When I first started doing them, I hired a company to plan and do everything for me. I used them several times and realized that they didn't always pick the best blogs for me to visit. Other things happened and now I'll share some of what I've learned--bet I'll learn more by the time this our for Raging Water is over.
You need to pick people for you tour who have blogs that you've actually visited or know some other way in the Net. It helps if they like the genre that you write. Hopefully you can find some sites that have followers who are readers, not just writers (though some of my biggest fans are writers so don't rule them out.)
You should check to see if the blog you're going to ask to visit has a good number of followers. Doesn't have to be a huge amount, but a good number means there are people actually reading the blog and a regular basis.
I'd love it if everyone got rid of the captcha code. I just got rid of it on mine, I didn't even know it was there. When you leave a comment on someone's site and you can't get past the captcha code after several tires, you probably aren't going to keep trying. I once tried 8 times before succeeding. I would've quit sooner but it was a place I had a guest blog and I was leaving a reply to a comment.
And that brings me to another subject. When you're a guest on someone's blog, for goodness sake go back and check once in awhile and respond to the comments that have been written. I've had several guests on my blog who never came back at all, not even to thank me.
Be sure and promote you post the day that you're a guest. Promote on Facebook, Twitter and every list that you're on. (Yes, I've had guests who never promoted at all. Why bother then?)
Make sure to have something new on every blog. Even if the host asks for the same topic as another, make each one different. We are writers after all, how hard is it to come up with something new.
A contest will keep people following you. If you plan to give away a book, give a different one than the one you are promoting. The idea of a blog tour is to interest someone enough that they'll buy a copy of your new book--if you're offering it as a prize everyone will wait to see if they won and then probably forget about it all together.
A few days before a blog post will appear, send an email to the host reminding them. I've only had one that had completely forgotten. Some wait to put up everything the day before. It's much, much easier when someone puts everything up right away and dates and times the post.
And finally, put up different photos of yourself. I couldn't remember what pictures I'd used and it's been a surprise to me too when I visit the host blog for the first time the day I'm a guest.
The book I'm promoting now is the latest in the Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, Raging Water.
Marilyn
1 comment:
Marilyn,
Great tips on blog tours.
I laughed when I read what you wrote about getting rid of the captcha code because I'm pretty sure you were referring to my blog. "I once tried 8 times. . . ."
I'm so glad you brought that to my attention that day because I didn't realize my readers were being put through all that when they wanted to comment. As you know, I quickly disabled it. I wish everyone would!
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