thoroughly is one of the many things on my to-do list as I try desperately to keep up with the Blog-A-Day challenge and the steep technological learning curve on Blog Book Tours. I'll be interested to read your perceptions after it's all over.

I too am putting my own writing aside while I immerse myself in this whole new realm of blogging and social networking. I invite you and others to visit and comment on my blog,
Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso at .my wordpress site.

[Julie Lomoe]

I've now completed the first month of the Blog Book Tour, the Blog-A-Day (aka B.A.D.) Challenge. I only missed one day, and since May has 31 days, I figure 30 blogs can count as a legitimate month of blogging. It's done wonders for my creativity, but it's been all-consuming, so much so that I cut down significantly on some of my nasty habits. I ate less, drank less, shopped less - all in all, it's been a somewhat monastic experience. But then that's nothing new for me as a writer.

Oh, and today I blogged for the first time about my bipolar diagnosis and how it inspired my novel, Mood Swing: The Bipolar Murders.

Drop by and visit me!

Julie Lomoe
Julie Lomoe's Musings Mysterioso