Virtual Book Tours - How Authors Can Travel the World

There is a new wave of online marketing on the rise―virtual book tours (also known as virtual author tours or blog tours). About five years ago, various authors decided to promote their works online at host sites and announce those dates just as they would a bona fide book signing tour. It started off small―one or two appearances on someone else’s website. In fact, virtual book tours (VBTs) have really only taken off in the past year or two.

The concept is simple: the author “tours” various blogs and sites, often ones pertaining to a theme in the book or the host’s theme, or to writing in general. This way, an author can potentially reach thousands of avid readers each tour day from the privacy of his or her office or home.

If you are an author, the goal of marketing is to expose your book to as many people as possible in an exciting, profitable and entertaining way. With a VBT, you can achieve that goal. Each blog or site will feature one or a combination of the following: a book cover, a summary or synopsis, an interview, book review, a post on a relevant subject, a short story, an excerpt, a contest, an audio-cast or a book trailer Video.

The main advantages of doing a VBT are that you get to reach an enormous amount of people, present your book to them, and have the blog or site still working for you when the day is over. In fact, most blogs are archived, so your post will remain in Internet Heaven indefinitely. That is called leverage. You are in essence leveraging your internet presence and duplicating yourself with every VBT stop. And it’s a two-way-street. Hosts will find some great advantages to having guests on their site. After all, webmasters want and need interesting content, and having an author visit their site will give them that plus more traffic.

Another benefit of having a virtual book tour is the affordability. There is usually very little cost involved, and there are many sites and blogs looking for authors to interview or feature. VBT hosts are wonderfully gracious and accommodating, and maintain regular blogs or sites that pertain in some way to your book’s theme or to authors in general. And they won’t charge you a cent. Plus you won’t have the costs involved with traveling (gas, or flight, hotel and meals, if out of town), like you would with a bookstore signing. But there are some sites worth paying for, such as ArtistFirst Radio Network, an online radio network that interviews authors in exchange for a donation of any amount. For an a la carte or membership fee, Author Island is another great host site for authors holding a virtual book tour. You can post a book trailer and excerpt here, and advertise your contests and tour.

Since it’s no good doing a virtual book tour if no one knows about it, advertising your VBT via a press release is a worthwhile investment. One of the leading press release distribution services is 24-7PressRelease.com, where you can pay from $10.00 to $299.00, depending on your distribution requirements. However, I can attest to the fact that a $45.00 release is the minimum you’ll want and its effectiveness is worth it. Press releases can be extremely beneficial if written correctly and distributed extensively to the right audience. And they’re a definite must before a bookstore signing too.

Authors can also publicize their virtual book tour stops and other events on BookTour.com, a site that connects authors to readers by listing author events and making it easy for readers to set up reminders. Like any event, promoting it ahead of time makes a huge difference!

Coordinating a VBT takes time, patience and research. First, the author has to find the blogs and sites that would be appropriate. This means a lot of Googling. Then you have to contact the site owners and let them know what you’re doing and what you need or what you can supply. I always like to point out the benefits to hosts―more traffic, new visitors, fresh content…maybe prizes.

It does take time to organize a VBT―months even, depending on how long it will be. Articles or interviews should be written and emailed back to the host 5-7 days in advance. A schedule of stops with the hosts’ homepage links should be posted on the author’s sites and blogs. I prefer to do this a week at a time. Not only does this give me an extra blog post a week, it adds to the mystery. Where will she go next?

The next three steps are crucial. A reminder should be sent to the host the day before asking them to post your material that night. The following morning, the author should post an intro announcement on all sites or blogs he or she has access to and link it directly to the article’s page on your host site. And here is how you really leverage yourself, go back to your schedule and change the homepage links to the actual archived posts. This way when someone stumbles across your schedule and clicks on the link, they’ll be directed to your post, not your host’s ever-changing homepage.

The only real disadvantage of a VBT is that authors don’t get to meet readers and potential fans face-to-face, the same fans who love getting their books signed. But there are ways to get around this. Authors can offer to mail out free autographed bookplates and bookmarks. Authors could also offer to keep their virtual fans notified of any upcoming appearances and bookstore signings, perhaps even inviting them to sign up for a monthly newsletter. Giving away prizes and making your VBT interactive and enjoyable will keep readers coming back for more. And while relaxing at home, they can “meet” their favorite authors without ever having to get dressed or leave home.

Authors are now starting to comprehend the full potential that a virtual book tour has to offer and how they benefit everyone involved. Instead of signing books at a bookstore for three hours plus driving time and reaching a few hundred people, you have the entire world at your fingertips―or keyboard.

As part of my own virtual book tour, I am giving away free books at some of my VBT stops. To order my bestselling novel Whale Song, please order from Amazon.com this month. If you order on my birthday, August 12th, you may qualify to win one of 44 prize packages. For more info on this special contest, please see 44 Prizes. Also, if you order Whale Song plus two other Kunati titles, you can qualify to enter Kunati’s Great Summer Reads Contest.

Be sure to check my VBT schedule: http://www.whalesongbook.com/virtual-tour-2007.

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Cheryl Kaye Tardif is the author of The River, Divine Intervention and the Amazon.ca bestseller Whale Song. She has appeared on television and radio, and in newspapers and magazines across Canada and the US. She is also the Canadian Author Liaison for Infinity Publishing and will be speaking at their 8th Annual “Express Yourself…”™  Authors’ Conference in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, in September 2007.