Book Blog Tours—What are they?

[Olivia Boler]

Can anyone help me figuring out the whole book blog tour thing? In my research to query book blogger reviews, I found Innovative Book Tours Online (http://innovativeonlinebooktours.com/) and I'm wondering if the services they offer are the norm, because I have no idea. Are there other "companies" like this one? Do they do the same thing? Paid? Unpaid? If you're on a promo budget, can an author put together a book blog tour on her own? If it's too much work, how much is the right price and how can one guarantee getting a lot of and the right kind of exposure for one's book? Any tips, advice, anecdotes are appreciated. Thank you! — Olivia, author of THE FLOWER BOWL SPELL

[Olivia Boler]

Thanks, Lily! I'm checking out that website right now. Release blitz vs. blog tour....the options thicken...

[Rachel Marks]

Hey Olivia!

I am an independent blogger, and I actually started to organize blog tours for a pretty affordable rate compared to the big companies.  If you are interested, check out my blog here.  If you have any questions please feel free to message me! 

[Olivia Boler]

Hi Rachel,

I will definitely check out your blog in more depth. Took a quick look—beautiful design!

Best,

Olivia

[Anna Weber]

Olivia... take a quick peek at Get Your Book Noticed

You should be able to get a bit more information there.

You CAN do all the work yourself if your budget is tight, but , coming from someone who does the work for authors - is IS time consuming and normally worth every penny if you use a service who is equally serious about promoting you book.!

A

[Olivia Boler]

Thank you, Anna!

[Colette]

I am a blogger and just started my own company, cozy on the couch. Blog tours can be done by yourself, and they range in price.

[Olivia Boler]

How exciting, Colette! Looks like you did a great job for Misty.

[Colette]

Thanks! If you want to do it yourself, they are really easy to organize. It's just a matter of finding blogs that read your genre. There are a couple of great book blog directories (I am getting a brain freeze on their names) that are a great source for you to use. One thing I've found is that the bigger bloggers generally work 2 months in advance, but sometimes are willing to do excerpts or other things like that if they have room in their schedule. I've also found that unfortunately, most guest posts get the most comments if there is a giveaway of the book being reviewed in the blog tour-so you might want to keep that in mind. 

[Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (NURTURE)]

Hi Olivia,

Nurture Virtual Book Tourz are a successful and relatively inexpensive alternative to traditional book tours. With the ability to tour the "virtual world", authors have the potential to reach thousands of readers, book sellers and distributors from the comfort of their home or office.

For anyone who is interested in finding out more, please visit and read through our FAQ page at your leisure: http://nurtureyourbooks.com/website/nvbt/nurture-book-tour-f-a-q/

Or we can be emailed at: [e-mail]

Have a great day and thanks so much.

All My Best,
Bobbie Crawford-McCoy

[Olivia Boler]

Terrific, Bobbie. Any chance I can find out about rates or should I go through your online form?

Olivia

[Bobbie Crawford-McCoy (NURTURE)]

Hi Olivia,

If you wouldn't mind using our contact form or if you wish to you can email me directly at [e-mail], I'd be happy to tell you more about Nurture Your BOOKS and the pricing for our virtual book tour packages.

Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

All My Best,
Bobbie

[Emily @ On Emily's Bookshelf]

I am a 'host' on a few book tour sites, and the prices vary from 20-150$, one thing i've learned is not to judge by price: the 20$ book tour, from the blogger side, was much more well organized than the 150$ one.

I've also found book tour sites who offer free book tours, I don't know how they make money, I guess they do it because they like it or something, like book bloggers.

I personally am a fan of http://tourzdecodex.blogspot.com/, I don't know from the author's perspective, but as a blogger I find it really nice, and the girl who runs it is very quick to reply to emails, nice, and organized, her packages run from 15 to like 65 dollars, I think.

I could ramble on for a while on this subject, but i'm trying to keep this short, so that's it!