The simplest description for my idea of a virtual blog tour is: a cyber “tour” which includes various blogs, websites, radio shows, newsletters, etc. The more effective sites usually contain themes or content from the book that is being promoted. This “tour” gives authors the chance to reach many people as they travel the World Wide Web.
A tour includes a series of appearances with blogs, website interviews, reviews or guest posts, etc. that are posted on various sites during a specific amount of time. Various site owners host you and may ask interview questions about your book or request that you write a piece about a specific part or element of your book.
Benefits of a Virtual Blog Tour
Why would you do a virtual tour? Is it all about book sales? Selling books is only one of the reasons I encourage people to do virtual tours. The following reasons apply to fiction and non-fiction authors—however, some can be utilized more thoroughly by non-fiction and business authors.
* Build credibility
* Increase visibility
* Generate a buzz about your book
* Reach your target audience
* Get information to many people in a short period of time
* Generate additional links back to your site
* Let readers and potential readers learn more about you and your books
* Help blog readers get to know the person behind the book or other product
* Search engines love blogs and you get into search engines immediately
* Gives your target audience the opportunity to communicate with you
* Comments can give you the chance to see what people think about your topics
You can organize a tour for yourself or you can hire a professional. But, ask what the professional can do for you. There are many ways to describe a virtual tour, so be sure the other person explains what they plan to do—and more importantly, that they plan the best approach for you and your book. When a professional coordinates your tour it lets you benefit from their promotional network to generate a much larger reach for you.
Guest blogger: Nikki Leigh is an award winning fiction and non-fiction author with over sixteen years of promotional experience. Her new book will be available in May: Book Promo 201: Harness the Power of the Internet with Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing. For more tips:
www.e-junkie.com/pamperry www.twitter.com/pamperry
Posted By: Pam Perry
Tuesday, May 5th 2009 at 8:03PM
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