Over the last two weeks, we’ve discussed what a blog tour is, some of the different types of tour, and the tasks a tour organiser will need to complete.

If you decide to organise your own blog tour, you’ll need to make time to undertake most of the activities a professional organiser would undertake. Today I’m sharing some tips on  how to organise your own blog tour, based on my experiences as a reviewer and tour participant.

Start Researching Early.

The hardest part of organising a blog tour is finding bloggers, especially book reviewers. There is no easy way to do this—it’s going to take a lot of research if you’re starting from nothing. I suggest:

• Identify three to five recent novels in your genre that would appeal to your target reader.
• Check the four-star and five-star Goodreads reviews for those books.
• Check the profile of each reviewer—most bloggers will include their blog address in their Goodreads profile.
• Visit their blog and see if it looks like a good fit for your novel e.g. does it appear the blog features or reviews books in your genre, or does it look likely to appeal to your target reader.

If so, follow the blog (e.g. via WordPress or Feedly). Also, note the blog name, website address, and a link to their guest post or review policy. If they don’t have a policy, then you have nothing to lose by making a polite enquiry through their Contact form.

If one of your objectives is to get book reviews, then make sure that you’re approaching book bloggers who are also active reviewers on your target sites (e.g., Amazon). You can’t require a blogger review your book on Amazon, but you can ask them to review on their blog and on their favourite booklover and retail sites.

Interact with your Target Bloggers.

Bloggers find it easier to say yes to someone they already know and like, so:

• Sign up to follow their blog (e.g. through Feedly or WordPress).
• Visit regularly.
• Comment when relevant.

In particular, if they review a book you’ve enjoyed or that’s similar to your book, comment on that post about how much you also enjoyed the book. Don’t mention your own book at this stage—your objective is to get the blogger (and possibly other blog readers) to recognise your name.

Contact the blogger as early as possible.

Many bloggers plan their editorial calendars several months in advance, especially their review posts. I’ve had to decline to participate in many blog tours because I already had posts scheduled or planned for every day in the blog tour window. I’ve declined others because the author wanted a review and wasn’t prepared to offer an author interview or guest blog post instead.

Yes, I understand that authors want—need—reviews.

I also understand that guest posts and author interviews take time to write, and there is no guarantee of book sales from a blog tour. Even if your objective is to build reviews, a feature on a large blog might still be useful for visibility.

If you’re asking for a review within a specific timeframe, then it’s wise to ask at least three months in advance (the longer, the better). If you’re looking for an interview or guest blog spot, then six weeks might be enough time—but again, the more lead time you can provide the blogger, the more likely they’ll be able to say yes.

[Click here for more information on working with book bloggers and reviewers.]

Consider a ‘Save the Date’ request.

One of the first authors to contact me requesting a review or interview as part of a blog tour sent her first request a full six months before the release date. Her initial email introduced herself, her book, and why she thought my blog was a good match for her novel.

She asked if I’d be prepared to offer an author interview spot, a book review, or both within a certain date range. She also told me the book wasn’t yet ready, and the date she expected to get me a review copy (which was a month before the release date). Giving me six month’s notice made it easy to say yes because I could reserve the slot on my blog, and time in my reading schedule.

As a first-time teenage author, she set a high standard for other authors to follow.

Respect the Blogger’s Time.

If the blogger is only able to offer you a book spotlight post or author interview, then accept gratefully. Don’t resent the fact they wouldn’t review your book (it’s more likely that they couldn’t, especially if they don’t know you, or you asked at the last minute).

Deliver the requested materials before the blogger’s deadline—especially if you’re dealing with bloggers in different time zones. Most bloggers have a set time each week when they upload their posts. If you miss their deadline, you’re putting extra pressure on them to find time in their schedule to upload your post. It also means the post might go up with missing information if you didn’t leave enough time for them to get back to you with any issues.

Respect the Blogger’s Audience.

When your post appears, visit the blog and leave a comment to respond to any comments and thank the blogger for interviewing you, featuring your blog post, or reviewing your book. Visit the blog a couple of times over the next few days to respond to any additional comments.

If you have offered a giveaway, also visit the blogs to thank people for entering, and announce the winner.

Conclusion

Yes, there is a lot involved in organising a blog tour—more than I thought when I started writing what I thought would be a short post! Can you think of any other tips, or anything I’ve missed?

Have you ever run a blog tour as an author, or participated in a blog tour as a blogger? What lessons can you add?

This post is part of the monthly Author ToolBox Blog Hop, organised by Raimey Gallant. We now have over 40 blogs participating. To find more Blog Hop posts:

• Click here to visit the main Blog Hop page
• Click here to find our posts on Twitter
• Click here to find our Pinterest board

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