Media and blog tours work for author visibility

April 11, 2018 By Kathleen Gage Leave a Comment

One size does not fit all when it comes to an author marketing their book(s). However, there are some tried and true methods that do tend to work better than others.

Regardless of what you do, you have to do something. Avoid the mistake many authors make which is believing they will be the one among a million who will miraculously get discovered.

As an author, your job is to help the process along.

One of the best ways to “get discovered” is to be heard… a lot.

Two of the best ways to be “heard” and gain lots of visibility for you, your book and your expertise is with book blog tours and a virtual media tour.

Book Blog tours

A Virtual Book Blog Tour is much like a traditional book tour, except the stops are all virtual. Instead of going from bookstore to bookstore, the author goes from blog to blog.

1. A virtual blog tour is a tour of various blogs and websites. It is recommended to post on blogs that have a similar readership as those who would be interested in your book.
2. A blog tour is a great opportunity for an author to reach high numbers of potential book buyers and readers.
3. A blog tour contains blog posts, interviews, reviews and/or guest posts that are posted to a series of blogs during a specific period of time.
4. A blog tour can be done live where the author actually visits each blog and answers questions by the host. You can also do a tour where your information is submitted ahead of time in order that you have greater reach without be restricted by the clock.
5. Virtual blog tours are a wonderful alternative to a “live” bookstore tour. There’s no travel involved and costs are minimal.

Media tour

The simplest way to do a media tour is with radio and podcast shows. As an expert and author, one of the best ways to position your message is with interviews. There is ample opportunity to be heard and seen. With traditional radio, television, trade journals and newspapers, there is more than enough choice. Add to the traditional avenues, online means and you will not want for opportunity.

Two outstanding resources for securing interviews are Radio Guest List and HARO (Help a Reporter Out).

Plan the process

To get the most out of your efforts, make sure to have a targeted approach. For example, if your market is within the pet space, don’t spend your time getting on business shows. Unless, of course, your message is about building a pet business.

The more targeted you are, the better. It’s best to approach fewer show host that are extremely targeted, then lots of hosts who could care less about your message

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