Report on my Blog Tour for Raging Water

Many of  you know that I've been on a blog tour all month to promote my latest Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery, Raging Water. I did a few things different and learned some things along the way.

 Though I did visit some of my favorite blogs, I tried out some new ones in hopes that they might have different followers.

I do think in worked. Why? Because I was having a contest that the person who commented on the most blogs could have a character named for him/her in my next book and I wrote down each person's name who left a comment in order to keep track. I have way more names listed than I ever have before.

Even when a blog host asked for a post that was the same subject as another one did, I worked on making the post as different as I could--the same thing for interviews.

Not everyone who has a blog realizes that they can post ahead of time--and these are the folks who don't always remember to put up the post on the day it's supposed to be there. I sent reminders out the week ahead of time to everyone I was visiting that week right after the first week someone forgot. Personally, I couldn't manage all the blogs and posts that I appear on if I didn't post ahead of time.

People love photos. For this tour I tried to send a different photo of me to each person--there were a couple of duplicates. Those who commented loved the photos I put up on Morgan's Spunky Seniors' page that gave a brief chronicle of my life. Spunky Seniors

It is important to check the blog during the day so you can acknowledge comments made by everyone. It always astounds me when a guest on my blog never goes to leave a single comment. I can usually tell if they've done any promoting too by whether or not they have anyone who comments.

That brings me to promoting. I'm sure I drove everyone nuts, but I tried to hit every list I'm on, Facebook and Twitter at least twice a day, and the groups I'm a member of on Facebook.

And that leads to the big questions--did it result in sales? That I won't know the whole answer until my quarterly royalty check comes, but I do know I've already had some folks comment on liking the book, and one said she couldn't wait for a print copy and ordered it on Kindle.

It's always important to put information about your book and yourself on each post and this is what I wrote for each one:

Raging Water Blurb: Deputy Tempe Crabtree’s investigation of the murder of two close friends is complicated when relentless rain turns Bear Creek into a raging river. Homes are inundated and a mud slide blocks the only road out of Bear Creek stranding many—including the murderer.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_12?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=raging+water+by+marilyn+meredith&sprefix=Raging+Water%2Cstripbooks%2C365

I know there are some people who like to read a series in order, but let me reassure you that every book is complete. Though the characters grow through each book, the crime is always solved. Here is the order of the books for anyone who wants to know: Deadly Trail, Deadly Omen, Unequally Yoked, Intervention, Wing Beat, Calling the Dead, Judgment Fire, Kindred Spirits, Dispel the Mist, Invisible Path, Bears With Us, Raging Water.

Bio: Marilyn Meredith is the author of over thirty published novels, including the award winning Deputy Tempe Crabtree mystery series, the latest Raging Water from Mundania Press. Writing as F. M. Meredith, her latest Rocky Bluff P.D. crime novel us No Bells, the forth from Oak Tree Press. Marilyn is a member of EPIC, three chapters of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, and on the board of the Public Safety Writers of America. Visit her at http://fictionforyou.com and follow her blog at http://marilymeredith.blogspot.com/

Marilyn borrows a lot from where she lives in the Southern Sierra for the town of Bear Creek and the surrounding area.