There’s writing for free, and then there’s writing for free. What I mean is, there is a difference between exposure for exposure’s sake, and backlinks. We all write for free these days occasionally, but there is usually a good reason for it. You’re guest posting to get backlinks, you’re doing a favor for a blogger friend, you’re promoting your book or blog, etc. After all, much of what happens on a virtual tour is free writing in the form of guest posts on other people’s blogs.

But then there’s the notion of exposure, and that’s what I want to talk about here. The other day I saw a note on one of those places where writers look for resources and interviews, and this person posted about needing “contributors” for their “upcoming magazine issue.” What I found made me mad. Let’s talk about it.

Pay in the Form of Exposure

It took me several clicks at the magazine’s site to discover that they were strictly an online mag that charged a hefty monthly fee to subscribers. Nothing wrong with that, and at first I thought it was encouraging because with a large fee they must pay their writers. Right?

Wrong.

They paid in the form of “exposure.” Their site looked terrible, so maybe they were a startup. Still, though, they were going out to recruit writers for several free articles for their magazine for February in a variety of categories.

Now, the question is, should you write for them? What’s the difference between doing a virtual tour or guest post, and writing for exposure?

Virtual Tours

I want to focus on virtual tours for a minute because so many authors are doing them, and I can attest that they are valuable if you have a book to sell. They give you plenty of backlinks that stay long after the “tour” is over. In many cases on these tours you’re writing specifically about something related to your book, so you get to talk about it, link to it, and get readers interested in it.

Is this worthwhile for writers? Absolutely.

Guest Posts

Guest posts are trickier, in my opinion. I still do them occasionally, especially for other bloggers that I’ve gotten to know or people I’m trying to get to know. For example, when I first started writing about friendship, I was asked to do a couple guest posts from other friendship bloggers. (One was about understanding about your girlfriend’s healthy problems at Girlfriendology and the other was about “What I Know Now” about friendship at Girlfriend Circles.

These bloggers were “competitors” of mine to a degree, but we decided to band together and help each other out. (Which is just one reason I love other bloggers. They get that we can all benefit from helping each other.) Another scenario with guest posting is when you’re trying to just get some backlinks, or get to know other bloggers, or establish your name in the area in which you write.

Is something like this worthwhile? You bet.

Before You Do Guest Posts

Before you do a guest post, however, you need to be clear about your goals, and this is where the distinction will come in when you’re comparing guest posting to writing for exposure only. In guest posting (virtual tours, etc.) you’re able to link to your website (and if you’re not, why the heck are you doing it!), you’re able to give a short bio of yourself, you’re probably blogging about a subject you have chosen and really enjoy, you’re probably able to talk a little bit about something near and dear to your heart, and on and on. You need to decide what the value is in a guest post for you.

For example, when I first started out as a freelancer I needed to accomplish a couple things. I needed people to come visit my website and I needed to establish my name as a serious blogger. I wasn’t a hobby blogger, but no one knew it back then because no one knew me. I’m not famous now (that’s not what I’m talking about), but I do have a reputation as being a serious blogger and freelance writer. One thing that helped me establish that was guest posting on various places where I could show that I was an expert in things like lifestyle and relationships. I made sure that the sites I chose were getting decent amounts of traffic, and had an influence of some sort with the audience I was trying to attract. If I wrote a guest post that helped me with the criteria I wanted most, I did it.

Writing for Exposure

Magazines or sites that hire, search for, and recruit writers to work solely for exposure, though, are tricky. They are more tricky than guest posts, because if “exposure” is all you’re looking for, you need to make sure that the site is really going to give it to you. As I said, when I clicked through to that online magazine in question, it was obvious they were new and probably didn’t have much traffic. Will that get you exposure? Doubtful.

Also, if exposure is what you want (and that’s not a bad goal), you can always get it other ways than just guest posting. Think about offering yourself up as an expert for radio or TV shows, get exposure in your community by volunteering to teach a class at your community center, enter a reputable awards contest, get interviewed by another blogger, and on and on. There are a lot of ways you can promote yourself if you want exposure.

Getting Experience

The other argument with writing for a rinky dink magazine for free is that you get “experience” and writing credentials. Well, yes and no. I did this too when I first started out, and anywhere I wrote for free didn’t hold a lot of weight with the people I was trying to get a paid job for. If you write for a non-profit for free, that’s something different. What I’m talking about are those magazines who actively recruit writers on job boards and on places like HARO for work, promise a lot, and don’t deliver. It can be difficult, especially when you’re new, to protect yourself against them.

• Before you take a job writing for free, ask yourself:
• Is this an opportunity that is better (traffic-wise, pay, connections) than if I posted on my own blog?
• Will doing something for free for this person help me get other paying jobs? (In other words, is the editor really connected where they would hire you again for a paying gig down the line? Do some checking.)
• Will doing this gig establish that I’m willing to write for free. (That’s a hard precedent to break.)
• Will doing this gig take too much time away from promoting myself in other ways?

More on Guest Posting:

• How To Market Your Business With Guest Blogging
• Guest Posting Secrets-Building Business With Guest Posting On High Traffic Websites-AAA+++
• Virtual Book Tours

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I’ve done quite a few interviews over the past few years, and most of them are really great. As an introvert myself, I’m amazed at people’s abilities to chat away in a carefree manner, to interrupt people (when they need it), and to basically think aloud. During a radio or TV interview, those are important skillsets (which I definitely don’t have.) But there have also been interviewers that have veered off-track during the course of our time together. So then what? Do you as the interviewee interrupt them? What do you do to get things back on track?

Why Things Veer Off Course

Some people are chatty by nature, and this means they happily chirp out their thoughts without much regard to whether or not what they’re saying is related to their show. This isn’t a bad thing, because sometimes you can get spontaneous moments that leave an impact. As an interviewee, though, you can’t afford to have your host chat happily away from your topic.

Other times a host may veer from the pre-determined topic based on something that happened in the news recently. That happened to me with a radio show I did last year. It was a live show for the top-rated morning show in Atlanta. The producer asked me to prepare three points (related to the topic of online dating) to talk about, and when I came on to do the interview, the host completely changed the topic based on something she heard on the news that morning.

Don’t Panic!

In the example with the Atlanta radio show, I didn’t panic. Whenever I do radio or TV, I tell myself to go with the flow no matter what happens. That sometimes means I’m not “on” with promoting my book, but willing to chat about other things if they come up. The reason I’m open to this (and I do really have to psyche myself up about this ahead of time) is that I believe when you make an appearance of any kind, you are selling yourself, your brand, and your book, just by showing your personality. If you show that you’re knowledgeable but also willing to loosen up and have fun, you’ll leave much more of an impression, and chances are people will look you up. At the very least, they will remember you the next time another piece of your overall marketing puzzle shows up (like a Tweet or blog post).

In the case of this Atlanta radio show, I chatted about the topic she wanted to talk about, and then related it to my own topic. I answered her questions, and then said:

“I’m happy you brought this up. I think it relates to the dating world very well because…”

and then brought it back to my topic. In the end, we managed to hit some topics related to dating, but not the ones the producer asked me to prepare. (Yet another reason you need to be an expert in your topic if you go on radio or TV.)

Avoid Saying “In My Book”

You might be tempted to try and get things back on topic by talking about the real reason you’re doing the interview: your book. (Or blog, or whatever else you’re trying to promote.) Be very cautious about this, because if you bring up your book too much, you’ll turn people off and they won’t listen to you anymore.

Instead, avoid saying “in my book” at all, and instead say “I always tell people,” or “I would advise people to” and then talk about points relevant to why you’re there.

This might sound confusing, so let me give you an example. In one TV interview I did on the subject of Internet dating, the interviewer chatted with me before air time. She asked me the one thing that everyone who has never dated online seems to ask, which was “Do people lie online?” I said no, for the most part I thought people were who they said they were.

When the cameras came back on and we went live, however, she said (right into the camera) “We’re talking here about why people lie.” Then she turned to me, “Why are so many people dishonest in the world? They cheat on their taxes, they lie to their husbands… why do you think this happens?”

Uh…..

I was a newbie at interviewing back then and probably looked like I was caught in the headlights. Why did this happen? I assumed it was because the interviewer had a lot going on and couldn’t remember what we were there to discuss. (Or, she was just a moron.) Either way, I wasn’t going to miss out on TV time when it came to discussing my topic.

If I wanted to be obnoxious (which I’ll admit was very tempting considering how the rest of the interview went) I would have said, “Well in my book I talk about that. In my book, which is why I’m here, I mention that it’s an urban legend how much people lie on their profiles. In my book, which you should read because you obviously know nothing about this subject…”

But I didn’t do that. Luckily, I recovered, and said:

“I don’t know why some people lie, but in the online dating world, which I do know a lot about, I’d disagree that people are dishonest.”

Suggest a Question

Another tactic to use if the interviewer gets totally off-track is to suggest a question related to your topic. This happened to me once when someone was interviewing me about my diabetes book for a radio show, and asked me about being a Green Bay Packer fan. I happily answered questions about it (because I certainly don’t hide the fact that I love football), but then the interviewer went off on every trade and bad call he’d witnessed in the last ten years.

It got worse. He then started talking about salary caps in the game, and that led to lost draft opportunities, and before I knew it the talk was totally about football and not about diabetes.

When he finally took a breath, I just pretended that we had been talking about my topic all along. I said, “Oh, it’s true, so many frustrating things when you’re a fan that you have no control over. When you’re a diabetic, there are also things you can’t control. One question diabetics typically ask me is…” and then brought it back to the subject I was there to discuss.

I paused to see if he would pick up on the hint, and he did. (Hey, interviewers are human, and if they go off on an unrelated rant, forgive them! But do bring it back to your topic.)

Don’t Get Ticked

I’ve had quite a few interviews where the person seemed to interview themselves more than they did me. I usually find this hysterical, which is good because a happy interviewee comes off better than a ticked off one. You might have flown or driven to the TV station, carved out time in your precious schedule, and even created special questions or topics to chat about (all of which will be a “waste” when your interviewer gets off track), but don’t sweat it. If you get pissed, your anger will come through and not your message.

Instead, laugh it off. Pretend that you’re having a great time anyways and eventually you will. Don’t look at it as a lost opportunity, because I promise you that good things build slowly from the interviews you do, no matter how much you get to talk about your book. They do make an impact, even if you don’t realize it at the time.

Remember that Atlanta station I mentioned? I kept my cool even though the topic got twisted on me, and after the interview another station (who had listened to it) called me up to be on their station. I got a second interview that was much more on point, just because I was able to roll with things with the first one. Things like that happen all the time. Look at the interviews you do as building blocks. Some of them will get you immediately book sales, while others will just be a piece you use to secure your brand. Either way, you can’t lose.

More Ways to Promote Your Book:

• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter
• Virtual Book Tours
• Publicize Your Book (Updated): An Insider’s Guide to Getting Your Book the Attention It Deserves
• The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition: How to get nearly free publicity on your own or by partnering with your publisher.

Image: Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have you used Help a Reporter Out (HARO)? It’s such a great resource. I’ve used it to get interviews for an article I wrote on midlife dating  and I’ve also responded to calls for experts. The service works great, but if you’re just trying to promote your book at any cost or get an interview no matter what, you probably won’t find it as useful. Here are some tips that will help you get the most out of HARO.

Be Specific in What You Ask For

Are you looking for tips you can use instantly? An interview to get more info? Be specific, otherwise you will receive back emails from people pitching things to you. I found that out quick enough the first time I put out a request and received back quite a number of pitches, rather than the info I was looking for. I realized I hadn’t been very clear.

Where Will Your Article Be Placed?

You can post anonymously on the site, or you can share where you’ll be posting the blog or article. In my opinion, it’s better to share where the article will appear. You should also let someone know if you’ll be using their tips anonymously or sharing their name and website. In my midlife dating article, for example, I let everyone know that I was going to make everything anonymous. That way it made people open up more about their past dating mistakes.

Let People Know Once the Article Is Up

I’ve provided quite a few tips for people to use with HARO, but only a few have responded back to me once the article was up. That’s why when I was on the flip side of things, I made sure I held onto all the emails from sources that I had used, and let them know when the article was live. Each one of them thanked me for it, and I think it’s because when you take the time to answer someone’s question, you want to make sure it was time well spent.

Don’t Get Too Sales-y When Responding

If you’re the one answering calls for tips or interviews, be careful about how you respond. If someone asks for the answer to a specific question, feel free to answer it and then provide a short bio and link. It’s up to them to use it, but if you make it easy for them they probably will.

However, if you respond back with sales-y copy meant to sell your book only, you won’t have as much success. When I sent out the call for my midlife dating article, I got back several responses that were nothing more than a pitch for me to buy a book. I hit delete instantly on these, because they weren’t helpful and they were annoying.

The right way to respond is to answer the question or tip fully, and then add if someone would like more information to contact you. Then provide a short (under 100 word) bio for them to understand your level of expertise a little bit better. I had one person do that and then went on to interview them for a different article I was working on.

Sherri Rabinowitz has done several guest posts here at Working Writers, and we also talked with her before about her books. But I wanted to bring her back because her book Fantasy Time Inc. has just been released as an ebook, and I think that’s always an exciting time for authors. It’s also an opportunity to revamp your book sales.

I’m going to talk more about this subject (of ways to recharge your book marketing efforts) in the upcoming year, but for now, here are a few things I asked Sherri about her new ebook project.

Your book has just been released as an ebook. This is a good opportunity for authors to ramp up their promotion efforts. What are some of the things you’ve done to get attention for your ebook?

Thank you, it’s all new to me. I am doing interviews and guest blogs. I also have new announcement on several websites and a new ad.

Do you find that more people are reading ebooks or books these days? Have your book sales changed at all with regard to so many people having e-readers?

It seems to be an ebook world. I have been getting more sales since the ebook hit the market. My friend explained that it was because it can contain many books in a small space and its easier to carry on a plane if you travel a lot. I can understand that, because a lot of books in bag would cost a fortune these days on plane.

What are some of your favorite ways to market your book?

I use Twitter a lot. I also love to do guest blogs and interviews.

What’s been the best feedback that you’ve received about your book so far?

I had two wonderful reviews of the book. I also was asked if I would write a sequel three times because they wanted to know what happened to these characters next.

First let me say, I love hearing from you all. I really do. You are all so passionate and knowledgeable, and you blow me away with your emails and comments. But in addition to all the wonderful readers that contact me here, I also hear from other folks: PR people, authors, editors, marketing people, and on and on, and some of them aren’t such great communicators. I’m not going to pick on them, but I do want to point out a few things they do that we can all learn from.

Over Communicating

Being on top of things is great, but when you send me an email, then another one the next day to ask if I got the previous one, then a note on Facebook, then a ping on Skype to find out if I received your emails… you’re pushing it. I get several hundred emails a day, and answer them in the best way possible. I prioritize them, so if you didn’t get a response immediately, give it a day.

Over communicating is just as bad as not being thorough enough because it implies impatience and unwillingness to be respectful.

Spacing on Details

Here’s another favorite scenario. You ask me to schedule a date, and then a week later you’ll send me an email saying, “What are we doing again?” If this happens once in a while, it’s understandable. But if you continually refuse to write things down or remember them, you’re not leaving a good impression. Eventually people will get tired of dealing with you.

Repeatedly Telling Me How Busy You Are

Recently I had someone who asked if she could interview me. Great, I responded, and we agreed on a date that would work, which turned out to be two months in advance. She said she’d get me the questions, but… sigh…. she was so busy.

Being told how busy someone is tends to annoy me. I think it’s because we are all so busy. I don’t know of a single person that isn’t busy. My days are jam packed, too. I feel for people, because I wish we could all slow down, but then again if we are stuck in this mode where we have to bring it up to others, it just wastes more valuable time.

So needless to say a month went by and I still hadn’t received the questions from this woman, but I did get another email that told me… sigh…. she was so busy… sigh… and she would work on the questions and get them to me.

But you guessed it, another month went by, and now we were edging up on the date of the interview. She actually sent me another email to tell me that she normally isn’t so busy… because she’s just so busy…

But I still hadn’t received the questions. Sure enough, she sent them to me at the last minute, and I had to turn around and answer them right away so I could get them back to her in order for the post to go ahead as scheduled.

I can’t help wondering if she would have just sat down and did the questions (instead of sending emails to tell me how busy she was) that this would have worked out a little better. More than that, now her lack of preparation required me to hurry up and drop other things in order to accommodate her. Not cool.

Sending Me Random Things Not Appropriate to My Blog

It’s pretty obvious that this blog is related to the writing world. The topics are fairly open (anything having to do with running a small business, freelancing, writing, creativity, and the like are all things that work here), but even with that, I get a fair amount of emails that suggest things that aren’t related at all.

I know people are busy, but you’ve got to get to know a blog a little bit before pitching. Right?

Unorganized

I have quite a few people that schedule guest posts or author interviews, but are so unorganized I constantly need to follow up. If I have to repeatedly ask you about where a post is (that you asked me to provide room on my editorial calendar for), then you aren’t doing your job. If you contact me and want me to schedule something for you, I’ll happily do it, but then follow up and don’t make more work for me by forgetting what you asked for.

Those are some of my communication pet peeves. But like anything, I’ve learned from them. When I see myself doing something that would drive me crazy if the tables were turned, I try and mend my ways. What are some of your pet peeves? Have the way people communicated with you changed the way you email people yourself?

Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Guest post

Ever wondered what it would be like to be on the first page of Google? What the benefits were and how much of a difference it could make to your business? Perhaps you’re thinking of investing in some SEO for your website? Well the easiest and quickest way to reach the dizzy heights of Google is to invest in a well managed Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign.

PPC doesn’t just put you on the first page of Google for your desired keywords or search terms, it also gives you an invaluable insight into the minds of your audience and potential customers. A good PPC campaign will give you access to reports that can tell you what it is your audience was looking for when they came across your ad. You will be able to build up a comprehensive list of keywords and phrases that can be used to further enhance your website.

Many SEO virgins undertake a short PPC campaign to further understand their market and what it is their customers want. The reality is, that a PPC campaign need not be forever, but it can provide you with invaluable information on how to promote your site through onsite and offsite SEO.

With a PPC campaign and a relatively small investment you can reap the benefits almost instantly. Your website will appear on top (or at the side) of the organic search results giving you exposure that can take months, even years to achieve through the organic rankings.

That said, Organic rankings are still best and tend to be ‘clicked’ a lot more than the PPC results. With this in mind, I would recommend running PPC in conjunction with organic SEO. Use the information you garner from the PPC reports to build your organic rankings and in time you can may be able to say goodbye to the paid campaign.

The great thing about PPC campaigns is consistency. Organic results are never guaranteed, as let’s face it, if your competition are keeping an eye on you then you will always be playing the ranking game with them. With pay per click, you are guaranteed a ranking every time.

To some, the idea of PPC can be a scary prospect, you may be nervous that your spending may get out of hand or that you will just end up throwing good money down the drain. When managed correctly PPC can be both profitable and insightful. Set your budget and stick to it. If you are still not sure about running the campaign yourself it will do no harm to speak to a professional who specialises in online marketing and advertising. Remember, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, and if they are clicking on your ad then that means they are visiting your site because they are interested in your product or service.

Instant exposure, increased traffic, sales growth and a healthy ROI are what you should be striving for. Any online marketing company worth their salt can do this for you without breaking the bank. PPC could be just what you have been looking for all along.

Izaak is an SEO Engineer for a London-based SEO and PPC Agency.  He runs campaigns on behalf of a number of his clients, including No.1 Traveller, who operate airport lounges at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted.

More on Advertising and Promotion:

• Author 101 Bestselling Book Publicity: The Insider’s Guide to Promoting Your Book–and Yourself
• Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales (2nd Edition)
• 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter

Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

It’s National Global Entrepreneurship Week, so I thought it might be a good time to talk about how that relates to the writers of the world. What does it take to succeed as a writer? Some say it’s an entrepreneurial spirit. After all, if you get doors slammed in your face (or you don’t like the present paths available to you), it’s up to you to make your own way. Entrepreneurship to me means a person who understands the value in controlling the business side of their craft. To that end, I’ll feature some posts this week related the making money part of business, like setting and raising rates and finding work.

Stay tuned each day for tips, and feel free to contact me with questions as we make it through the week.

Here’s the first area: Finding Freelance Work.

One of the most popular posts here is the link to online resources for job ads. Despite that we say time and again that job ads aren’t the best way to find freelance work, I think many people like to look just to “see what’s out there. Of the links I have listed there, here are the ones I peruse myself:

• Online Writing Jobs
• Problogger
• Whisper Jobs
• Journalism Jobs
• Media Bistro

I don’t look at these very often anymore, but I do take a peek occasionally. Instead of looking at ads, I spend my time contacting companies and sites that I want to work for. Of the links I have listed above, I’d say I have picked up the most gigs from Problogger and Journalism Jobs. Now, having said that, my best paying gigs came from contacting people directly, which I still think is the best way to do it.

Contacting Websites and Companies

Many freelancers wonder where to begin with finding work, and my advice is if you came to freelancing from a “real” (corporate, steady) job, go to your former employer(s) first. This got me a start in freelancing. When I quit my last job so that I could start my freelance business, I told them what I was doing and encouraged them to call me for work. They did. It was awesome.

How else can you find work? Here are some helpful links that will answer that.

• How to (Really) Find Freelance Writing and Blogging Jobs
• Is Craigslist Really a Good Place to Find Freelance Jobs?
• Should You Even Look at Freelance Writing Job Ads?
• Things to Watch Out For With Freelance Writing Job Ads
• Making Cold Calls to Get New Clients
• Using Facebook and Twitter to Pitch to Companies
• How to Get a Steady Stream of Freelance Writing Clients

Image: sxc.hu

We’ve made it through a week of mistakes that writers make when it comes to virtual book tours. Aren’t you glad to be almost done with this? Today’s post is short and will help you tie the earlier lessons together.

Mistake #5: Expect Miracles

By now you’ve read all about the mistakes writers make when it comes to blog tours, and you’re probably feeling a bit cranky. Don’t worry, we’ve all made (at least one of) these mistakes but now that you now, you’ll do better. Right? The final one has to do with authors expectations when it comes to the success of their tour.

Blog Tours Are One Piece of the Marketing Puzzle

Basically, virtual tours are marketing for yourself and your book, and you cannot always draw a direct correlation between the effort you put in and the sales you get out. What I mean is, you can’t say “I sold X number of books as a result of my blog tour.” You might sell X number of books, and you might sell zero for the time being. But you never know what will happen with all those guest posts and links you created. The great part about a blog tour (unlike the live one) is that people can find you long after you’ve gone. So if they missed you the first time, they can always find you later on. Don’t look at the blog tour as a way to generate sales (even tho that’s what we all hope will happen), rather, look at it as a way to connect with readers. What you’re doing in a virtual tour is actually much more important than just doing “a book signing event.”

Keep the Buzz Going

Just because your blog tour ends, it doesn’t mean you can’t still promote the blog stops. Don’t hound people immediately afterward, but keep track of all those interviews and blog posts you created. Market them and mention them here and there as you go forward in promoting your book. This continued buzz will help build on the initial marketing boost you received when the blog tour first began.

Return the Favor

Too often I get authors who ask me for space on my blog and never return the favor. Chances are, someone who lets you on their blog probably has a book or two to promote as well. Reach out to people (perhaps after your tour) and ask what you can do for them. Never fall into this “what you can do for me” attitude, because you will turn off someone who might be a good source for you later on. As a blogger and author myself, I’m here to tell you that you’re not more important than them. We’re all important.

More on Virtual Book/Blog Tours:

• Virtual Book Tours
• My Virtual Book tour Secrets!
• How to Organize a Virtual Book Tour

Did you miss the previous posts?

• Mistake #1: Offering Too Many Canned Questions and Nothing Else
• Mistake #2: Not Being Prepared
• Mistake #3: Not Marketing Your Blog Tour Very Well
• Mistake #4: Not Making Your Blog Host Feel Special

We’re talking about mistakes this week. Specifically, the mistakes writers make when doing a blog tour. Check out mistakes one and two if you haven’t yet, and let’s get on with the third point.

Mistake #3: Not Marketing Your Blog Tour Very Well

It should be a no-brainer that you’ll want to market your upcoming blog tour, but many authors get stumped for the most effective way to do it. Some mention it on Facebook or on a forum, but they don’t really highlight each individual post. Believe me, the more you can market your blog tour, the better the long-term results will be for you. For those of you who have complained to me about “how much work” blog tours are (and you know who you are), marketing your tour will help all that effort pay off.

Get the Word Out in Advance

Before the tour even begins, get readers prepped for it. Mention it on your blog, website, social media, and even in the offline places you frequent. Do you have a newsletter? A virtual tour is a great time to start one because you can put all the stops and dates in there and have people watch for it.

Another good idea is to blog about it in advance, and talk about your expectations. I did that the night before I was set to go on virtual tour for 21 Simple Things You Can Do To Help Someone With Diabetes.

Connect a Live Event to Your Tour

Just because you’re not going on a 20-city book tour doesn’t mean you can’t schedule a few stops locally to coincide with it. See if your library or local bookshop will host you, and mention your online tour when you go there. Give your readers a taste of what’s to come with your virtual tour.

Promote Each Individual Blog Post

Authors tend to promote their blog tour as one separate event, but a better way to look at it is as a series of events that are strung together. Promote each “event” or post with as much gusto as you can. This includes:

• A thumbs up on Stumbleupon
• A link on Digg
• A link on Reddit
• Tweeting a couple times a day per post for the length of the tour (schedule a few if you need to)
• Mentioning on Facebook and providing updates when someone asks a question or leaves a comment

In addition to the usual social networking stuff, post each day on your blog about your tour. Talk about the individual post, the reaction from the blog readers, or anything else that pops up. Don’t just provide a link and say “I’m at Jane Doe’s blog tour, please come visit me.” Blah! You’re a writer! Get creative. It doesn’t have to be lengthy, but add some personality as to why you wrote the blog post or what you found of interest in the interview.

For example, in my recent virtual tour for 21 Ways to Promote Your Book on Twitter, I wrote about why I targeted one blog post specifically toward Christian fiction authors. Short and simple, yet adds something more than just “click this link!”

In another example, I highlighted a review for my New and Selected Poems book. I gave a little history about the reviewer and my thoughts on her review.

After the Blog Tour

Do a wrap up on your blog after the tour to thank your bloggers and give your thoughts. I did this for my diabetes virtual tour.

Even if bloggers space out and don’t post your reviews and links when they should, still acknowledge their effort. Bloggers will surprise you. I had one that couldn’t participate in the original blog tour for Internet Dating Is Not Like Ordering a Pizza, but then did a review later. The blogger did a unique take on the book that really made my day, so I wrote about it and got some more “buzz” from my book, long after the tour was over.

More on Virtual Book/Blog Tours:

• Virtual Book Tours
• My Virtual Book tour Secrets!
• How to Organize a Virtual Book Tour

Tomorrow: Mistake #4

We’re continuing the discussion on book tours today, so here’s second mistake on the list.

Mistake #2: Not Being Prepared

Since blog tours are held online, some authors have gone into them unprepared. I’ll admit, the idea of “visiting” blogs while you sit in your jammies doesn’t sound all that taxing. Since I’ve been on both ends of the virtual tour, I can tell you that it is work for the blogger and for you. It’s a lot of work for you. If it isn’t, you probably aren’t doing it right.

With all the work you’ll have to do, you might be feeling crabby, tired, and perhaps a little bit indignant that you spent all this time writing a book and now you’ll have to crank out several thousand more words just to promote it. But before you fire off an “I’m so busy…. whine…” response to a blogger, here are some tips to keep in mind.

Bloggers Are Just as Busy

I’m tempted to write “bloggers are more busy than you” because I’m a full-time writer and blog daily on several different sites. I’m always writing. And then, I write books. But the blogging is constantly there and hanging over my head.

I realize not all bloggers are full-time writers, but I tell you this because you, as an author, are feeling tired because you finished a book and the thought of doing a guest post right now is anything but appealing. But if you think you’re going to whine to the blogger and complain about how exhausted and busy (double dramatic sigh) you are do not expect that blogger to take pity on you. Here’s a newsflash: we’re all busy.

Write Guest Posts Ahead of Time

Rather than complaining about “having” to write a guest post (which will get you traffic and help promote your book), how about actually preparing for your blog tour and writing up several different guest posts? Make them different. (Remember our talk about canned responses yesterday.) They don’t have to be long: 400–500 words is good. If you go into your blog tour with these posts prepared, you can offer them to the blogger without feeling overwhelmed about creating something new. Make each post unique and tell the blogger that you are offering them something no other website will have.

Create an Online Press Kit

One thing that really helps in preparation is creating a place for bloggers to come for your author photo, details of your book, links to Amazon (and anywhere else you’d like them to link to), links to your website and blog, places to find you on Facebook, book cover art, and perhaps even a graphic you create that says they are part of your blog tour.

Put all this info on an easy to find spot on your website and refer your bloggers there so they can get the graphics and info they need.

Expect Negativity

If you were to do a signing in a bookstore, there would be a chance that someone would stand up and shout “You stink. Your books are stupid.” Unlikely, but still, if you’ve ever been to a live signing, pretty much anything can happen. I’ve talked to authors who said people showed up to their signings:

• drunk
• thinking they were another author
• ready for an argument about a stance the author took
• just looking for a place to get out of the rain (and therefore, not interested in anything the author said)
• by accident

In each of these cases, the author just had to roll with it, and laugh it off later. The same might happen with a virtual tour. What’s worse, whatever someone says might be posted online forever.

Just because a blogger is hosting you, don’t expect hearts and hugs in every case. Sometimes the blogger will not like your book but host you anyway, and sometimes they will let their readers say negative things about you and your book. Every once in a blue moon a blogger will ask to review your book and then use it as a way to get something off their chest. So what can you do when this happens? Deal with it as best you can (usually be letting it go) and laugh it off later. Know that you aren’t the first person this has happened to.

Carve Out Time in Your Schedule

There’s more involved with blog tours than just answering questions and writing guest posts. You will have to respond to reader comments, help promote on social media, and answer any questions people have. Make sure you prepare for this by blocking out time on your calendar. Don’t try to squeeze it in without planning for it, because you’ll end up feeling frazzled and frustrated.

More on Virtual Book/Blog Tours:

• Virtual Book Tours
• My Virtual Book tour Secrets!
• How to Organize a Virtual Book Tour

Tomorrow: Mistake #3