A book blog tour is a marketing technique that involves promoting your book on blogs related to its topic.
The book’s publisher usually organizes blog tours, but you can also apply for one independently. It’s a great way to reach new readers, get a buzz about your book started early on, and build relationships with influencers in your field.
Blog tours usually consist of five to ten posts for one or two weeks (sometimes longer).
Each post features an interview with the author, excerpts from their book (or other relevant content), and sometimes even a giveaway.
The goal is to build excitement around the release of your book by creating buzz through engaging content and connecting with readers who may not have known about it otherwise!
How Do You Organize a Book Blog Tour?
Creating an effective blog tour takes time and effort, but it can be worth it if you want to increase sales and improve your online presence.
Here are some tips for organizing and running your blog tour:
Choose a compelling title and a catchy cover
The title of your blog tour needs to stand out so that people will notice it, and the cover needs to be interesting enough that people will want to click on it.
The cover should also be eye-catching and representative of the content inside.
If possible, use images that relate directly to the article’s topic or storyline—it’ll help readers feel like they’re getting more than just run-of-the-mill information when they click through.
Create relevant content for each posting date
When putting together your content for each date, think about what kind of posts would be relevant for that day—is there something special going on?
Is there a holiday coming up? Are there any events that might be relevant? Make sure to include these posts in your schedule so that readers know when they can expect them to go live!
Choose the right bloggers for your book
If you’re hosting a blog tour to promote your book, choosing the right bloggers to host the tour is essential.
The bloggers you choose should be active on social media, have a large following and an engaged audience, and be interested in reviewing books in their niche. A great way to find these candidates is by using a tool like BuzzStream that allows you to search through blogs based on their platform, engagement rates, and other metrics.
Create your tour schedule
Once you’ve found some good candidates for your blog tour, it’s time to set up your schedule.
Try to give yourself at least two weeks between each blogger’s post date, so there’s time for them to promote it before moving on to the next one.
You’ll also want to make sure that you have enough time between each post so that people won’t forget about what was said previously!
Create an outreach email template that works for you
The most important thing to remember when creating your template is that it should be authentic. You’re trying to get potential readers on board with your idea, not just sell them something.
Make sure your email is personal and that it’s clear why they’d want to participate in the tour.
Be sure to include the date and time of your blog tour, where it will be hosted, how long it lasts, and some information about what participants can expect from participating (such as exclusive giveaways).
If there are any requirements for participating (like having a certain number of followers), make sure those show up.
Your template should include a list of resources for each blogger to use when writing about your product/service, such as an infographic or sample content from your website or blog that they can link back to in their post (this will increase SEO).
Also, give bloggers access to your content to create an engaging piece around it (you could even send them a short biography about yourself if you want them to include it in their post).
Give bloggers enough time to respond before moving on to the next person on your list!
If you’re running a blog tour where you’re trying to get bloggers to review your book, you don’t want them rushing off to catch up on their reading while writing reviews. You should give them at least two weeks’ notice before asking for those reviews—and then if they ask for more time after that, give it!
Set up a schedule for them to publish their posts on their sites
Setting up a program for each blogger to publish on their sites ensures that your content is spread over time, so readers can easily find it and remember it when they’re ready to buy your book.
Make sure each participating blogger has a unique giveaway for the same product or digital download—one giveaway per participating blog during the tour period—so that each blogger’s giveaway doesn’t overlap with those of other participants.
This will help draw more attention to your blog tour and increase its reach on social media.
Promote your blog tour across social media platforms.
Using hashtags like #blogtour and #authors will help people find your posts more easily.
You can also post about the tour on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, but make sure you don’t spam people with too many updates—notice how many times per day you post something and try not to exceed that number.
Set up an event page where readers can RSVP for the tour.
This is especially important if you’re offering giveaways or other prizes during the tour! You’ll also want to include links to each post in this space so people can easily navigate between them all once they’ve RSVPed.
Why Should You Create a Book Blog Tour?
- A blog tour can effectively build buzz around your book, get more reviews, and build your author platform.
- It is a great way to connect with other authors and spread the word about your book.
- By participating in a blog tour, you will receive free exposure on multiple sites and social media platforms, leading to increased sales, new followers, and fans.
- You will have the opportunity to reach new audiences who may not have previously heard about your book or genre.
What Determines the Effectiveness of Your Book Blog Tour
There’s no need to do it alone when it comes to blog tours!
A blog tour is a great way to get your book in front of more eyes and get more reviews. But if you don’t know how to organize a blog tour, it can be overwhelming—and that’s where working with your publicist can help.
Here are some tips on how to set up a practical blog tour:
- Make sure you have a few bloggers in mind who would be a good fit for your book. It’s best if they’re active on social media and have a similar audience as yours. If they’re not active on social media, they probably won’t post about your book.
- Set up a call with your publicist so they can talk about their approach to setting up the tour and what their timeline looks like. They’ll also want to make sure that you’ve already done enough research about how other authors have done their tours so that you can learn from their mistakes—and successes!
- Once everything is set up and ready to go, let everyone know when the first post will go live by sending out an announcement email or posting on social media (or both!).
How Far in Advance Should You Create Your Book Blog Tour?
The best way to plan for a blog tour is to start early so you don’t get overwhelmed.
If you’re hosting a blog tour for your book, there are many things that you need to take care of before the tour starts.
- You’ll want to ensure that all the bloggers who have agreed to participate have received the information they need and are ready to go. It’s unnecessary to send out reminders once they’ve agreed as long as they have deadlines and goals in mind, but it can be helpful if you do.
- Also, make sure that all the bloggers know what content they should be posting: reviews, interviews, guest posts, or something else?
- It’s essential to set realistic expectations so that everyone has enough time to prepare their posts and promote them on social media. A good rule of thumb is 2-3 weeks before launch day.
Planning Your Book Blog Tour
A book blog tour is a great way to promote your book and get the word out there.
But it’s also a lot of work!
But with proper planning, you can achieve the aim of organizing the tour. This involves planning:
- Where you want to go
- How long you’ll be there
- What you want people to do once they arrive at your event.
- How you’re going to inform bloggers about your event
- When you want them to post about it
- What bloggers are expected to do during their posts (i.e., whether or not they should share excerpts).
- You also need to figure out how much time each blogger will have with you — some authors prefer more time with fewer bloggers, whereas others prefer less time with more bloggers.
Organizing a blog tour can seem complicated, but these steps will guide you through it!
Joel Mark Harris graduated from the Langara School of Journalism in 2007. Joel is an award-winning journalist, novelist, screenwriter and producer.
He has ghostwritten numerous books in all types of genres including true life crime, business, memoir, and self help. With over 1,000 blog posts to his name, he has helped hundreds of business owners scale their business and increase their visibility. You can email him at info@ghostwritersandco.com