Virtual Book Tours - Insider Secrets to Making Them Work

Book tours have been around for a long, long time. Before the days of virtual book tours, when tours were publisher-sponsored, covering several cities, book tours were very cost prohibitive.
Fast forward to today. Nowadays, most authors are responsible for their own book tours. This means they have to plan, pay for and promote their own tours. Thus the reason very few indie authors do in-person book store tours. The choice for most authors is the virtual tour.
In spite of minimal costs for a virtual tour compared to an in-person tour, there is still a lot of work involved. If you want to stay sane during a virtual book tour, consider putting at least one support person on your team to handle all the details.
According to Loolwa Khazzoom, in an article she had published in The Huffington Post, “The biggest mistake authors make is waiting until their books are published, before thinking about reaching out to media.”

The success of your tour depends entirely on where your interviews, posts and reviews are posted. Thus the reason to plan your tour out as much as possible.
With that said, let’s look at some of the elements of a virtual book tour.
Virtual Book Tourr
A virtual book tour is a combination of online media including radio, podcast shows, teleseminars and webinars that air during a specific period of time combined with multiple blog posts during the same time period.
Many authors focus solely on blog tours, but there’s a huge advantage to incorporating media into the mix.
By combining a blog tour and media tour you definitely increase your visibility and credibility. Your writings will be viewed by new eyeballs and you will be heard by thousands, possibly millions, of potential book buyers. This is exactly what you want.
When done right, you are able to reach more of your target market. It’s important to be clear on who your market is. Also who is reading the blog you are going to post on for increased reach with the most targeted market.
There’s no point in writing for blogs that are not viewed by those who are interested in what you have to say and offer.
Guest blogging opens up opportunities for potential joint venture relationships with the blog owner. Search engines love blogs, and, when you use the right keywords, you are creating incredible opportunities for better SEO.
In addition, you can increase your own opt-in subscribers, if you do have a link in your bio at the end of your post.
How much work does it take?
The amount of work for a high-traffic blog or a low-traffic blog is exactly the same. Your goal should be to find blogs with high visibility.
You must find the blogs, gain permission from the owner to guest blog, write the post and help promote your appearance. Although this does take time, when done correctly, the benefits are plentiful.
Although not always possible, most blog owners will let you add in your short bio with a back link to your blog or website. Do not write anonymously. After all, this is for visibility and selling books, not just to be writing.
In some cases, you will be asked to write original content, but in many cases you won’t. You have to determine if it is worth the time invested to create original content.
When your systems are in place, such as a conversion funnel, you can gain incredible benefit from blog tours and guest blogging.
Blog Tour
1. A blog tour is a tour of various blogs and websites. It is recommended to post on blogs that have a similar readership as those who would be interested in your book.
2. A blog tour is a great opportunity for an author to reach high numbers of potential book buyers and readers.
3. A blog tour contains blog posts, interviews, reviews and/or guest posts that are posted to a series of blogs during a specific period of time.
4. A blog tour can be done live where the author actually visits each blog and answers questions by the host. You can also do a tour where your information is submitted ahead of time in order that you have greater reach without being restricted by the clock.
5. Virtual blog tours are a wonderful alternative to a “live” bookstore tour. There’s no travel involved and costs are minimal.
Media Tour

There are many similarities between a virtual blog tour and a virtual media tour. The major distinction is the medium.
As an author, it is essential to be on the lookout for creative and effective ways to promote your book(s). Virtual book tours definitely fit the bill.
They are also a great way to increase your position on Amazon. With the right plan, enough effort and lots of sales, you can also Hit #1 on Amazon.