So you've published a book, and no one cares. How can you create a buzz and get the momentum going?
It's never too early or too late to think about a virtual blog tour. Even if you wrote your book in 2009, or earlier, you can dig it out of the drawer, polish it up, and get a buzz going.
The secret is to "hire" your family, friends, neighbors, and of course your blogger and online friends to help you. Think "free" copies to everyone who agrees to interview you and host you as a guest on their blog.
Now you may be saying, "Well my Aunt Rita doesn't have a blog, so what good is that."
Well, since online promotion, is the way to market your work today, I would say,
"Even if Aunt Rita doesn't have a blog, perhaps she's a member of a book club, and you can suggest that she offers your book as their next one to read. Then when they hold their book club meeting, you promise Aunt Rita that you'll show up with some wine, cheese and crackers and answer the questions the readers have for you."
"Aunt Rita lives in Florida, and I can't fly over there just for a book club," you say.
"Well how about Skyping Aunt Rita," I reply.
"Well, that won't work, she doesn't Skype."
"I'm sure there must be one person in Aunt Rita's group that knows how to Skype." I reply. "If not, get Aunt Rita to review your bok on Amazon and Goodreads, and if she's not online, you can always use her review as a testimonial on your blog."
So this is what I did. I sent the following letter to my online friends who blog and who love to read, a couple of months before my book launch.
Hello to my Wonderful Virtual Blog Tour Volunteers,
My blog tour starts on August 31,st the day after
It will go on for the entire month of September.
That should give you enough time to read it over the summer. As long as you don't forget what you read :)
Here are some of my suggestions and I’d like you to select the one that fits you and your busy schedule the best.
- A guest post focusing on a few specific aspects of my book that you select ahead of time.
- An interview (written).
- I answer your questions in a podcast I produce, and send the link to paste on your post (might be fun as your audience hears my voice).
- I answer your questions on a YouTube video I produce, and send the link to paste on your post (might be fun as your audience gets to see me).
- We do a Google Hangout interview where both of us are "filmed" and I send you the link after our interview.
- A book review if you would prefer to do one yourself.
- I’d love a review on Amazon if you enjoy my book.
If I haven’t already asked you, please specify whether you’d like the print copy or the pdf, and send me your address if you'd like the print copy.
The book will be available to purchase from my website and Amazon towards the middle of August. Please check my blog: http://soniamarsh.com for updates.
If you have other ideas, please send them to me, and I'd love anything you feel like doing.
Please specify a date you’d like to post in September. Please pick one and I can write it on my calendar if it’s not in conflict with someone else.
Thank you and I’m very excited you offered to help me. Please know that I shall reciprocate when it’s you time.
Let’s meet one day. I’d love that, if I haven’t already met you.
Your grateful friend, Sonia.
This worked for me and I'd like to share my first 3 guest posts, including one with a French blogger I met in London, Muriel Demarcus. She agreed to do a Google Hangout interview with me. You can see our video and listen to her charming French accent.
Sonia’s 1st interview with author Susan Pohlman on Expat Chat 8-31-12
Sonia’s 2nd interview with Shirley Showalter on 100 memoirs 9-3-12
Sonia's 3rd interview FrenchYummyMummy.com with Muriel Demarcus, a French expat in London, tomorrow. Come watch our Hangout video.
Sonia Marsh Bio:
Sonia Marsh is a “Gutsy” woman who can pack her carry-on and move to another country in one day. She’s a motivational speaker who inspires her audiences to get out of their comfort zone and take a risk. She says everyone has a “My Gutsy Story”; some just need a little help to uncover theirs. Her story, told in her travel memoir Freeways to Flip-Flops: A Family’s Year of Gutsy Living on a Tropical Island, is about chucking it all and uprooting her family to reconnect on an island in Belize.
Sonia has lived in many countries – Denmark, Nigeria, France, England, the U.S. and Belize – and considers herself a citizen of the world. She holds a degree in environmental science from the University of East Anglia, U.K., and now lives in Southern California with her husband, Duke.
Sonia welcomes new friends, bloggers, writers and readers at Soniamarsh.com (http://soniamarsh.com) Contact her at: sonia@soniamarsh.com www.facebook.com/GutsyLiving or Twitter.com/GutsyLiving
