Take Your Book on Tour

Take Your Book on Tour from the Comfort of Your Couch

Brought to you from the BookSurge monthly "Surge Newsletter" for self-published authors

A traditional book tour is an excellent way to connect with readers on an individual level, but often, the costs and time required to take a physical tour are prohibitive to self-published authors. In today's markets where information is traded quickly and cheaply via the internet, a virtual book tour can be completed at little to no cost from the comfort of your couch! On a virtual book tour, an author gives an interview or guest writes for a blog with the assistance of the blog's owner. Take the opportunity to show old and new readers how your book came to life and simultaneously create sales opportunities. If you're ready to take your book on a tour of the information superhighway, here are just a few tips for getting started.

Target blogs that are appropriate to your work. When choosing potential stops for your tour, there are several criteria to consider that will have an effect on the sales opportunities for your book. The subject and nature of a blog will have the biggest influence on how well your book's visit is received. Consider how your book will fit into the content of a blog by reading through any existing posts. Is there a need to promote a cookbook on a political website? Additionally, you should consider the amount of traffic that a particular blog gets daily or weekly. How did you find this blog? Do others find it quickly and easily?

Be direct in your request to a blog owner. Approach blog hosts with a personal email that details your intentions, explains why you believe you and your book are a good fit for their site, and an excerpt from the book you plan to promote. Many bloggers are happy to share the burden of writing and expose readers to new works that relate their interests, but it is up to you to establish and follow through with the connection.

Use all of your networks to promote the tour. Once you have established dates and locations that you will be appearing with your book, it's time to promote your tour. Use your website, personal blog, friends and family to share your news. Consider encouraging participation by giving away promotional items like autographs, bookmarks or downloadable book excerpts to readers who participate in your tour by commenting on your interviews or provide personal information for your contact list.

Think before you blog. If you appear on a blog as an interviewee, be sure to be open to any questions you may be asked and be articulate in the answers you give. The purpose of doing the tour is to provide readers with deeper insight into your book or creative process, so share insights that will be memorable to the blog's following. If you guest-write a blog post for your host, balance your creative efforts between promoting your book and discussing issues relevant to the subject of either the book or the blog.

Happy touring!