As those who’ve been reading the blog for a while know, we’ve participated in blog hops in the past. Personally I enjoy them. It’s fun to see new people here and it’s fun to read their comments. It’s lovely when those who stop by on a blog hop become regular readers.
Because the blog hops we’ve done in the past have been fun I signed us up to participate in three more that will be taking place throughout the fall. Since we’ve jumped onto the bandwagon of blog hops I thought I’d ask those of you who read this blog, what is it that attracts you to a blog hop? Do you usually visit every site on a hop or do you hop around a bit only visiting a few sites? What factors influence which blogs you hop to?
One thing I noticed about the blog hops I signed up for was that they seem to have a loose theme associated with them. For example, THE ALPHA MALE BLOG HOP October 19-22 is focused on alpha males. Do you like blog hops where all the bloggers focus on a specific topic for the hop or do you prefer blog hops where topics are varied and everything goes? What have been some of the more fun blog hops you’ve participated in?
When you visit a blog on a blog hop, what kinds of posts do you like to see? Have you done blog hops for things other than books?
When you visit a new blog on a hop do you usually read just the post on the landing page or do you poke around a bit on the blog? What elements on a blog would make it likely you’d return to the blog again after the blog hop?
Most blog hops have prizes to be won at each stop. What kind of prizes do you like to see offered? Which prizes guarantee you’ll stop at a specific blog on a tour?
Me…when I take part in a blog hop I usually don’t visit anywhere near all the sites because I tend to get drawn in by the first few blogs I visit and I tend to poke around a lot in those blogs. The result is that I don’t get to those further down the list.
One of the more fun blog hops that I did was a blog hop where each blog gave away a pattern for a quilt block with a spring theme. That was a lot of fun as it was a bit of a treasure hunt with each blog having a free pattern that was the “goodie”. In spite of getting drawn into the blogs quite a bit, I still managed to collect a fair number of spring themed quilt block patterns which I will someday use in a quilt.
I sometimes poke around the blog. It just depends on what’s in the hop post. I think it’s kind of pointless when bloggers just write a generic post and don’t use the hop as an opportunity to advertise for their blog. Smart bloggers include their latest blog posts or a list of their favorite books. If I see that we have similar taste in books, then I will always poke around a bit.
More than likely it is either a prize or an author that I already like that will draw me into a blog. New authors and books is a plus. I just did a blog hop this weekend that dealt with the beach and stories that revolved around it. Each author had a story or book that involved the beach.
I’m trying to get away from the typical ‘blog hop’ mainly because of the huge number of blogs signed up for it. They can number over 200 sometimes. It’s a major time suck and I can think of more fun things to do with my time. At one point, I did follow many of these hops and my main point in visiting each blog was to check out the prize they offered (GC vs Book). So many of the participants use Rafflecopter and most have so many hoops to jump through to enter…do I want to only use 1 entry or do I want to compete with the masses and get the 85 other entries? I have to like everyone on FB and open a Twitter Acct. to follow them there. IMHO, it’s a big PITA!
I actually prefer Virtual Book Tours sponsored by a promo company with the author visiting several blogs, one per day for anywhere from 1-4 weeks. Most offer GC (Amazon is my favorite) or a copy of their book(s). I can choose the authors I want to follow based on the book they are promoting. If it sounds like something I would like, I’ll follow.
I forgot to mention that the lead time to sign up to participate in hop to when it actually begins can cause a bit of a memory problem for some of the blog owners. They tend to forget they signed up and don’t post the contest. Just one more pet peeve of mine about blog hops. OK, I’ve said enough…I’ll give the floor to someone else! LOL
Thanks for your comments Karen. I definitely agree with you about the contests with all the hoops to jump through. I don’t think I’ve ever entered one of the ones that requires commenting on the blog + liking on Facebook + tweeting. Any one of the three I would probably do anyway.
We’ll certainly continue to do the guest blog tours here. I like those a lot. For one thing, they are a lot more focused. One can actually learn quite a bit about an author and his or her books from following a blog tour that follows that one author through several stops.
I never do the hops that require visiting a big number of blogs to enter a prize. My time is pretty limited, and like you, even if it wasn’t there are a lot of other things I would probably prefer to do instead.
What I do like about blog hops is not so much the contests but just learning about new blogs. If a blog has content I like I’ll follow it.
Simple as that. For me blog hops are a way to hop along and discover new blogs I’ve maybe not visited before. To me that is fun regardless of whether there is a contest. Thus far I’ve never won a contest during a blog hop.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. It’s always good to hear what other people think as it’s possible to feel one way about a topic and mistakenly believe that everyone else shares the same thoughts and feelings about it. That’s not always the case.
I don’t follow a lot of blogs, only if there are good books listed as prizes.
The problem is noone lists the prize they are offering in the list of participants. One needs to click on each link to find out what the prize is and if you want to enter for it.
That’s how they get you to visit the blog.
What makes a “good” book Wilma? Or do you decide whether a book is a “good” one when you are reading the post and the blurb and excerpt for the book?
For me there are favorite authors. I’ll pretty much read anything those authors write because I trust them not to disappoint. For new to me authors it comes down to the blurb and the excerpt. Sometimes the blurb will sell it. Other times the blurb sounds kind of so-so but the excerpt sells it. This happened just the other day when I ended up buying a book I wouldn’t have touched from the blurb alone. But the excerpt was fun and funny…and made me laugh. It made me trust the author enough to give her a chance.
When do you decide what is a “good” book worth entering a contest for?
I approach blog hops differently. I am signed up to X number of blogs by email & only enter for those. Mostly because I know that the majority of those I am signed up for will be for International entries. These blogs are favorites of mine, so yes I do have a poke around.
Books & GC are always welcome.
I expect it is difficult to find the contests which will ship prizes internationally. I see a lot of contests that specify US or Canada winners only. We’ve never done that with our contests. Ours are always open to international winners. There have been times when the cost of shipping the prize was more than the cost of the prize, but that’s part of the deal.
I expect the difficulty of shipping prizes internationally is one of the reasons a lot of authors like to offer gift cards. Those are sort of one size fits all…and are easy to ship.
Nowadays Amazon is international so a gift card from there can be an easy way to do an international prize.
How many blogs do you follow? I use Google Reader and I follow a scary number. Not sure how many…but what I do like is that I can arrange the blogs in order from my most favorite to least favorite. When I go to Google Reader the blogs are arranged in that order with blogs with new posts showing. That way I am always up to date with my most favorite blogs as they are at the top of the list.
I try to keep as much out of email as I can because I already get so much email. The reader allows me to section out blog reading so that it is there when I want to read it but isn’t clogging up the works when I am busy with other things.
I don’t know how many blogs I follow, but I sign up to receive the emails. My preferred way.
I can understand some giveaways not being International. My problem is those that don’t specify. Let me know up front if I am wasting my time or not.
Yes, that would definitely bother me. To play the game and then not to be awarded the prize at the end because I lived the wrong place on the globe would bother me.
I enjoy blog hops. Love the prizes. During the hop I generally post and move on but many have a contest and you must follow the blog to enter so I am able to come back and enjoy the blog at a later time. If there are to many blogs to visit I most likely will end up only visiting the first few, It is always fun to see themed hops and always enjoy the eye candy ones but being so busy I do not have time to visit many blogs in one hop and leave comments on everyone’s blog. It also does start to get repetitive at times when there are so many blogs and /or one author doing the hop.
I like blog hops too…more for the exposure to new blogs…some of which become my faves. As mentioned above, I use Google Reader for subscribing to blogs. I love it, especially during blog hops because I can subscribe to blogs on the fly and come back to them later when I have more time. Usually at the same time I move the blog into the relative hierarchy of my favorites…so that it is roughly in the order of how interested I am in the content.
You mentioned themed hops. What are some of the themes you’ve enjoyed? I signed up to participate in one with a focus on pets. I think it will be fun. The hop spans several days and I thought I’d probably change the post each day during the blog so that there is a different pet related post each day of the tour.
I can see a Christmas themed hop being fun as well. One could do a hop featuring cookie recipes…or holiday treats or quick and easy holiday decorating…or anything like that. Themes are fun…
Though it probably feels repetitive to you leaving comments on so many blogs, especially when it is one author’s blog hop or tour, but comments are the life blood of blogs really. It’s the comments that make blogging worthwhile for the person doing the blogging. Without comments it feels very much like you are talking to yourself even if you know hundreds or even thousands of people have visited the blog. I know it feels the same for authors when they guest blog and no one leaves comments…or few people do. If you can leave a question for the author, the blogger, or the readers in general that seems to be pretty positive as it starts another round of conversation. Know that your comments are appreciated…at this blog…and I’m sure at all the others as well.
I agree that even if it is repetitive leaving a comment does help. I even received a special thank you gift from following and commenting on every stop of a blog.
As for themes there are so many. I always enjoy the ones that give the author a picture and they must write a short story around it. That is fun seeing each others take on a picture. Those are usually done on holidays like Valentines or New years. A picture of a couple kissing or such and then the authors comes up with the story. Of course ones that share Eye candy are fun as well. There were ones that had cowboys, men in uniform, etc. I just participated in a special genre hop. those are always a great way to find new authors or books to read. I always end up with a long tbr list after those.
I’ve not seen blog hops where the authors write stories around a picture, but that sounds like a lot of fun.
Yes, I would expect genre hops to net some good new authors for readers of the genre.
Are new authors to check out what you are mostly looking for in the blog hops you participate in?
I mostly do book hops and I like it when I win an actual book or ebook instead of just a gift card.
I agree that the comments can get really repetitive, which is why I also like when the blog asks unique questions. Example, give me a quote from you current book.
The repetitive comments can also be kind of funny. Like when the hop clearly states that it is for YA books only and like 50% of the comments are people asking for a copy of 50 Shades of Grey. That always makes me giggle.