You may remember a little while ago I posted about my colleague, Glenda Watson-Hyatt’s, virtual book tour. This was a great way for her to promote her new book and reached a wide audience.
I recently followed up with Glenda to see how her book tour had gone, and what the results were.Â
1. How did the book tour go?
The 40 Blogs in 40 (Business) Days virtual book tour promoting http://www.doitmyselfblog.com/ill-do-it-myself-the-book/”>my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself was quite an adventure! There were times I didn’t know where I was headed to next, which added to the excitement. The feedback and support was great. People are still finding my blog from that tour a few months ago.
2. If you were to do it again what would you do differently? Why?
I would definitely do another virtual book tour; in fact, another one is in the works. Details will be announced very shortly. However, I probably wouldn’t do another eight-week tour; not without an assistant. There is much involved in finding bloggers to host appearances and much behind-the-scenes work, in addition to dealing with the interview questions, which made for many late nights. Eight weeks was too long for my first virtual book tour, but a week or two may have been too short to build momentum.
3. Did doing the book tour directly increase your sales?
In doing my quick research on virtual book tour before “heading out on the road”, I read that the goal of this kind of tour is to increase exposure, not book sales. Knowing this beforehand helped to lessen my disappointment when sales weren’t what I had hoped. There were some sales, but, to be honest, nothing spectacular. Although, the relatively low sales may have been due to my inexperience at conducting publicity interviews, rather than the medium itself. Someone with more experience may have more favourable results in terms of book sales.
4. Do you have any tips for anyone else planning a virtual book tour?
Virtual book tours are the latest trend in promoting your book without needing to leave home. There are new businesses popping up that will plan your virtual tour for you. However, from my experience, it is possible to plan your own. The key is to do your research and prepare before “heading out”:
- Research potential blogs (or podcasts or internet radio shows). Approach bloggers whose blogs fit your target audience and which have fairly active blogs in terms of posts and traffic. It may help to build a relationship with the blogger first.
- Use a spreadsheet to track dates, bloggers’ names and email addresses, etc.
Send a thank you note via snail mail to bloggers who host an appearance. - Be prepared for the unexpected. A blogger may not post the interview when you expected or something else may happen, so you’ll need a filler post on your blog if your readers expect to read something every day of your tour.
- Be creative and have fun with it. Because virtual book tours are still new, there are no rules yet. Make it your own.
- Enjoy the adventure and meeting people from around the world. Good luck!
I am planning to write an ebook sharing my lessons learned and further details on planning your own virtual book tour.
Thanks Glenda!
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