Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Using Blogs to Promote E-books, Part Two by Pauline Creeden

Today Pauline Creeden returns with the second part of her post about using blogs for promotions. Read Part One for information on blog hops. -- Sandy




Blog Tour 


Most of us already know about virtual blog tours. And they can run the gambit of expensive from $400 for 10 stops to as cheap as $50 for 20 stops. Or you can even organize your own blog tour. The goal is to be featured on as many blogs as possible during the time period - usually one week to one month. And you do not have to limit this to new releases, any undiscovered book is a new release to new readers.


Benefits 


Blog Tours can contain promo posts (where the book is just featured), reviews, guest posts, and interviews. Again, this can be tiresome if you have a 20 stop tour and 15 of the stops are guest posts and interviews, but if you request a tour made up of reviews only - or reviews and promo posts, you can use this opportunity to give your book more credibility on Amazon and Goodreads through increased reviews. Additionally, if you add a giveaway, you can increase Facebook Fans and Twitter Follows as well.

Suggested Blog Tour Hosts

Promotional Book Tours Itching for Books

Tips for a Successful Tour 


  • Always find a host who is well organized and follows up with you and bloggers. 
  • Comment on each blog of the tour with a thank you - even if they leave a mediocre review. 
  • Do not give away eBook copies of your book - this discourages sales. Giving away money will double your entrants. Even a $5 gift card will increase the number of entrants you have. 



Blog Blitz


As an alternative to a full blog tour, you can do a blog blitz. This can be the perfect way to get the word out about your new release, as the host will place your book's synopsis, buy links, and excerpt on as many blogs as possible. Usually these last only one or two days rather than the week of a tour and for half the cost. Another option is to use a Blitz to get the word out about a sale on your eBook.


Suggested Blog Tour Hosts



Crossreads YA Bound Book Tours



Tips for a Successful Tour


Consider putting your book on sale for the blast - 99¢ sales get you noticed!
Adding a creative giveaway will draw in more people to take a look at the blast.


Blog Mentions


Just as a last note, getting a mention on a big "book themed" blog will typically give you a rise in sales. Specifically one of the bigger sales blogs such as BookBub or Ereader News Today -- or for Christian books -- SFK Books or Christian Book Finds. Some of these charge a fee for the feature, and some do not. If you search out the best book blogs to feature your book when you have a sale, you can see a significant spike. As a blogger and social media specialist, I have concentrated on eBook sales for the books we publish at AltWit Press. So far, we have found success in using blogs to get the word out, so that we've had several titles hit #1 Amazon Bestseller in Christian Fantasy and Science Fiction, as well as get noticed well enough to gain nomination for readers' choice awards - winning one so far. Every year, eBooks gain momentum in the general book market, and many readers find their next book through blogs they follow. Gain your piece of that share by learning how to utilize blogs to get the word out about your book.


Have you had success with promotion through blogs? Do you have experience that would add to our knowledge? 


~~~



In simple language, Pauline Creeden creates worlds that are both familiar and strange, often pulling the veil
between dimensions. She becomes the main character in each of her stories, and because she has ADD, she will get bored if she pretends to be one person for too long. Pauline is a horse trainer from Virginia, but writing is her therapy.


Her debut novel, Sanctuary, won 1st Place Christian YA Title 2013 Dante Rosetti Award and is now available as an audiobook. #1 Bestseller on Amazon in Christian Sci/Fi and Fantasy (October 2013)


Connect with Pauline at www.paulinecreeden.com.