No event felt more like an end of an era as the Brain to Books Summer Blog Tour came to a close. The 35 day long tour was truly a trial of endurance and multiple lessons were learned on blog touring as well as what not to do next time. With more than 100 authors, indie author awareness did much to present itself this summer. I’m writing this article, feeling obligated to say something about it, and all I can think of is, “Well…I’m tired.” *laughing*
The summary said so much from the beginning and it seems appropriate to mention it here.
130+ Books
120+ Authors
35 Days
15 Bloggers
1 Tour
You’re probably reading this article with a number of questions rolling around in your head. At the end, you probably want those answers so I will share what I have learned.
Why did you do this?
RESEARCH! Yep! That is it! I wanted to learn and master blog tours. I was sick of “guessing” at the right and wrong way. So really, I conducted this tour for no other reason aside from research. You heard me. RESEARCH! *laughing* I took the time to teach others—first timers—about blog tours and to help them along the way. You see, Blog Tours are new. And most indie authors are new. This was an excellent way to get my hands right into this and figure out the “A to Z” on blog tours and I did! I am currently working with Charlene Jones at the moment on a new book, “Blog Bits and Tour Tips,” which shares some of our findings!
What did you, authors, and bloggers really get out of it?
What did I get! I got a book deal, two appearances on the radio, a massive lift in traffic, and a lot more credibility added to my reputation. Talk about your marketing! Participants saw a boost in sales while bloggers saw a lift in blog traffic. Some reported no change or decline in both. I have theories on all of this. We all expanded our networking and strengthened our working relationship!
Will you do it again?
Absolutely! With some modified changes of course. Now I will share with you the data collected from my expedition.
*Drops dusty bag to the ground, withdraws a wad of weathered papers, and slaps off some of the debris from my khaki garb*
Now then! The most noticeable thing was the length. No blog tour should ever exceed 14 days. I recommend 7 days. Have it over while everyone is still buzzing with excitement and feeling refreshed. By day 15. everyone started burning out. Interest in the tour was dropped by readers, and we still had three weeks to go. Ugh! But we hung in there all in the name of Science!
The second thing we noticed was the quantity of people. We can boldly boast that the bloggers and I toggled more than 120 authors in 35 days. *Beats chest with pride and grunts* However, this accomplishment actually spanned the attention of readers and bloggers too thin. Authors were held in a buzzing florescent tube light covered in dead flies instead of a Broadway quality spotlight, errors were made—not a lot, but enough to keep us on our toes—, and the load for organizing this thing was simply insurmountable! Like! Holy People, (Ironman is better than) Batman!
Other things we noticed, and this one was strictly on me, was the time in which I got the prepared posts to the bloggers. There was just too many people to keep up with postings ahead of schedule and I left no room for family/personal complications. Material needed to vary from site to site. And I think a focus on genre would have SERIOUSLY done a lot to help!
Bloggers and I are already working on next year’s Blog Tour when we all return older and wiser for the ordeal! Bwahahahahaaaa!
But this is the best part! Did you miss the tour? NO PROBLEM! It’s all here and will remain here online until the internet (or my site) crashes!
View the Full Tour schedule now!
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