I’ve had such a good time (and learned a lot) from reading all of the comments on the post about what kind of posts you like on blog tours. That got me thinking wouldn’t it be nice if authors could tap into readers conversations and know what readers like and don’t like about the blog tours they follow. I asked generally what kind of blog posts you liked to see on blog tours and the responses I got were insightful and interesting so I thought I’d broaden the question a little…deepen the conversation. Today I’m kind of pulling out the stops and asking readers and blog hosts what advice they’d give authors doing blog tours.
Are there mistakes that you’ve seen authors make that make you cringe?
Are there things authors do that make you smile and take notice?
What are authors doing right and wrong in terms of blog tours?
There are a number of blog tour packages available — some that run five days…some that run ten days…some that are a guest appearance a week for a couple of months… what do you think is the optimum number of stops on a blog tour? Do you prefer to see the author on consecutive days or do you like the guest appearances spread out more like the guest appearance a week for a couple of months packages? Which makes an author more memorable?
What about blog tour themes? I’ve seen some very inventive themes…and some blog tours that have no theme at all. Do you like themes…like a cookie recipe at each stop for a holiday stop…or do you prefer tours that have no theme?
I’d like to hear any piece of advice you have for authors doing blog tours. What do you like? What do you dislike? What turns you onto a book? What turns you off of a book or author?
Just stopping by to have a look-see….been away from BVS for a few days and saw this topic. One that is near and dear to my heart. I have posted most of my feelings about this topic and those points seem to be hit on here.
I have visited blogs where there were so few comments that it’s nearly embarrassing and I hate that for the author. I blame that on the blog owner for various reasons. Could be they are new and don’t have a large following or perhaps their following is centered on a limited market (share, place, etc) or the tour is just not geared for the blog’s readers. Authors need to do a little research on this too. This gets me to thinking: does the author have the right to refuse to have their tour included on a blog that they believe will not benefit them for reasons such as wrong genre, poor readership, etc? Goddess Fish sets their blog tours up many months in advance. The author would have opportunity to view the blogspots beforehand to decide if it’s a fit for their book. This goes along with those blogs with several posts on the same day and it forces a follower to search through pages and pages trying to find the author they want. I’ve actually contacted GFP asking if that particular day was cancelled because I couldn’t find it. They would always write back with info about where to find it. Big PITA if you ask me.
I think 1-2 weeks is a good length for most blog tours. It gives the author a chance to discuss their research of time & place, the book’s back story, character & plot development and even a day-in-the-life of the author. Maybe a character interview too. Always include a different excerpt each day. I followed one not long ago that actually had the same excerpt every day for 4 weeks. Boring….fortunately, after reading more about it at author website & Amazon, I bought the book. It was good and worth the time to investigate.
I agree with not liking to jump through hoops to post a comment. If I can’t do so easily, I make a note to self to ignore that blog in the future. I might (but maybe not) contact the author to give them a heads up on that situation. That’s information that could be helpful to her in the future.
I like to read the author’s responses to the questions. And I like to see readers posting actual questions rather than post simply 3-4 words and call it done. That’s an insult to the author. It’s easy to find a topic in the post and expand on it. IMO, if the author is giving a prize, I need to work a little for it and the author always likes to give more info. I’ve mentioned before about posting comments and never seeing the author return to respond or even to say HI or THANKS…nada, nothing! That’s an insult to the reader and the blog owner! Sure fire way to lose readers too. And that cover model with the snide remarks is also rude and uncalled for, IMHO. If there are lots and lots of comments, sometimes I don’t closely read each and every one before posting my own comments. I might have missed something, but that’s no reason to ignore me or get snippy. I’ve had an author say thanks, but check out my answer to Mary above. And that’s ok.
Guess I’ve gone on about long enough, which I tend to do sometimes. Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July holiday and are ready for the rest of the summer! Can’t believe July is nearly half-over with already!
What a lot of good advice and interesting insights. Thank you.
I enjoy author blog tours where each post along the way is different. The same book is being promoted, obviously, but don’t just do a rehash at each post.
For example: I followed an author on a blog tour a LONG while ago now. The book was an Historical read, so we got some historical background of the real people, the landmarks, the research, the interesting little facts, the clothing, the food, the weapons & more. Each on a new post.
Obviously not all books or tours will cover these points, just mix it up & give me something new each time. It does not need to be volumes.
Great advice Mary. It is nice when each post on a blog tour deepens your understanding of the book or the characters or the background, setting, historical details, etc of the book. I find that it usually takes me hearing about something several times before I am ready to buy…and sometimes it is a matter of hearing enough things that intrigue me so that I finally do buy.
It’s nice to be entertained by a blog post…nice to be educated… I don’t think every post has to do both things. But it is nice when the experience for the reader grows from day to day of the blog tour.
It is great to advertise the blog but some go overboard with that as well. I think that a blog hop should be a decent amount of stops when you have over a hundred participating it gets to be much. It also helps if the author or whomever posts acknowledges the reply’s/remarks left on the post. I have been to a few where you wonder if your remark was even read.
I had one that I posted at that was an interview with a cover model. The cover model didn’t answer my question and when I made an offhanded remark about it the person who owns the blog told the model he missed my question,he went in and answered it but very snidely and stated that he already pretty much answered my question in a response to another readers question. I thought that was rude and as they saw you only get one chance to make a good first impression. The owner kept going on about what a wonderful person this cover model was but in my opinion he was a jerk to put it mildly.
There are so many different posts from interviews with the authors,cover models,characters etc. You can find a wide variety of them. I just saw one that did a take on speed dating/20 questions with the hero of the books.
You don’t always have to give away prizes either just communicate with the readers or promote your latest book but make it friendly not an advertisement. And making the readers jump through hoops to win something is not fun either I tend to pass on those contests.
My biggest pet peeve is not being able to leave a comment. Some blogs make you sign in with an account like blogger, raffelcopter or something else. I don’t know or carry all my passwords so if I do have an account with them I still cannot post.
Gosh yes, Gabrielle. You hit on one of my big pet peeves with blogs. I HATE having to remember passwords to post a comment…or having to figure out a capacha. I’m never good at discerning what the scrambled letters are…so it usually takes me a couple of tries. By the time I’ve gone through that I’ve spent half the time that I’d planned to use commenting…and I’m frustrated.
I agree. I don’t think every blog post or every blog hop or blog tour needs to have a prize associated with it. If the ONLY reason someone is reading your blog or your blog post is because there is a prize that’s not a very engaged audience. I like to do a lot of prizes here because it is fun to give things away…it’s fun to get the emails from people when they win…especially those who are REALLY happy about winning. But there are times when it feels like the contests on some blog hops/blog tours are more in the nature of a bribe…and that sort of feels icky to me.
Some points I’d make for authors, if considering paying someone else to arrange these, is to check the service you get first.
One. I’ve seen tours where some of the blogs don’t post on time, or at all. Bad, especially if you’ve advertised your post.
Two. I’ve seen blogs that host so many posts that in one day your post has been buried under three others.
Three. I’ve also seen blogs host books that are clearly not in the realm of what the blog’s subscribers like. eg if you write BDSM stories and go onto a blog that loves to rave about and review sweet romances, you’ve wasted your money.
So it’s partly the author’s job to support the post and go comment etc, but the blog tour also has to be set up correctly in the first place.
I agree with you Cari. There is a lot that the services that set up blog tours do that makes blog touring easier for the author…but then if you’re getting someone else to set up the tour you don’t have the contact with the blog owner that you might want to have and to a large extent you are trusting that entity or the set-up they have for blog hosts to work to filter out the hosts so that you are being hosted on appropriate blogs.
We host a lot of authors through Goddess Fish and in some ways they make hosting really easy for me as a blogger. I can go to their site, see which authors are hosting tours through them and email Goddess Fish which authors and which dates I want to host. I send them a few topics for each guest author to choose from and then they gather the information from the author and forward it to me in time for the post…usually at least a couple of weeks ahead. It makes the whole hosting thing very easy from my end. I LIKE easy.
As an author who has done the blog tour things there are some things that are a bit discouraging. I agree with your assessment on those. One that I found discouraging was the blogs on which no one commented…not the blog owner…not the blog readers.
Here there are times when everyone is pretty talkative and times when they are pretty quiet. But when people are being quiet I try to pop in and comment and engage the author in conversation. I do that because there are a lot of people reading the posts and comments that are not posting comments. Me asking follow up questions gives the author a chance to talk…to share who they are and what they write and what turns them on about what they write. It’s hard for an author to share that in a way that doesn’t feel spammy if no one is talking to them.
As a blog that hosts a lot of guest authors there are a couple of pieces of advice that I could give right off the top of my head.
1.) Stop by the blog where you are going to guest a day or two ahead of the day you’re guesting. Leave a comment on that blog. This gives the blogger a chance to approve your first comment which will smooth things on the day of your guest appearance. Many blogs are set up so that your first comment has to be approved. After the first one is approved all the others go through without needing to be approved. This makes things easier for the blogger who may have a day job or who may be unavailable to check for comments throughout the day.
2.) Promote your stop. Let your friends, family, readers, and followers know you are guest blogging. The more of your fans you bring to the blog the more likely it is that some of your readers and followers will contribute to the blog in a way that makes another reader interested in your work.
3.) ENGAGE with the readers. I’ve seen a number of authors on various blogs who post their guest blog post and then never drop in to respond to the comments left by the readers of the blog. This is rude.
4.) Make your guest post more than an advertising spiel for your book. Share something interesting…that would be interesting for the reader even if you DIDN’T have a book to sell.
Okay…I guess I got carried away a little. I thought I only had a couple of pieces of advice…but a couple more spewed out. What about it readers? Do you have more pieces of advice for authors doing blog tours?