How to have a successful blog tour of your book

I host book blog tours on a nearly daily basis on my Readsalot blog. As a blogger, I’m often disappointed in the writers who I’m trying to promote. The vast majority don’t bother to stop by the blog; let alone tweet my post or check out my Facebook post about their book. I’m sorry to disappoint but, if you want your blog tour to be a success, you’re going to have to put more work into it than just hiring a company to handle everything. And success doesn’t mean just selling books. A blog tour is the perfect opportunity to network and make some great connections in the book blogging world. I found almost all of the bloggers on my – admittedly short – list of reviewers during blog tours. I don’t need to remind anyone how important reviews are. Here are the minimum steps a writer should take when touring a book.

1. Visit all the blog stops and make a comment thanking the blogger. This is just common courtesy people. Also, I’m more likely to review a book from an author who has reached out to thank me during a blog tour. I sent out a review request to a blog that hosted my blog tour yesterday and received an immediate yes back. It works!
2. If the blogger has a Facebook page, make sure to stop by the post and like it as well as make some comment. As we all know, Facebook continues to dwindle the number of ‘likers’ who actually see our Facebook posts. I’ve noticed – although I have no empirical proof – that comments and likes increase the likelihood of a post being seen by more people. If you have a Facebook author page, this is also a means for readers to become acquainted with the page.
3. Stop by Twitter and like the post about your book. I don’t re-tweet all tweets of my book during a blog tour as I don’t want all my tweets to be about my book. No one likes a person shouting Look at my book! all day. I do make sure to re-tweet about any reviews because reviews sell books. I make sure to like all tweets and follow each blogger that takes the time to tweet about my book. Do a search for your book name on Twitter as well as many bloggers don’t include the author’s handle in the tweet.
4. Follow on Social Media. I follow each blogger on all social media platforms to increase my networking reach. I’m not on all social media sites, though, and stick to those platforms I actually use. I always make sure to find the blogger on Goodreads. Goodreads is one of the best networking platforms for writers and readers out there. But don’t abuse a blogger’s friendship by constantly sending all your “friends” PR about your book.
5. After the tour is over, I’ll go back to each blog post and check out who liked the post and made a comment. If a like or comment is from a book blogger, I’ll check out the blog to see if it’s a good fit for my book. If it is, I’ll shoot off a review request making sure to mention the original blog post.

You’re probably thinking this is a whole lot of work and you’re not wrong. But let’s face it – every Tom, Dick, and Harry is writing and publishing a book at the moment. How are you going to stand out?

I’d love to hear from writers or bloggers who have additional hints or advice.