On September 1 I’ll undertake my first blog tour. It’s a small one, just five stops, generously set up by a friend who likes my books. I’ve thought for a while the blog tours can be a very good tool for getting an author’s name out there.
But…
A friend of mine did a long tour recently. It included a book giveaway, and she ended up with around 2,500 entrants, a very handsome number. At least that many people were at least aware of her and her work there. Yet there were problems, some posts not appearing when they should, a few bloggers who seemed flaky. Not all good.
And there are simply so many of these tours now. I admire bloggers, I’m grateful to them. They do a better job than most newspapers in helping to publicise books. But they’re deluged. Overwhelmed – certainly in the crime genre, and probably in many others. I wonder if some take on too much.
The friend who’s organising my tour is incredibly on top of things. She has it all under control. And with this being small, it’s easy to manage. For me, it’s a toe in the waters, to try and judge how effective it might be.
Because, as every author knows, or at least those without the hefty weight of a big publisher putting money behind us knows, it’s hard to break through the noise. Social media is helpful, but it’s so cluttered. Making your voice heard is almost impossible.
Of course, the situation isn’t helped by the fact that I have three books appearing in two months (not my fault – it’s the publishers), and one of them is a very big deal to me. I’m proud of all my books, of course, but some mean more than others. So I’m going to end up making enough noise to drown myself out. And I’m just one of so very many voices.
It strikes me that although a book or series can find an audience over time, that initial chance to make an impact is very short – the next new things is always coming round the corner. So I’ll be very interested to see what impact that blog tour has.