Monday is Launch Day for my virtual book tour with Sister Hoods, book 4 in my Portals urban fantasy/detective series! Do I sound excited? I am!
This is only my second book tour – ever! – and part of me is still wondering why I've waited so long. I had fun on the first tour, which was arranged by Bewitching Book Tours – the same online tour company that's doing the current one.
There are two ways to set up a virtual book tour. You can do it yourself, which means putting out a call for people who are willing to do interviews, review and post blogs about you and your books. Or … you can hire a company like Bewitching Books, that will make all those arrangements for you. Yes, hiring a company costs money – just like, for example, booking a vacation through a travel agency. But for those of us who are technologically challenged and/or poorly supplied in the “patience” department, it's a great alternative. I contacted Roxanne at Bewitching Books last month, and in a matter of weeks, she had everything pulled together on my behalf – 14 stops over a 14-day period.
Upfront, my tour guide asked for a bio, pix of me and Sister Hoods' book cover, book and buy links, book blurb and excerpts. Once she got tour hosts lined up for me, she sent information on their requests for additional information, and over the last week or so I've been responding with interviews and a couple of blog posts. In other words, mostly all I have to do is answer questions and write – which I love to do anyway! As for the costs, the tour is $85 for two weeks, well worth it to me to avoid the hassle of having to do all the work myself. Put it this way: I pay more than that to the guy who mows my back yard.
And to put it even more in perspective, if I was doing an actual live, on-the-road two-week book tour, I'd pay more than that for the first night in a motel room!
That's another huge positive for me in doing a virtual book tour: My book and I will be seen by a lot more people than I'd get to meet on a live book tour. And all from the comforts of my own little office here at home.
Are you an author contemplating the merits of a virtual book tour? Or a reader who looks to book tours for authors and books? I'd love for you to stop by and share your thoughts.
This is only my second book tour – ever! – and part of me is still wondering why I've waited so long. I had fun on the first tour, which was arranged by Bewitching Book Tours – the same online tour company that's doing the current one.
There are two ways to set up a virtual book tour. You can do it yourself, which means putting out a call for people who are willing to do interviews, review and post blogs about you and your books. Or … you can hire a company like Bewitching Books, that will make all those arrangements for you. Yes, hiring a company costs money – just like, for example, booking a vacation through a travel agency. But for those of us who are technologically challenged and/or poorly supplied in the “patience” department, it's a great alternative. I contacted Roxanne at Bewitching Books last month, and in a matter of weeks, she had everything pulled together on my behalf – 14 stops over a 14-day period.
Upfront, my tour guide asked for a bio, pix of me and Sister Hoods' book cover, book and buy links, book blurb and excerpts. Once she got tour hosts lined up for me, she sent information on their requests for additional information, and over the last week or so I've been responding with interviews and a couple of blog posts. In other words, mostly all I have to do is answer questions and write – which I love to do anyway! As for the costs, the tour is $85 for two weeks, well worth it to me to avoid the hassle of having to do all the work myself. Put it this way: I pay more than that to the guy who mows my back yard.
And to put it even more in perspective, if I was doing an actual live, on-the-road two-week book tour, I'd pay more than that for the first night in a motel room!
That's another huge positive for me in doing a virtual book tour: My book and I will be seen by a lot more people than I'd get to meet on a live book tour. And all from the comforts of my own little office here at home.
Are you an author contemplating the merits of a virtual book tour? Or a reader who looks to book tours for authors and books? I'd love for you to stop by and share your thoughts.
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