Posts
Say Hello to DENISE COVEY!
Denise C Covey is a native Queenslander from Australia’s Sunshine
Coast,
but her travel bag is always ready for that next overseas trip.
When she’s not working as an educator, she travels.
Her novella, Under
the Tuscan Moon was inspired by adventures in Tuscany,
with its medieval
villas,
its hill towns bordered by gates and parapets,
its noble past
and its magical forests.
Imagining those forests during medieval times
saw the birth of her vampire series.
My next stop on my DON'T BUY MY BOOK! Blog Tour
is on her wonderful blog
where we speak of poetry and lies.
Have you wondered if Blog Tours
are things that have become passe?
A good blog tour is a fine way to build your brand
and establish some credentials with your target audience.
If you can get on blogs and websites that actual READERS follow,
then it is a great way of overcoming the "unknown author" problem.
Blog tours generally don't equate to a huge uptick in immediate sales.
Rather, they raise awareness of you and your brand with the audience.
Someone may not be looking to buy your book that very second,
but the next time they go to buy a book they will be more likely to think of you.
THERE IS NO MAGIC PATH TO SUCCESS
All we can do is knock on as many doors as possible. Blog Tours are an excellent way to do that.
But each post must be different, must be entertaining,
and must be aligned with the theme and motif of the blog you are visiting.
There must be some worthwhile reward for each visitor to each post.
Take my own DON'T BUY MY BOOK! Blog Tour ...
From the comments on each of my visits, my computerized name selector will draw two names
And I will give TWO DIFFERENT MYSTERY PRIZES to those winners.
Each set of prizes will be different and customized to the blog I am visiting.
Take my post for Alex Cavanaugh on the 10th ...
One of the mystery prizes will be the audio book of his CASSASTORM!
You ask what the TWO MYSTERY PRIZES for my post on Denise's blog will be?
http://dencovey.blogspot.com/
http://dencovey.blogspot.com/
Hey, that's why I call them MYSTERY PRIZES!!
Hi Roland - please thank your computerised name selector for their choice ... lucky me! That was a lovely surprise yesterday ...
ReplyDeleteI think Blog Tours must be interesting and tell us more - not the same old blurb ... so great that's exactly what you're doing ...
Cheers see you at Denise's ... Hilary
Different -- that's what I go for. Sometimes it even works! :-) I am glad your name was drawn.
DeleteBlog tours are still effective. People need to see your product an average of 7 times before they buy, and a blog tour will do just that.
ReplyDeleteI am crossing my fingers that those statistics hold! :-) So happy my program drew your name yesterday!
DeleteI don't think they are losing steam, just changing with the times.
ReplyDeleteAs must we all, right? :-)
DeleteIt's interesting to read what Diane's said about blog tours. I've been avoiding it but maybe I should just bite the bullet? Been great visiting you in different places, Roland. You've been beaming around the blogosphere all day. I bet you're exhausted :) Happy Birthday!!! have a great day and I hope your tour results in many sales. Take care.
ReplyDeleteCross your fingers about those many sales! So far it has not looked promising.
DeleteThanks for visiting Elizabeth's blog where I guested Monday. Her visits have dropped because of me, and I feel lousy about that. :-(
Everyone out there: visit her blog if you would so I don't cause her numbers to tumble:
http://elizabethspanncraig.com/4894/writing-we-can-do-more-than-we-think/
Blog tours take time, but are enjoyable, because I get to learn about an author. Take yourself. I'm not sure I would have started reading your books without *winning* the first one! Now I think I pretty much hooked. I will, over time, probably buy each of them.
ReplyDeleteSam just doffed his Stetson to you at that last sentence! The ghost of Mark Twain, of course, is taking all the credit. :-)
DeleteOh, I am looking forward to hosting your own tour Friday and thank you for allowing me to guest on your blog the same day! :-)
DeleteI think they are losing a bit of steam. Not as many readers/visitors are going to them, and it's been a little harder to get on some blogs than it once was, but I do believe in the power of a blog tour. I'm doing a blogfest to try something new. I think having the hosts of the blogs create something will intrigue their readers more than a post I can create, no matter how unique it is.
ReplyDeleteI am doing that one for you, too. :-)
DeleteThanks for having me on your own blog the 11th of November, by the way.
I feel the same way about tours which is why I try to have a catchy name for mine and make each one tailored to the theme and mood of the blog I am visiting.
High sales to you!
Blogfests work terribly for me. Or at least the one I did. As my mother told me about being an only child: "I learn from my mistakes!"
I think there are lots of ways to promote one's work and the more avenues you pursue, the better off you will be. Blog tours help if you get to new audiences.
ReplyDeleteCome at a problem from as many angles as we can I guess. :-)
DeleteI think a warm welcome and an opened hand come across better than a gimmicky gesture. Authors should keep this in mind as well. :-)
ReplyDeleteAnna from elements of emaginette
Gimmicks can work if there is heart and humor beneath their surface. :-)
DeleteVisibility is important, and that's one benefit of blog tours, but I suspect we are reaching max fill on this promotion method. Good luck on the blog tour, Roland!
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to find another angle to pursue in our quest for visibility and sales. Thanks for commenting. :-)
DeleteI've always believed blog tours serve a purpose, but I’ve never bought into the idea they sell books. Tours can enhance brand and name recognition, but that depends on whether the author visits the same blogs over and over, or whether s/he reaches out to new blogs to reach a wider audience.
ReplyDeleteVR Barkowski
New blogs that will take our blog tours are getting harder to find! Ouch!!
DeleteI think the "getting on blogs my readers actually follow" is where I'm missing out. Generally speaking I'm WAY out of my target audience. :-P
ReplyDeleteIWSG October
I'm usually way out of my league, too!! Thanks for visiting, C.D.
DeleteBlog tours aren't what they used to be, but can still be helpful. Happy writing and touring!
ReplyDeleteI believe it is a case of too many too often. We get shell-shocked by the assault of them, don't we?
DeleteHi, Roland,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on another book and tour.... Tours can be fun as long as you keep them interesting. They can get boring if the hosts just posts the book and blurbs...
ALL THE BEST!!!!!
I've often wondered if blog tours do any good. Often, people do these tours within the same community of bloggers so the same people are exposed to the tour again and again.
ReplyDeleteUnless the posts are really interesting, I admit I tend to gloss over them. I especially gloss over self-promotional stuff, but if a post is actually targeted to a blog's readers and intriguing, it could work.