Blog and Bookstagram Tours

Increasingly authors are undertaking blog tours for marketing purposes and I have been involved in several from both an author and a blogger point of view. So, I thought I would chat about blog tours with hints and tips for both authors and bloggers. 

Transcript

Wendy Jones: 0:02

Hi, and welcome to the writing and Marketing Show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. It's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast, so it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to Episode 91 of the writing and Marketing Show. With author entrepreneur went ah gems. Today I'm going to be talking about blog and Instagram or tours. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, because I've had blogs that have been done myself. And I've also blocked yourself or done myself. And also, I've been involved in reviewing books for other people's blog tours, very successful blog tours at that, and I'm going to give you an overview of my thoughts on it all. So I use the terms bloggers and bookstagrammers because increasingly, people are putting their reviews onto Instagram. And there are bookstagrammars who talk about books all the time. And whether it's blog, or whether it's bookstagrammars, they're both very special people. And this is why I wanted to talk about it today. So before that, I would like to say it's an absolute pleasure to bring you the show every month and I do so willingly. It does take time out of my writing. So if you'd like to support this time, you can do so by supporting me at Patreon. That's pa t ar e o n.com. forward slash Wendy h Jones and you can do so for as little as $3 a month. And it would let me know that you're enjoying the show and you would like me to continue. But beyond the 100th episode and beyond beyond the two year points, so I'm very excited to be heading towards that. And also, if you would like to know more about my crime books, or my books for writers or my children's picture books or young adult books, then you can find out more about that at my website, which is Wendy H jones.com. And you can find out about the courses that I run on the monthly membership I run for writers there as well. So there really is something for everyone on my website. So if you go to Wendy h John's dot com, you'll find out everything about me. And in my news I've had a very good day to day because I'm down in London, I go back to Scotland. I'm recording this on Tuesday, on Wednesday when you were listening to this, then I will be heading towards Scotland. And today Tuesday I've been up in London I've been doing a bit of touristy stuff. And then I met up with the wonderful Charles Harris, another writer. And it was so nice to see Charles again after about three or four years. I last saw him at the London book show. So it was really nice to see him and to catch up and put the world to rights. And then later on, I met two amazing women that I've only known through zoom from sisters in crime at the UK and Europe chapter. And I met up with Stella Oni and Biba Pearce it was lovely to see them tonight. It really was nice to see them tonight. And to catch up and to get to know them better, and not only are they nice people, but they are fabulous writers. Look up their books. They're very good crime writers. And they've both just been in anthologies that have come out in the States. And I'm very excited about that. And I'm looking forward to reading the anthologies. So let's get on with the show and talk about blog and bookstagram or tours. Well, first of all, as I say, they're learning to change a lot these days because a lot of people are putting book reviews onto Instagram. And it's it's interesting to read those because they're still in depth reviews and they're still very good. They're just done in a different way, which goes to show that we've to keep up with technology we've to keep up with the changes in the industry. And we need to harness everything we can so that both equally valid and both equally valid for authors to use. Now as I say I've know it from both sides of the fence because I have had book tours done for me organised for me. And I am also a blogger and I am part of blue book tours as a blogger. So I can see things from both sides of the fence, which I think gives me a unique insight and makes me better in both ways because I can I know how the authors feel and I know how the bloggers feel and I can approach bothsensitively. So first of all, let's talk about the author's. So there are two fold as an author. There are two types of blog two as you can do. One is a do it yourself, you can arrange everything yourself, you can find people, if you are doing it yourself, you need to find bloggers, you need to produce images for them, you need to arrange dates for them. And you need to keep an eye on everything, whether it's going out every day, you know, and follow what's happening very closely. So you're basically doing it all yourself, or you can employ a blog tour organiser. Now I've arranged blog tours myself. And I have also used a blog tour organisers. And there's two that I use Kelly Lacey of Love Book Tours, and Lyndsey Adams of Reading Between The Lines, book Promotions, and they both do several different types of promotion for authors. Now, they will do a blog tour, that's literally a blog, where a blog tour where each day for a certain amount of days, seven days, 14 days say there are one or more bloggers putting out a review of your book every single day. Now sometimes it's not a review. Sometimes bloggers will say, well, for that one, I would like to do an interview, or I would like a specific extract from your book, you can do it that way. Because the bloggers will decide what it is they want to do, they might want to interview you, they might want to interview your character that's been done. So there's lots of different ways of doing it. And I think there's mileage in that because different return different readers will react different ways of hearing about your book. So the more different ways you can get the word out about your book, the better. So whatever way they're asking, just embrace it, you know, if they're if they're reviewing the book, then they will usually get a copy of the book. It's usually a PDF file these days. In the past, you would send out paperbacks, but that gets to be very expensive. Because of COVID. You didn't want to be sending paperbacks out, and things like that they might not turn up in time, because postage was all over the place. So PDF usually works better. And that's become more and more acceptable now. And for the last tours, it's been that I've done it's been PDF. Now I have paid for book tours for myself, and for my self published books. And my publisher has also arranged blog tours for me, and for my children's books. And that has been good. And that's been very successful. And for example, my last Bertie, the Buffalo, which was Bertie at the World Wide games, and my publisher arranged a blog tour, a two week blog tour, there were three and four people did one every single day. And I actually had 47 people either blog, or do an Instagram post or bookstagrammar post about my Bertie at the Worldwide Games for 14 days. And that was very successful, it created a buzz. And that's one of the reasons for doing it. It's to create a buzz about your book, because for 14 days, the internet is awash with your books, and I'll explain about that. Now. So that's one of the things they do, they do have the blog tour or the books to grammar tour. There's also a cover reveal where were the people who are doing it, do it every day on one day. So the cover reveal everybody on the one day puts out about your cover. This is who it is. This is the author, this is the book, this is what the cover looks like. And that's before your book comes out and it's to get a buzz going about your book so that people look like they're interested, of getting interested in wanting to get it. And that's important. And one of the other things you can do is a book Blitz. Now that's usually for launch day. And the book Blitz is where on the day, everything comes out. Everything comes out about the book. So they say the book's out today. It's a book Blitz, so that again, social media is awash with your book and more and more people will be able to see it. And they're all got individual reasons for doing them. Some people do all three, which is perfectly valid as well. And so it's a good way of doing it. So think about the three different types. Three different types are blocked tour, a cover reveal, and a book Blitz a lot on your launch day. One of the things you need to remember as an author is to give the tour organiser or even yourself time to do the organising, it cannot be done on a dime, they can't do it overnight, they need to get people they need to get the information to people. And they need to get everything ready for the the tour because finding people to review the book are willing to do it, giving people time to read the book, and to be able to review the book to write the review, all of it takes time. So you need to give plenty time for the organisation. And you also need to do graphics, now you may do graphics, you may need to give them your broker image you may need to give you will have to give them your public image, you will have to give them your author image ready for the excuse me ready for the tour. And that's important, you need to give them the correct things you will need to give them a PDF of the file. If they're actually have the book, if they're actually reviewing the book so that you need to get all of that to them. Now the tour organisers will provide graphics for you with all the dates and everything on. And I have to say both Kelly and Lindsay do outstanding graphics, they're very good at it. And they come up with excellent, excellent graphics for your tour. And you can use them as well. But if you're doing it yourself, then you're going to have to produce some decent graphics with all the different dates on and you need to get that to the actual to the actual bloggers in plenty of time so that they can incorporate it into your into their blogs. But you also want them to beforehand, let put it out all over the internet all over social media that they're doing these blog tours that there's blog tours on the dates are going to be there. So your book is actually getting seen all the time, because the graphic for your book will be on there. And so that's important to make sure that that's available so that everybody's posting that they're going to be part of this blog tour. On those graphics will be the dates of the tour, the names of the bloggers, and the names of the blogs. And that way people can get it out. And everyone will know it's it's a win win, really because it's getting the word out about the individual blogs. And it's getting the word out about your book. Make sure all your graphics are correctly spelled This is important to the people who are taking the time to read and review your book and offering it up to their readers. And they're doing all for free. So make sure everything spelled correctly, I fell foul of this, it's easily done when you're tired to accidentally miss a letter out or something or get letters transported. So check and check again before the graphics go out to everybody. Because then you would just have to get in touch with them and say, hey, I've got it wrong. Can you pull it back again and give them the new one. Make sure you give everything to your blog organisers well in advance, I said this already, but it will be. You know, it will be things like your author bio, the book for review, the book, image, your author, image, any other images you want to be used, make sure you give them well in advance. And I cannot say this enough, which is why I'm mentioning it again, when the blog tour is on, and they're actually reviewing your book, then share every blog widely on your own social media. They want more people reading the blogs as well. So the more you share, the more people will see. And that's a tricky one because it can be difficult because if you're posting every day for two weeks, and there are three blogs, then it can get difficult, because you don't want to be sharing too many. But do your best. Share them on different platforms even if you don't share them all on all of the platforms, shared one on Twitter, share one on Instagram, share one on Pinterest, share one on Facebook, etc, etc, etc. So do your own part as an author to share it and to get the widest possible readership for this. If bloggers don't post then contact them with a reminder but honestly don't hound them. And they have lives too. And sometimes things happen that mean they're unable to blog. I mean, I've had a situation where somebody's child was admitted to hospital. Honestly, sick kids take precedence over blogs on any day of the year. And that's important that things do happen. So occasionally, in a 40 blog tour, you might get a couple of people who don't do it for whatever reason, yes, you can ask them what the issue was. Or you can ask the blog organiser what the issue was. But if it's, you know, as such a family situation, especially at the moment where people might have COVID or something, then you need to give them some leeway, because they're just people, and they're doing it for free. And that brings me to my next point. Remember, they are human. And it's a privilege to be hosted on their blog. They're not being paid. So be nice to bloggers, bloggers are lovely, lovely people. They're doing this because they love books. They're doing it because they want to support authors. And I for one, am extremely grateful for everything they do. I love bloggers, and in a lot of ways, they're all they're part of the lifeblood of the writing community. So it's important to celebrate them, it's important to support them. And it's important to be nice to them, and to thank them, so thank them. And, you know, thank them when they're finished, make a point of saying, I appreciate the fact that you've taken the time to do it. And just make them feel that they are valued, because I do value them. I value every single person who takes time to review my book anywhere I really do. And I love bloggers. So as an author, just be nice, be pleasant, be supportive of them. And they will support you to the hilt. So, what about from a bloggers point of view? Well, again, make sure you have everything you need well in advance. It's no use thinking, Oh, I'm due today, and I can't remember having seen anything about that. Up until now. I've ever asked for it now, as make sure you've got everything you need well in advance. And read the book carefully, making sure you take notes. And I say this from a bloggers point of view. I'm not telling bloggers how to do anything. But I take notes and I take notes as I go along. It makes it easier for me. And note the date and shedule in advance if possible. Note the date and schedule it in advance if possible. And that's important, because then it will go out on the day. And you don't need to worry and you're not panicking. Oh my goodness, it's due tomorrow. Oh, my goodness, it's due today. And your review will be better. Really as bloggers, the authors want to see these reviews. They want to know what you think of the book. And they they're not just doing it and forgetting about you. They are supportive of you. And they're waiting to share it. So sometimes if they say, oh have you done it, they're not saying oh, you haven't done it, why not? What they're saying is, I can't see it. And I really want to share it. And I really want to be able to my followers know that you've taken the time to do this blog, and I'm appreciated a word. So you know, give them some leeway as well, because they're actually trying to support you as a blogger. Share the link with the tour organiser and the author, and then they will share it as well. If they've got the link, they don't need to hunt around through the ether looking for it in order to support you by sharing it. Sharw widely and tag the author in the post, because if you do, the author will find it easily. And they will be able to share your tweets or your Facebook post or comment on your Instagram posts, share it to their stories, etc. And use good graphics that suit the genre of the book. And if you've been provided graphics use these as well, but I also use Bookbrush and listeners to this blog will know I'm very keen on Bookbrush. And I will find a background that really suits the vibe of the book. And I will use that to really bring the book cover out even more because it gives an idea of the genre as well as the book cover. And some of the graphics you can do on Bookbrush looks stunning. So, if you can do your own graphics, that's really good. Now I'll give you an example. When my Bertie, the buffalo blog tour, and some of the people, the bookstagrammars they were brilliant. And what they were doing, they were putting graphics out with their children with the books, they were putting graphics so they'd arranged the children's toys with the books. They were there and they were taking their own images. It was stunning. It was really stunning. And I was so impressed with them and I was so in awe of them what they what they'd done. And they really went to the trouble of getting a good image that made my books stand out and look so much better. And that was amazing. And I was so in awe of them and I was so grateful to them to take the time to really do something different that would make my book look good. And I couldn't thank them enough. I know we all step outside the box and want to expand our reading. But if you're offered a book, and it's not in enough genre you don't like, then that's not the time to take a punt on something really. Because, for example, I don't like science fiction or fantasy, the likelihood of me picking one up to do a blog tour is not high. Because it's not the sorts of thing I read, and I couldn't do it justice. So starting, unless it's saying, you know, you read crime books but it's not the type of crime book you usually read, and you think I will I take a chance, then that's different, because you can say, Well, I don't usually read in the genre, however, in this case, but I couldn't do it for fantasy or anything like that, because I don't read it. And I wouldn't be able to do that book justice, I wouldn't know whether it was a good or a bad book. If I say this book was a load old trash in polite language. And that, you know, saying I really didn't appeal to me, then that's not fair on the author, because it's not going to appeal to me if I don't like it. So choose your book wisely. And if you really don't like the book, and it isn't a genre that you like, and you don't want to blog about it, then let the author or the tour organiser know. You know, not all books are for everybody. Now, I'm not saying don't review it, if you don't like it, that's not what I'm saying. I'm not saying you should only give positive reviews on your blogs, I'm not saying that either. What I'm saying is, you've got to be honest. But if you can't post for any reason, then let someone know. But you have to be honest in your review. But there is usually something positive you can say about a book. So try and balance it out. I mean, I have had books where parts of it have not appealed to me. And I've said that but what I've said is this may be a personal thing. And on the whole, I like the book, this is what I liked about it, this is what I thought was good. This part didn't resonate with me. But that may be a personal viewpoint. And that's not anything against the author. It's you know, other people might find that part of it is what resonated with them. So be honest, without slating the author and their work in the process, And give plenty of time. We all love books, as a blogger, I love books. And as an author and reader of books, it's easy to say yes to every book that comes across you because you think, Oh, I want to help the author, or I like the sound of the book. And then you discover you've got 20 books to review. And you've only got a fortnight to do them and that s not helpful to anybody. So don t say yes to everything pace yourself, and you'll be a le to give better reviews, more considered reviews, and you' l be able to support the auth rs better. Now, that's not sayi g you might not support that author in the future. And it's nothing against them. It's just that you can't do at that time And again, as I said earlier, when I said that authors are people, remember bloggers or people, bloggers remember authors are people too. If they come across as pushy, it might just be anxiety. And if they're asking you where the blog is, they may just be trying to support you. They may not be saying, hey, you haven't put the blog out. You know, we are people we're anxious, we want to get things done. We've organised the blog tour, we want to share the blogs, we want to read the reviews because we really do want to know what is important in that book and what you thought of it because that helps an author. And you know what, when all sis aid and done, have fun, and I'm seeing that both authors and bloggers have fun with it. This life's too short not to have fun. So just relax, write the reviews, read the reviews, do everything and let the blog to pan out. Do your best to help each other and the blog tour will be extremely successful. And you will get your the word get the word out about your books. So I hope you've enjoyed this episode. And I very much look forward to speaking to you again next week when I've got a couple of fantastic interviews lined up for the next two weeks. And you'll hear more about them soon. So I will be back with you extremely soon. And see you next week. That brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy h Jones and you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You can go to patreon.com/WendyhJones. I'm also Wendy H. Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you've found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week and keep writing. Keep reading and keep learning