Overall, I feel the #YADeepCalling Blog Tour was a success. I am grateful for the space participating bloggers shared. Deep Calling's cover has been viewed by many new eyes, I've gathered more followers in each my social spaces, and managed to catch the attention of BookTube Net Magazine (wohoo, and more on that to come)! All in all, the hard work and tension payed off.
I've had to battle my urge to compare Deep Calling's release to the Wishing Stone and Other Myths'. The Wishing Stone and Other Myths, a Middle Grade, Canadian Historical Fiction, became an Amazon Best Seller its first day, and remained so for months. A year later, it's still in the top twenty. The audience for that novel has been concrete, withstanding. There's a large group of people who have purchased the novel for nostalgic reasons, or because they are interested in its history and setting. I knew Deep Calling, a Young Adult Fantasy, would require a different audience, which is why I felt a virtual tour was necessary. If you already have a specific audience in place, I absolutely recommend a face-to-face tour. Your readers will come to you, and buy books because they are already familiar with you and your work. If not, I highly suggest the virtual route. Blog tours are for gathering new peeps. Don't expect immediate sales, aim for new followers who then may become new readers.
In it's category, Deep Calling jumped to #2 on Kobo upon it's release, and found itself #4 on Amazon. It's sales rate is now rising, but on the bright side, Deep Calling is currently being reviewed by significant YA booktubers. This has been my goal, to capture the interest of it's target audience... only now I must endure the torture of awaiting their thoughts! The author's terror. I must trust in my work, and the heart I wove into Deep Calling.
After surviving this tour I have seen sharing different medias to be extremely responsive. Below is an Intro video I crafted, which was posted to two blogs on Day 1 of the tour. Mixing it up definitely works. Also, promoting a sense of teamwork with your fellow bloggers enforces a duty to 'take part'.
A good blogger will realize a tour's potential, not only for the author. Participating in a virtual tour will bring a gathering of new readers to your blog. If you're asked to take part in one, don't turn the opportunity down. And don't botch it. By sitting on the rump and watching everyone else do the work, you risk being the 'skipped blog'. Work your social spaces. Talk about your post, before, during, and after its posting. Be sure to follow all the other blogs so they, in turn, have more incentive to follow you. Don't be a 'selfie'. Retweet, like, and google+ the posts of the other bloggers. Be seen. Don't think you're simply doing the author a favor. A blog tour can work for everyone involved, as long as everyone involved is willing to wholly take part.
CREATE A HASHTAG. A group of bloggers can't waste time forever explaining what the tour is about, what has happened, and is about to take place, but having that info available is important to eyes just coming into your 'go on'. By utilizing a hashtag, viewers have the ability to step in and see all that has been discussed, posted, and shared, in regards to the tag. There is also the potential of having your hashtag trend. That takes a lot of users,and don't count on it, but realize it could happen. If your hashtag trends; Wow. Every twitter user would then see it, and just maybe, join in. Try to round up as many pals as you can, let them know which dates you'd love to have them using your tag, and where.
When choosing a hashtag, try to make it something that can be continued after the tour. Don't call it #mybookblogtour. Also, be sure to try your ideas out on Twitter before announcing it. Someone may have already snagged the title.
Have you ever planned a blog tour? What were your experiences? Would you do it again? Tell me your thoughts!
So many excellent points here! Thanks for being so inspiring and sharing your journey. You took the plunge, worked hard, and made your tour the success it was. As a participant, I can vouch for the success, as my blog received more views in one day than it ever has and visits to the post continue to grow.
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