Blog Tour Rumminations

Well, I did it. I scheduled and completed a blog tour for my book, "Guardian." I have guest blogged, I have been interviewed, and my book has been reviewed.

What worked best? Easy, being hosted by folks who were as excited about my book as I am...at least those who acted like it! These fine folks were free with their praise (thank you), and were upbeat when they put the word out. It was a fun thing to be a part of those blog days, and the comments proved it worked best.

What worked least? Those who hosted my blog tour but did nothing to advertise it. Again, the comments proved this to be so.

So, where do I go from here? At what point does the enthusiasm of my blog hosts translate into sales for my book? I wish I could say different, but I really don't know. I do know that the blog tour has touched people far outside of my physical location, even those in other countries. How cool is that?

A blog tour is all about creating buzz as much as it is about letting people know my book is out and waiting to be purchased. Hopefully, the buzz results in book sales, which then continues by word-of-mouth sales. That's what we all hope for, I think.

When it's all said and done, as an individual we reach a finite amount of people. Friends, family, friends of family, that sort of thing. But to be truly successful in sales it depends on that and the above mentioned buzz and continued publicity.

I have approached the local bookseller about putting my book on her shelves. She was less than enthusiastic and told me I could leave a nonreturnable copy of my book at the desk and she would email me. Maybe.

It seems that there are lot of local authors in my area who are approaching the local newspaper wanting to be interviewed. After getting the book in the newspaper people's hands, and contacting those two folks a total of five times, you really can't do anymore than that. They did say if they decided not to read it or promote it, they would give it to a middle aged student. Gee, thanks.

Bottom line? Nobody--and I mean nobody--is as excited about your book than you are, but for sales to result, you must depend on those same folks at some point to help make your book a success.

I have hired an online pr team to do some marketing for me, so we'll see what happens with them.

Hopefully, school visits will be more readily available than the failed bookstore and newspaper help. I know the children's librarian and I have been playing what amounts to phone tag, so that is good.

So, I am cautiously optimistic about what is to come. The online pr people will send me information the end of this month showing me what they've done - book reviews, sites they've contacted, and so forth. I'll continue doing what I know to do, and plan to attend some festivals and contact people at other area book stores. All these breadcrumbs reach the final prize.

To order your copy of "Guardian," please visit 4rvpublishingllc.com.