Blog Tour Experience Stories?

jayajha · 05-04-2014, 01:04 AM

Hello everyone,

I wanted to understand the idea and effectiveness of blog tours for book promotions. I searched the forum, but could not find a recent thread about it.

Could you share your experiences of blog tour? Specifically how did you go about organizing them and how effective they were?

Regards
Jaya

VydorScope · 05-04-2014, 01:55 PM

I have not done one yet, but from what I can tell from talking with fellow authors they do not seem to effective.

If you decide to try one, There are plenty of companies out there that will run tours for you and have all the contacts in place. For example, I have been told this one is good:

Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours
http://readingaddictionvbt.blogspot.com/

Still considering trying one just because I have not yet. I do not see how they could HURT that is for sure.

HarryT · 05-05-2014, 06:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

Still considering trying one just because I have not yet. I do not see how they could HURT that is for sure.

It could waste a lot of time that you'd otherwise spend more productively.

jayajha · 05-05-2014, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VydorScope

I have not done one yet, but from what I can tell from talking with fellow authors they do not seem to effective.

If you decide to try one, There are plenty of companies out there that will run tours for you and have all the contacts in place. For example, I have been told this one is good:

Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours
http://readingaddictionvbt.blogspot.com/

Still considering trying one just because I have not yet. I do not see how they could HURT that is for sure.

Thanks a lot for answering. If you try, please do share your experiences.

jayajha · 05-05-2014, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It could waste a lot of time that you'd otherwise spend more productively.

Did you find it unproductive, then?

HarryT · 05-05-2014, 01:07 PM

Not something I've personally done. Just responding to Vincent's comment that he couldn't see any down-sides to it.

VydorScope · 05-05-2014, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

It could waste a lot of time that you'd otherwise spend more productively.

Well - I would see it as an experiment. Even a failure teaches you and you get value out of it.

But in all likelihood I probably won't bother since I have very little reason to believe it will be a positive experience.

cromag · 05-05-2014, 03:27 PM

Sorry -- off topic. My netbook burped.

Lima Bean · 05-09-2014, 10:22 AM

I'm in the middle of a very long Orangeberry book tour (Jan. though Aug.). I won't know until I get to the end of it if I got anything out of it, but if I had to answer you today I'd say no.

My guest posts are showing up on the various blogs in timely fashion, but this is material generated by me, not the bloggers.

I have been told reviews will be posted at the very end of the tour, so I'm hoping this will make a difference. The promotion has been running for five months, and as far as I can tell, there hasn't been a single tour-related sale.

I'll try to remember this thread and chime in again come August, after the book reviews go up.

Lima Bean · 08-25-2014, 02:21 PM

I haven't forgetten about this thread. It's just that my Orangeberry Blog tour is still running. I don't know why. If I remember correctly was scheduled to end at the beginning of August. When I went back to my online blog tour itinerary a few weeks ago, I noticed it was changed to August 28th. Between now and then another blog tour stop has been added to the end of the list without explanation and there's no date given. A delay tactic? Maybe. None of my reviews are up yet. Now I'm going, hmmmm. Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I don't think so. Thus far the long tour hasn't helped me with sales, but I do have a sliver of hope that the reviews will help pull in a few new readers.

Stay tuned...

zerofatzreturns · 09-07-2014, 01:20 AM

If you were selling your book from your own blog then you could set up google analytics on it and you could measure the effectiveness of the tour. You could easily see how much traffic the tour was generating to your blog and where that traffic was coming from. I think it's an awesome idea.

Lima Bean · 01-08-2016, 09:01 AM

I meant to get back to this thread. My advice . . . stay clear of Orangberry. A total waste of time and money.

If memory serves, I was supposed to get 20-something reviews. Orangeberry even sent me a list of all of the tour stops, including the bloggers who had agreed to do reviews, and the dates on which they would appear.

All that got posted during my tour was the author interviews they asked me to fill out beforehand. I got zero reviews from their bloggers. After numerous inquiries, toward the end of the tour, the owner told me she was ill and that's why the reviews didn't happen.

Not wanting to stress out someone who was seriously ill, I let it go. But I couldn't help to wonder why her illness stopped twenty independent bloggers from reading and reviewing my book. Could the owner of Orangeberry and all of the bloggers on the tour be the same person? I asked myself. I cannot prove it with the evidence at hand, but I'm satisfied that I know the answer to that question. Anyway, she offered no refund or remedy. The tour generated zero buzz and probably zero sales.

Edit: a forum member just PM'd me to say that the owner of Orangeberry has started a new tour company called Booktour.tips. Different name, same story, so beware.

Booktour.tips and Orangeberry Tours . . . just don't.

Dr. Drib · 01-09-2016, 05:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lima Bean

I meant to get back to this thread. My advice . . . stay clear of Orangberry. A total waste of time and money.

If memory serves, I was supposed to get 20-something reviews. Orangeberry even sent me a list of all of the tour stops, including the bloggers who had agreed to do reviews, and the dates on which they would appear.

All that got posted during my tour was the author interviews they asked me to fill out beforehand. I got zero reviews from their bloggers. After numerous inquiries, toward the end of the tour, the owner told me she was ill and that's why the reviews didn't happen.

Not wanting to stress out someone who was seriously ill, I let it go. But I couldn't help to wonder why her illness stopped twenty independent bloggers from reading and reviewing my book. Could the owner of Orangeberry and all of the bloggers on the tour be the same person? I asked myself. I cannot prove it with the evidence at hand, but I'm satisfied that I know the answer to that question. Anyway, she offered no refund or remedy. The tour generated zero buzz and probably zero sales.

Edit: a forum member just PM'd me to say that the owner of Orangeberry has started a new tour company called Booktour.tips. Different name, same story, so beware.

Booktour.tips and Orangeberry Tours . . . just don't.

Sorry you had a bad experience with this scammer.

Yes, I would call that a SCAM.

N. D. Iverson · 01-11-2016, 08:49 PM

Thank you for the heads up! I'll make sure to avoid them.

I have an upcoming tour with Goddess Fish Promotions in February and they seem professional so far. But I guess the results will speak for themselves in the end.

bookblogger · 01-23-2016, 06:23 PM

Wow, that's a terrible experience.

I've hosted a lot of book tour stops on my blog for different companies.

Fire and Ice Book Promos
Tasty Book Tours
and Goddess Fish... they are all the real deal.

05-04-2014, 01:04 AM	#1
jayajha InstaScribe Creator Posts: 16 Karma: 104 Join Date: Feb 2014 Location: Bangalore, India Device: Kindle Keyboard	Blog Tour Experience Stories? Hello everyone, I wanted to understand the idea and effectiveness of blog tours for book promotions. I searched the forum, but could not find a recent thread about it. Could you share your experiences of blog tour? Specifically how did you go about organizing them and how effective they were? Regards Jaya

05-05-2014, 03:27 PM	#8
cromag Surfin the alpha waves ~~ Posts: 26,046 Karma: 459735575 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: New Jersey Device: Jetbook Lite & Mini, Nook STR, Kobo, Hanvon N516, Kindle 2, Androids	Sorry -- off topic. My netbook burped. Last edited by cromag; 05-05-2014 at 03:34 PM.

05-09-2014, 10:22 AM	#9
Lima Bean Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 527094 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: USA (near Lima, Ohio) Device: Kindle	I'm in the middle of a very long Orangeberry book tour (Jan. though Aug.). I won't know until I get to the end of it if I got anything out of it, but if I had to answer you today I'd say no. My guest posts are showing up on the various blogs in timely fashion, but this is material generated by me, not the bloggers. I have been told reviews will be posted at the very end of the tour, so I'm hoping this will make a difference. The promotion has been running for five months, and as far as I can tell, there hasn't been a single tour-related sale. I'll try to remember this thread and chime in again come August, after the book reviews go up. Last edited by Lima Bean; 05-09-2014 at 10:58 AM.

01-08-2016, 09:01 AM	#12
Lima Bean Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 527094 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: USA (near Lima, Ohio) Device: Kindle	I meant to get back to this thread. My advice . . . stay clear of Orangberry. A total waste of time and money. If memory serves, I was supposed to get 20-something reviews. Orangeberry even sent me a list of all of the tour stops, including the bloggers who had agreed to do reviews, and the dates on which they would appear. All that got posted during my tour was the author interviews they asked me to fill out beforehand. I got zero reviews from their bloggers. After numerous inquiries, toward the end of the tour, the owner told me she was ill and that's why the reviews didn't happen. Not wanting to stress out someone who was seriously ill, I let it go. But I couldn't help to wonder why her illness stopped twenty independent bloggers from reading and reviewing my book. Could the owner of Orangeberry and all of the bloggers on the tour be the same person? I asked myself. I cannot prove it with the evidence at hand, but I'm satisfied that I know the answer to that question. Anyway, she offered no refund or remedy. The tour generated zero buzz and probably zero sales. Edit: a forum member just PM'd me to say that the owner of Orangeberry has started a new tour company called Booktour.tips. Different name, same story, so beware. Booktour.tips and Orangeberry Tours . . . just don't. Last edited by Lima Bean; 01-08-2016 at 11:56 AM.

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05-04-2014, 01:55 PM	#2
VydorScope Wizard Posts: 3,418 Karma: 35207650 Join Date: Jun 2011 Device: iPad	I have not done one yet, but from what I can tell from talking with fellow authors they do not seem to effective. If you decide to try one, There are plenty of companies out there that will run tours for you and have all the contacts in place. For example, I have been told this one is good: Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours http://readingaddictionvbt.blogspot.com/ Still considering trying one just because I have not yet. I do not see how they could HURT that is for sure.

05-05-2014, 01:07 PM	#6
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383099 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Not something I've personally done. Just responding to Vincent's comment that he couldn't see any down-sides to it.

08-25-2014, 02:21 PM	#10
Lima Bean Groupie Posts: 172 Karma: 527094 Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: USA (near Lima, Ohio) Device: Kindle	I haven't forgetten about this thread. It's just that my Orangeberry Blog tour is still running. I don't know why. If I remember correctly was scheduled to end at the beginning of August. When I went back to my online blog tour itinerary a few weeks ago, I noticed it was changed to August 28th. Between now and then another blog tour stop has been added to the end of the list without explanation and there's no date given. A delay tactic? Maybe. None of my reviews are up yet. Now I'm going, hmmmm. Maybe my memory is fuzzy, but I don't think so. Thus far the long tour hasn't helped me with sales, but I do have a sliver of hope that the reviews will help pull in a few new readers. Stay tuned...

09-07-2014, 01:20 AM	#11
zerofatzreturns Junior Member Posts: 6 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: United States Device: kindle	If you were selling your book from your own blog then you could set up google analytics on it and you could measure the effectiveness of the tour. You could easily see how much traffic the tour was generating to your blog and where that traffic was coming from. I think it's an awesome idea.

01-11-2016, 08:49 PM	#14
N. D. Iverson Junior Member Posts: 1 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Canada Device: none	Thank you for the heads up! I'll make sure to avoid them. I have an upcoming tour with Goddess Fish Promotions in February and they seem professional so far. But I guess the results will speak for themselves in the end.

01-23-2016, 06:23 PM	#15
bookblogger Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: Nov 2014 Device: non	Wow, that's a terrible experience. I've hosted a lot of book tour stops on my blog for different companies. Fire and Ice Book Promos Tasty Book Tours and Goddess Fish... they are all the real deal.

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