In this month's Writing Magazine, I talked about blog tours, and called for a renaissance of the blogosphere of old. The magazine should be with subscribers in the next couple of days, and should be in WHSmith and elsewhere from around the 6th of January.
If you read my column this month, what were your thoughts? Do you have any plans for a blog tour?
Leave me a comment, and if you'd like more help you can email me using the email tab above.
14 comments:
Rebeccaaaaaa! Happy New Year! I hope this coming year doesn't suck. As a matter of fact, I hope it's your best yet. It's about time for a good year, don't ya think?
Woohooo! Charlie's here! Have an AWESOME new year!!
Dear Rebecca,
I read your column in Writing Magazine with great interest, especially since I've only started blogging myself in November. I had enjoyed reading blogs when I left the U.S. about 8 years ago when they were fresh and new, but I moved to rural Ireland and with dial up the only option available found it impossible to continue. I wrote e-newsletters of my adventures to my family and people encouraged me to turn it into a blog, but it was impossible. I could only upload the newsletter when I made the trip to the library and do a mass posting.
Last March broadband became available and I was in heaven. I was able to actively market the novel I wrote as well as the biography I'd been writing for the past 5 years. Both are going to be published next year. So I was thrilled to be able to create a website and start a blog and have enjoyed it immensely. I've also started reading friends' blogs again and blogs of other writers and find it a wonderful way to feel part of a community. I've always enjoyed reading essays and viewpoints and that's what I find so attractive about blogs.
With a historical biography of a Canadian Indian woman to market as well as an historical novel that takes place among the Native Alaskans in the 19th century I would love to be part of your blog tour to share my insights on either trying to write a biography of a Candian woman while renovating a farm house in rural Ireland or how my invovlement in traditional music here in Ireland provided the inspiration for my novel, and many other elements.
Thanks,
Kristin Gleeson www.kristingleeson.com/ telynakris@yahoo.com
Dear Rebecca
I just read your fine article this morning. I'm a freelance advertising copywriter by trade, been writing novels for eight years and just about to have my first one e-published in March (- last year I won a debut novel competition run by e-pubbers, Wink Publishing). As I prepare to bite the self-publicity bullet, I've heard the term "blog tour" bandied about without really knowing what it meant - well I do now!
I tweet (@CCsw19), I'm on Facebook and I'm having my author's website built as we speak. I'm in danger of grinding to a halt after that! To be honest I'm not a great reader of blogs, largely through the inevitable time contraints of life/writing - and now I'm wishing I was! It strikes me that fiction is a harder thing to 'link' to bloggers than non-fic - if your book's about judo/cooking/keeping hens, it's not that hard to find your audience via a bit of Googling...
Can I give you the elevator sell on my novel to see if anythng strikes you? It's called FIVE TO ONE, contemporary lit (ish) fiction and the plot in 30 words goes like this... "Four lives collide when a helicopter crashes on Clapham Common on a sunny Saturday afternoon. It's a day that changes them all forever - and for one of them, it's also their last."
I don't feel there's much of an opportunity for tapping helicopter enthusiasts, seeing as the poor pilot meets a nasty end after five pages... so that aside I've drawn a bit of a blank. I've also just finished my next novel which I'm hoping to find a home/agent for on the back of this one.... So yes, I'd love to be involved in a blog tour; any thoughts, pointers very welcome and gratefully received... In the meantime, good luck with your own projects - I always read your articles with interest.
Best regards
Chris Chalmers
I read your article and have started my own blog teatimeshorties.blogsot.com thankyou very much for the information julie smith
I read your column in WM last night, and Kristin's comment. That's what I love about blogging and the internet in general, it joins us whether ever we are. I'm a Brit living in New Zealand, and marketing my novel set in London at the time of the London bombings. I've looked at other blog tours and wondered how authors set it up, so would love to be part of the tour, and thanks for the article - great stuff.
Dear rebbeca i have started my own blog after reading your article in writing magazine thankyou very much it was very helpful.
Thank you all so much for commenting. I've also received oodles of emails on the subject. I'm working on a big project for Writing Magazine at the mo', so I'll be snowed under until the second week in Feb. I'll grab a giant pot of tea at that point and get back to all the people who comment here or email me.
First time post here. Loved the magazine article on blog tours.
I bought the mag in the morning with the intention of reading it later after working on a novel and my website. As it turns out my website has been... well I don't know what happened to it, but justhost.com who bought my old hosting company, as totaled it.
So I read your article on blog tours and realized I might be a blog nomad now. Thank you for the article. It has given me some hope and ideas after another technological disaster.
Hi Rebecca,
I've just read your article about blog tours on Writing Mag and I totally loved it. It was really interesting. Being a blogger, a reviewer and a blog tours organizer, I wanted to share my opinion on the matter.
I liked the way you described how to approach a blogger and so on, but have you noticed how blog tour services sites are becoming more and more popular these days? There are both free services and paid services and they help authors organize their blog tours, leaving them stress-free and occupied with just guest posts or interviews. Free services or single bloggers are not always the most reliable ones. Authors should be very careful “out there”. Unfortunately not everyone has “nice” intentions and sometimes bloggers only want to get free books.
Not everyone might know this, but organizing a blog tour takes an enormous amount of time, especially if it involves 20/25 blogs. Sometimes, the hosts are not very reliable, sometimes the organizers just don’t have time. I ask for a fee because to me it’s a commitment. It’s a “promise” to deliver the best possible service I can, to be there for the authors from the beginning to the very end of the tour. I might have “lost” potential clients because they couldn’t afford to have a paid tour, but authors can be sure not to be disappointed when they come to me.
I know, it might sound like I’m promoting myself but it’s not. Sometimes doing things by yourself it’s not always the best option.
Thank you very much for writing that article, it was very inspiring and I look forward to reading more.
Franny
I read your article in WM today. I have a blog that's been chugging along for a year or so, gaining a follower here and there. It's very difficult to get it right - I should be targeting readers as I have a novel out, but I seem to be targeting other writers! I have a second novel coming out in April and I must start thinking about beginning a blog tour (as you say in your article, preparing for it well in advance is advisable).
Emails got out of hand, so I came up with a better idea...
http://www.rebeccawoodhead.com/2012/02/mental-note-people-do-stuff.html
Sorry - forgot they don't link. Here you go ... My Cunning Plan!
Thanks Rebecca, your idea is great and no I have not tried a blog tour... I would be interested in learning more though. Thanks for your help :-)
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