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Plug Your Book!
87
Blog tours
So far, we’ve explored techniques for luring readers to your blog or
Web site. Now we’ll turn to outreach campaigns—going where part of
your potential readership already congregates.
You can introduce your book to lots more readers with a series of
appearances on blogs catering to your audience—a blog tour. Sometimes
it’s called guest blogging or a virtual book tour.
Blog tours are especially valuable for authors unable to travel,
uncomfortable with public speaking, or whose dispersed audience makes
touring impractical. Blog tours can expose your book to a much larger
audience than a traditional bookstore tour, while requiring less time and
money. Blog tours are especially helpful in launching new books.
“Blogs are like rocket fuel for online book publicity,” said Steve
O’Keefe, executive director of Patron Saint Productions, a book publicity
firm.
Blog tours are also a good deal for the host blogger, who gets free
content for his or her readers and affiliate revenue from book sales.
Typical blog tours include these elements:
An excerpt displayed on the host blog to publicize the tour
appearance.
A one-day appearance, beginning with an opening statement, a
short essay on the topic of your book. Then the floor is open for
discussion.
Follow-up visits for the next four to seven days to answer
questions and comments from blog readers.
Targeting host blogs
Your first step in arranging a blog tour is finding potential host
blogs. Find the most popular blogs read by your book’s target audience.
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