How to set up a blog tour

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I've been asked about my Blog Tour twice in two days: How did it go? Who organized it (and how)? Who pays? So I thought I'd post about it here.

First of all, I'd say it went really, really well. A Blog Tour gets your book a lot of visibility and reviews.

I've never heard of a publisher organizing one, but it's possible. I've only heard of authors organizing a Blog Tour, and paying for the lion's share of it. There are Internet sites that will do this — TLC Book Tours (http://tlcbooktours.com/) is one — or you can do it yourself, or hire an assistant or publicist to help set it up. I hired an assistant — my "VA", or Virtual Assistant — but it was a lot of work, even then. My costs were low, under $500 for an extensive tour, but I think $2000 is more in range. (I'm no expert on this.)

The process, in a nutshell, is to contact suitable blogs, and ask if they would be interested in being part of the tour. If so, a book (or two) is sent to them: to give away in a lottery, review, and/or invite you to write a guest post or interview you. A schedule is made up, so — say — over the course of a month, the book is being featured two or three times a week.

The first thing to do is to make up a list of possible blogs. This takes a little research. My VA and I Google-searched for book blogs, and, in particular, looked for blogs that favored historical fiction. You need to look for "high-traffic" blogs, blogs that have a number of followers. I looked over the blogs other authors have included on their blog tours (just as others will do for my own). We found a wonderful Book Blogger group on ning.com (http://bookblogs.ning.com/) with a sub-group of bloggers devoted to historical fiction: bonanza!

Then the bloggers are approached, and if they are keen arrangements are made for a date and an understanding of what, exactly, will be done. Books need to be sent to them well in advance: my U.S. publisher took care of this, which was great. My VA took care of all the correspondence and scheduling.

My own feeling is that a review should be required (and ideally, as well, that the review be posted not only on the blog but on Amazon.com, other book sites and a link posted to social networking sites such as Twitter, etc.).

Book give-aways are also great: they create so much interest.

The interviews and guest posts entail a lot of writing, however, and of the two, interviews are less time-consuming (in my opinion). My feeling, at the time, was that a Blog Tour was every bit as consuming as a Book Tour coast-to-coast, but that's likely an exaggeration.

And then it's simply a matter of keeping on top of it: sending in your posts and/or interview answers on time, and then sending out follow-up thank-you letters. Book bloggers are amazing: they work hard for free, and deserve lots of applause.

If you Google "blog tour" you will find lots of guides.

For my tour, go to the Events page on my website and scroll down to "April/May Blog Tour links":

http://sandragulland-events.blogspot.com/

First blog tour reviews

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I "met" Margaret Donsbach on LibraryThing.com, where she is host of the group Books Compared. I was struck by the depth and intelligence of her posts. A passionate reader of historical fiction (as well as a writer), she'd launched a wonderful website Historical Novels Info, where, I'm pleased to report, she has just reviewed Mistress of the Sun. I love this:

"Mistress of the Sun portrays both the brittle, artificial pleasures of the Sun King's extravagant court and the human—indeed, animal—nature of those who lived there. Diamonds turn out to be paste; lakes that glitter magnificently under fireworks prove to be choked with algae by day; friends become betrayers."

If you love historical fiction, be sure to check out Historical Novels. The depth and breath of Margaret's listings is amazing. Here, alone, is the listing for novels set in 17th century Europe: I learned a lot.

As I was posting this blog, another review was posted, this one to Scandalous Women: "I found it hard to put Mistress of the Sun down." Just what I love to hear.


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Link to Historical Novels Info: http://www.historicalnovels.info
Link to Scandalous Women review: http://tinyurl.com/cn5q3g
Link to my Blog Tour details: http://tinyurl.com/cbk662
Link to my blog (and website): http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Link to my newsletter sign-up: http://sandragulland.com/contacts/index.html

Blog tour!

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I've been writing like crazy for my Blog Tour. Here are the guest blogs I've written so far:

• April 7 -- Historical Tapestry: http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.com/ Guest post: "Why I love unhappy endings."
  
• April 10 -- Reading Group Guides: http://www.readinggroupguides.com/content/index.asp Guest post: "How a bookclub changed me as a writer."
  
• April 15 -- Reading the Past: http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/ Guest post: "What to leave in . . . and what to leave out: crafting a story from history."
• April 16 -- Marta's Meanderings: http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com Review, giveaway, guest post: "The ups and downs of historical research."
• April 17 -- Travels of the Bookworm: http://travelsofthebookworm.blogspot.com/ Giveaway, guest post: "Viewing history through a kaleidoscope."
  
• April 21 -- Devourer of Books: http://www.devourerofbooks.com/ Guest post: "The Dangers of Armchair Time-travel: how to safely explore the world of the past."
  
• April 23 and 24: Peeking Between the Pages: http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com Review and guest post: "Peeking between the Pages . . . and into the Past" (how I came to be a historical novelist).
  
• April 29 -- Booking Mama: http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/ Review, giveaway and guest post:"Mothering as Key to Character"

Plus several Q&As. See my website Events page for details:
http://sandragulland-events.blogspot.com/

More to come!

P.S. I've neglected to report (how could I?!) that my agent loved the outline for The Next Novel.

Tragedy and coiffed horses

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My son Chet, who lives in The Net, sends me links that I invariably find either amusing or enlightening. Yesterday's was tremendously amusing, and for my horsey readers, truly, you must check out this article on coiffed horses. [http://tinyurl.com/cy9yb7]

Today's link was "A Woman's Work" — a New York Times interview with Joyce Carol Oates that's well worth reading. [http://tinyurl.com/dcqbvs]

A sample:

Why do you find violence so alluring as a literary subject?

If you’re going to spend the next year of your life writing, you would probably rather write “Moby Dick” than a little household mystery with cat detectives. I consider tragedy the highest form of art.

Which really makes me suspect that my own work falls somewhere between coiffed horses and tragedy. (See my first Guest Blog on the Blog Tour: "Why I love unhappy endings.")

Perhaps, to the horses, the tragedy is being coiffed, but frankly, I think they're finding it greatly amusing.


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Link to "Why I love unhappy endings": http://tinyurl.com/ceau43
Link to Blog Tour details: http://tinyurl.com/cbk662
Link to my blog (and website): http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/
Link to my newsletter sign-up: http://sandragulland.com/contacts/index.html

MISTRESS OF THE SUN Blog Tour!

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(Check here for more details.)

• April 7 -- Historical Tapestry: http://historicaltapestry.blogspot.com/ Guest post: "Why I love unhappy endings."
  
• April 10 -- Reading Group Guides: http://www.readinggroupguides.com/content/index.asp Guest post: "How a bookclub changed me as a writer."
  
• April 14 -- Scandalous Woman http://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/ Review.
  
• April 15 -- Reading the Past: http://readingthepast.blogspot.com/ Guest post: "What to leave in . . . and what to leave out: crafting a story from history."
• April 16 -- Marta's Meanderings: http://martasmeanderings.blogspot.com Review, giveaway, guest post: "The ups and downs of historical research."
• April 17 -- Travels of the Bookworm: http://travelsofthebookworm.blogspot.com/ Giveaway, guest post: "Viewing history through a kaleidoscope." Hosting the giveaway right now!
• April 20 -- Historical Novels: http://historicalnovels.info Q&A
  
• April 21 -- Devourer of Books: http://www.devourerofbooks.com/ Guest post.
  
• April 23 and 24: Peeking Beteen the Pages: http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspot.com Review and guest post.
  
• April 24 -- Epicrat: http://epicrat.blogspot.com Q&A
  
• April 29 -- Planet Books: http://planetbooks.wordpress.com/ Q&A
  
• April 29 -- Booking Mama: http://bookingmama.blogspot.com/ Review, giveaway and guest post.
  
• May 1 -- The Tome Traveller: http://thetometraveller.blogspot.com Review and giveaway.
  
• May 1 -- Racous Royals: http://blog.racousroyals.com Review and guest post.
  
• May 4 -- Shhh! I'm Reading: http://shhhimreading.blogspot.com/ Review and guest post.
  
• May 5 -- My Friend Amy: http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/ Review and guest post.
  
• May 7 -- Enchanted by Josephine: http://enchantedbyjosephine.blogspot.com Review, giveaway and guest post.
  
• May 8 -- Skrisha's Books: http://www.skrishnasbooks.com Review.
  
• May 14 -- Linus' Blanket: http://linussblanket.com Review and giveaway.
• May 15 -- Kris Waldherr http://kriswaldherr.com/blog Review, Q&A and giveaway
  
• May 20 -- Books Love Jessica Marie: http://bookslovejessicamarie.blogspot.com Review and giveaway