Part II Blog tour elements:
In my last post, visiting blogger ELF shared the benefits of using blog tours, along with the etiquette of working with tour organizers. Here she shares the different elements you need to include for a successful blog tour.
BLOG TOUR ELEMENTS – The Book
- Blurb:
Please remember that the idea is NOT to tell the entire story, but to pique a reader’s interest. Include keywords…lost love, lovers to friends, wounded hero/heroine, etc. that you think will attract a reader’s notice. Please, please, please review your blurb for typos…this is the first impression readers will have of your book, and if it sounds poorly written because the blurb is full of errors, folks are not likely to want to read it!
- Buy links
(written out or live link). I am only SEMI-computer-literate. For some reason, links don’t always transfer live for me when I copy and paste, so it really helps to have the web address written out in the info I am given. I like my blog neat, so I like to just have the link itself, but I often have to manually put it in, so it is essential to have the entire address. Please remember that it is not only time-consuming but it looks messy when there are umpteen links for your book OR you are trying to promote every book in the series. If you have a website or blog set up, just include a link to the page that lists all of the sites that sell your book.
- Banner
If you are using a banner, make sure that it isn’t too large or too busy. If you are using a fancy one that cycles around between different titles, make sure it works!
- Author picture or picture related to the book.
I am camera-shy, so I don’t want my picture out in the ether. If that is you, make sure you have a nice substitute graphic that can either represent your brand or a link to the book or something that represents a key element in the book.
- Social media links.
I am one of those folks who barely keeps up with the mailbox and, hopefully, my blog. I don’t use the rest of the rapidly exploding social media, and, I find it frustrating when the author I am hosting has more than three or four links for me to make sure they are live. I understand that you want your readers to be able to find you, but perhaps you can include one or two AND a link to your social media page that has the rest of the listings. When you have a laundry list of links, that takes away from the focus on the book you are promoting.
- Other titles
Some of you are really prolific (congrats), but again, I don’t want to make live links to a myriad of titles. Part of that is my own pickiness. I am an Amazon affiliate, therefore I MIGHT get a small stipend (one of these years) if someone clicks through and buys anything, so I try to make the book titles link to Amazon BUT the other issue is that I highlight and italicize titles so they will stand out, and it is time-consuming. If the title being promoted is part of a series, by all means, mention one or two titles…but please don’t list all 200 of the books you have written!
- Excerpts
Various tour companies have different techniques. One of the companies I have worked with assigns a particular excerpt to a group of hosts, thereby making sure that there are a variety of excerpts. I think it is great when at least 3 different excerpts are provided, and make sure you mention if they are PG or R or X-rated, so the blogger can put appropriate warnings up. Some authors do a kind of scavenger hunt and list a different portion of an excerpt for each host, which also encourages readers to go to other blogs.
BLOG TOUR ELEMENTS – The Extras
- Guest posts.
I usually request guest posts. I am always crunched for time and have tendonitis issues, so having to deal with an interview and highlighting and boldfacing the questions and answers is just too cumbersome for me. Other people prefer interviews. Usually those are pre-written and you can include a link or two in them. One of my favorite types of interviews to read is between the characters and the author or the blog host. If you are comfortable with it, you can give a great introduction to your characters by having them interviewed.
Some folks love recipes. You can tie them into your story, provide pictures, give anecdotes on how you stumbled upon this particular recipe or give hints on how to serve it.
- Playlists
Playlists seem to be popular also. Lists of the music that either connects to the characters or that you listened to while writing the story.
- Anecdotes
Anecdotes about the story. Readers are always curious how you came up with the story/characters/setting. You can include a picture or two that you used (if you own the picture), talk about where you did research, places you visited.
Some of you are great with YouTube or Pinterest pages, so you can include links to that as well.
- Personal Information
Decide how much personal info you are willing to share and how. Euphemisms for family members? Broad statements about where you live? Unfortunately, there are fairly odd people in the world, so make sure you protect your privacy as much as you can.
- Giveaway
Some authors are talented and offer something handmade, or something that reminds them of something in the book, a copy of the book (decide whether you want to offer an e-copy or a print copy and don’t forget about price and postage when you budget that in), or a gift certificate to different places.
When figuring out what you want to use in the Rafflecopter or whatever method you use, please remember that not everyone uses all of the social media. It annoys me to no end to be unable to enter a giveaway because I can’t unlock the entries due to my lack of social media presence on Facebook or Twitter. Increase traffic to your website (but make sure your site is current and error-free), get subscribers to your newsletter, blog or Facebook/Pinterest or other social media.
You may have an entry in your giveaway mechanism (Rafflecopter is the one I see used frequently) that asks a question about the excerpt. Just don’t make it TOO complicated, since most people are in a hurry. You can also give an entry for a visit to your website, have the reader answer a simple question (What is the next book in this series? What is my favorite color?) just to make sure they made it to the page you are trying to direct them to.
Blog Tours – Feedback from Your Tour Guides
Complaints:
Timeliness is important (especially if trying to get reviews)—life gets in the way for ALL of us, if you aren’t going to be able to meet your deadlines, have the courtesy to inform the blog hosts (or tour company) so that bloggers are not scrambling at the last minute to either post your material or fill the day with something else. I like my review copies at LEAST 1 month in advance, my blog materials at least a week or two early, because I tend to procrastinate and end up posting a week’s worth of blog posts at a time.
Use relatively clean copy (it’s irksome if there are formatting issues/typos, etc.). Sometimes the formatting doesn’t translate, so the apostrophes, dashes, and quotation marks don’t come through, so make sure you check to see what format you should save your copy in. Personally, I tend to ignore posts that have a lot of machine code in them (especially in the forums) so you may be turning off potential readers.
Again, don’t have too many links, and make sure links work! (I like clean pages, want live links but they don’t always translate live, so should have it both as a live link and written out (with a note to delete one form or the other) but don’t overwhelm the poor anal retentive person such as myself who goes through trying to tidy things up and ends up having to work through 15 different links! If all else fails, use a single link to your social media page that has your Twitter, FB, Goodreads, Tsu, Pinterest, website, etc. links)
Long excerpts…if you really can’t find a short eye-catching excerpt, post a link to a space on your own site that has a longer excerpt.
Advice from Touring:
Authors’ experiences with tour hosts (don’t name names) can be good or bad, and that works in both directions. Talk privately with your colleagues, ask how the experience went.
I tend not to sign up for tours with companies that have not been timely. If I have to poke the hosts in order to get my material, I don’t have time to do that, and I tend not to host for them any longer.
Don’t criticize the blog tour or host in public. I had an author go into some rant about how useless blog tours are and how irresponsible the hosts are…and cite my blog. When I pointed out that he was being really insulting and that he wasn’t scheduled to be on my blog until a future date, he had to retract some of his statements, but he left me with a REALLY bad taste in my mouth, especially since he fails to realize that I do this in my (snort) spare time and I DON’T OWE ANYTHING to the author. If you have an issue, try to contact the person directly, don’t get into a flaming war, and remember that you have no idea how folks can be interconnected, so things can get really sticky sometimes.
Which brings me back to reviews. You and/or your tour company should make sure that the host is reminded that the story given for review is for the use of that reviewer ONLY. It is not to be shared, posted or otherwise used for anything other than the review. Also, diplomatic language should be used to remind the reviewer that you have no problem if they did not like the story, but if they have a negative review, you politely request that they not post it as part of the tour, but to feel free to post it after the tour is over. There is no point in your paying for a tour to bad-mouth your hard work!
Blog Tours: Some Additional Info
Lately we’ve seen a HUGE difference when authors significantly interact with their commenters and promote the stops in unique ways. I know those should both be a given, but they aren’t. Authors with personality, who are interesting and do things outside the norm really impact readers and increase sales. And, for heavens sake, don’t be rude.
We recently had an author who chewed out the people commenting on the tour who this author perceived as ‘contesters’. It was awful, nasty, and uncalled for, and I actually got emails from people complaining (and I can’t blame them). Look — we know who the contesters are. We try not to feed them. Just say thank you and move on. A great number of the people this person yelled at were actually tour hosts who were following the tour (and hosting the book).
Also, be interesting when you answer interview questions. Never answer with just “yes” or “no”. If they ask your favorite sandwich, don’t say “mayo and tomato”. Say instead, “Growing up, we had this amazing garden. I remember my mom picking fresh, sun-ripened, warm tomatoes from the vine at lunchtime, slicing the juicy fruit and serving us this incredibly mouth-watering tomato sandwiches with a bit of mayo. Even now, when I eat them, I think of mom.”
Or something.
Basically, the best thing on tours is to be interesting and engaging. Cultivate “friendships” of a sort, because loyal friends are more likely to support you consistently. We try to impress upon our authors that a tour is about more than one book … it’s about building a fan base and creating relationships.
Blog Tours: Input from Other Guides
I had asked for comments from the two companies I had been hosting for most often when I gave this talk last year and received this information, so please forgive me if some of this is repeated.
The author should take the initiative in opening dialogues on the tour posts … ask the commenters a question to get the ball rolling. The author should be the one that drives the interaction.
Read ALL the instructions the tour company sends you BEFORE you ask a question… there’s a good chance you’ve already been given the answer. (Made with the assumption that other companies send comprehensive instructions like we do — if they don’t they should, and maybe an author should keep that in mind when booking a tour).
Conversely, if you can’t find the answer to your question in the instructions, never be afraid to email with questions and make sure what’s expected of you is clear.
Things that make us a little crazy is getting completed posts a day or two prior to the stop. Not stopping by the tour stops to say thank you. They should always be polite, even when something makes them unhappy — I’m assuming that all tour companies want their authors to be satisfied, so we’ll do everything we can to make it so, but being yelled at for things just makes everyone cranky.
I have had numerous indie authors who don’t even send the buy links on release day (say if we are waiting to get out to hosts for a blast, etc), I have had to chase down the links myself to get out to the hosts. Which I don’t mind, but you would think the author would want the links to purchase to be a top priority.
Definitely time is an issue always. I prefer to book two months out and sometimes you will get a request from an author for a tour and her book is releasing next week. That is just unfair to the coordinator and hosts. I can work magic when needed but with a full schedule, I usually have to turn a lot of people away or recommend another company that might have an earlier opening.
About ELF:
ELF’s review and tour blog is http://thereadingaddict-elf.blogspot.com/ and you are welcome to come by and see what you think. Lately, she work’s primarily with a single company but she has been a host for about 15 of them over the years, so I have seen a lot of variation.