Is a Blog Tour Worth It?

Last month I did a blog tour with Pump Up Your Book. This is the sort of thing that you could arrange yourself, contacting book bloggers and asking them for reviews. I was daunted by the time involved and opted to pay for a tour instead. There are different levels of tours that come with different price tags. I chose the $199 version.

Here's How It Works: You provide the tour company (in my case, Pump Up Your Book) with your cover art, first chapter, bio, media links, and maybe a short interview or guest blog. The more expensive, longer tours will require more posts and information. You are then given a tour page and schedule. Here's mine. As you can see, the tour ran from April 7th to 30th with links each day to the site where my work was featured. To get the most out of the tour, each day you see where you are featured and share the link through your various social media outlets.

The Good: 

• Most of the reviews were positive and some of the bloggers go the extra mile to post their reviews on Amazon, not just on their own site. 
• Pump Up Your Book made some phenomenal ad graphics that went out on Twitter during the tour. 
• Internet buzz, meaning increased mentions of my name and book titles, translates to better internet rankings for both my books and my site. 

The Not-So-Good:

• That buzz doesn't necessarily translate to an increase in sales. 
• Some tour stops are identical, meaning on Thursday, a blog features my bio, cover and synopsis. Then on Friday, a different blog features my bio, cover and synopsis. It's hard to promote these stops to followers if you're showing them the same thing you showed them yesterday.
• Some (but not all) of the blogs (ie tour stops) are very amateurish sites which make you question whether you really want them to "feature" you.

So, the big question... was it worth it? Yes. I gained genuine fans along the way, a few critical and insightful reviews, and I'm a firm believer in trying everything (when it comes to marketing) at least once. Will I do it again? Probably not, but PUYB was fun to work with and I'm glad I had the experience.

The Lusty Literate

Sylvie and the Spark is featured today at The Lusty Literate!

Click here to check it out!

Like your words lusty? Follow The Lusty Literate on Twitter HERE

Tomorrow I'll be interviewed on The Book Connection

Sylvie on Strike

Book 3 of The Sylvie Series is now available HERE.

When Sylvie catches Jonathan in a compromising position with one of his sexy students, hell breaks loose. She’s determined to stay firm and stay out of the bedroom until their relationship is sorted out, one way or the other, but the presence of a new coworker threatens both her resolve and her marriage. The hilarious cast of The Sylvie Series returns with mayhem and mischief in the third novella of The Sylvie Series, SYLVIE ON STRIKE. 

But wait! If you haven't read the first two in the series, please check out Sylvie and the Spark first. It's available HERE and perfect if you love mischief and laughter. 

Blog Tour Coming Soon

I’m gearing up for a blog tour. This is a way for indie authors to get the word out about their work. You prey on the generosity of book bloggers, those dedicated readers and reviewers to whom many of us owe our success.

A blog tour involves getting the attention of bloggers to gain greater exposure through their sites. Hopefully, those bloggers specialize in the genre in which you write. A writer or publisher will also offer giveaways during the blog tour. Any writer can set up a blog tour on her own by doing a little research of blogs relevant to her work. You can also hire a company that specializes in this type of PR.

A blog tour for Sylvie and the Spark will take place in March or April. If you have an erotic blog and would like a review copy, please email me at giannadaybooks@gmail.com.

Happy blogging, happy reading. 

Funny, Sexy, and Free

Sylvie and the Spark is a free download right now on Amazon. Here's the link.

This is the first novella in a trilogy. It will make you laugh and turn you on. Now if only it would exercise for you, too, it would be perfect. Download it, read it, and please please please review it. You'll know after the first chapter if it's for you or not. Go on, give it a try.