We had an opportunity to do a Google Hangouts interview with Barb Drozdowich. Barb runs a book review website called Sugarbeatsbooks.com. She is also the author of a new book titled Book Blog Tours: An Essential Marketing Tool for Authors.
Key Issues Discussed on this Call:
- What is a blog tour and why should an author consider them?
- What are some of the reasons as to why bloggers talk about books on their sites?
- What kind of traffic do these bloggers normally get?
- Who are the people who normally visit these blogs?
- Do the bloggers get paid for featuring a book?
- What are some best practices for authors to use when they go on a blog tour?
- How much does it typically cost for an author to go on a blog tour?
- How much time does the author need to invest when they go on a tour?
- What kind of results can an author expect through a blog tour?
- A book blog tour helps you reach an audience that you can’t reach in person.
- Bloggers host books because they love books and care enough to share a book that they like with the world.
- Relevance of the blogger’s genre is more important than hard traffic numbers.
- Be clear about what you want to achieve with the blog tour. Most authors focus on sales. But that is the last piece of the puzzle.
- The goal of a book blog tour is to make friends, network with readers and build relationships for the long term. It’s a chance to get your name and book cover in front of a new audience some of whom may be living in other countries. The goal is not to sell books but to make people aware about you.
