An Odyssey around a broken world
Has the Book Blog Tour bubble burst?
19th March 2016
I thought it might be rather interesting to get a discussion going about the value of the publishing industry phenomenon: The Book Blog Tour. This is essentially a daily, virtual tour around individual bloggers who have either been selected or who have volunteered their services to take part in a structured tour, publicising a given book, usually newly published. Each day a blogger agrees to post something relevant on their own blog feed, on an agreed date – perhaps a personal review, an article from the author, an author interview, anything really that feels relevant to the book in the spotlight.
I guess from a publicist/publisher point of view, many ARCs (Advance Reading Copies) and review copies must go out in the post (unless it is Netgalley, in which case there are no postage costs involved) in order to facilitate publicity. That can be a lot of expenditure. I am also sure that many copies disappear into the ether, ending up on an ever growing TBR (To Be Read) pile; or perhaps the book turns out not to be something that appeals to a particular blogger, therefore it may well remain on the pending pile. Thus, in order to keep a little track of some of these copies, and gain benefit, some publishers/publicists often rightly push for space on the blog and ask the blogger to commit to a Blog Tour. A free book in return for a review (which is the spirit of “free books” sent to bloggers anyway). In this way some exposure can be guaranteed in return for the postal investment. But, my burning question is – is the traditional Blog Tour proving to be an easy and increasingly lacklustre way of promoting a new book? In other words, set a Blog Tour in motion, and thereby handily tick one of the promotion boxes? There are after all plenty of eager and willing bloggers out there who are only too happy to take part in a Blog Tour.
At TripFiction we have taken part in several over the years – and are still very happy to do so. However, as time rolls on, I am beginning to wonder about the efficacy of the Blog Tour and its future. Take the following example: I was recently asked to take part in a Blog Tour for the launch of a new book by a reasonably well-known author. I agreed. It was much later – and several reminders down the road – that the review copy arrived. I then asked for an author interview to go with our review, so that the author could also have a role in the promotion of his own book. I was informed, however, by the publisher that the author was unavailable and was on his travels. It was at this juncture that I found myself feeling just a tad exploited, who is the mug here, I mused? Who was it doing a fair bit of the donkey work to promote the book? Certainly not the publisher. So, I contacted the author direct, and voilà, a piece duly arrived from him which dovetails nicely with my review. A big tick to the author, a real minus to the publisher.
The question is, is the Blog Tour a relatively easy way for some (and I only mean some) publishers to pass the promotion buck? As I scroll through the various Social Media options on a daily basis, I often pick up the new posts, highlighting a new book, which appear each day as part of a Blog Tour. If the book is of interest, I will certainly look at the posts on the first couple of days, but thereafter I find a distinct ennui setting in. Sometimes, I have gleaned what I need and will move on – there are after all only a certain number of hours in the day. On occasion it can feel like saturation when one sees the revolving door of fast moving Social Media spewing out the same title again and again. Enough, I imagine, to turn even the most hardy reader away. When a Blog Tour lasts 7 or 10 days, what are the actual benefits in the later stages? Overkill for sure. Has anyone done any research into the longer term pay-offs, I wonder? How much interest do Blog Tours really garner amongst the reading public?
Setting up a good Blog Tour takes a lot of work for publishers/publicists – they have to engage the bloggers, gain their commitment, print the dates/details in a banner, keep everything on track, bring in the author contributions and facilitate the smooth running of the BT. Not insignificant. Yet not all publishers/publicists do that, as I have illustrated – some just set a date, and the blogger is left to get on with it. That is just plain lazy and of little use to their author, I imagine.
Further commitment to a Blog Tour takes place when the blogger posts on their assigned day, goes on to highlight the blog tour, tweets their article, chats about the book on Facebook, and more; regrettably some publisher/publicists are sadly noticeable by their lack of interaction. Not a peep. Authors perhaps can no longer assume that a Blog Tour is still the symbiotic relationship between bloggers and publicists/publishers that it once was. They might need to start keeping a wary eye on what is going on if they want their book to shine amongst the myriad of books that appear every day…..
One final thought is that a review/post on a Blog Tour is in all likelihood going to be really quite positive, the exercise is after all to reinforce the brand value of the book. Some bloggers are happy to feature posts written by the author; or about the author by others; or host the writing of a third party pertaining to the book in question – in other words they offer their own blog as a vehicle for publicity. This of course works well most time, but sometimes an injudicious decision to ‘host’ a feature about a new book can backfire, particularly if the book turns out not to be great. But that is for individual bloggers to decide for themselves.
So, have Blog Tours peaked? Are they now such an easy way to get a title into the public eye that they are losing their promotional value? Are there just too many saturating the daily Social Media feed? Or is there still life left in the Book Blog Tour? And as bloggers do we all need to be a bit more savvy?
What are your thoughts and experiences?
Tina for the TripFiction Team
Connect with the team at TripFiction via Twitter (@tripfiction), Facebook (TripFiction), Instagram (TripFiction) and Pinterest (TripFiction)
Please wait...
I just joined blog tour this year. I really want to help authors. Wonder whether my blog tour post in my blog will make a difference.
http://Www.sharing55tories.blogspot.com
I enjoy reading and hosting the guest posts on blog tours thereby learning more about the author or those involved in bringing the book to publication. There do seem to be a lot of tours and obviously I only look at those where I am curious about the book. I read reviews whether part of a tour or not. It would be interesting to get a view from a publicist as to how effective they think tours are as a means of garnering sales.
In recent months PR staffers and publishers have adopted more aggressive forms of social media marketing. With fewer opportunities for newspaper coverage blog tours have become an increasingly attractive way of building a buzz for a book and author.
Initially tours were an effective way of bloggers building a relationship with publishing houses and the book reading community but the current overkill may lead to a scenario where reviews are treated with scepticism by potential readers.
Some dubious practice is evident, bloggers are frequently asked to participate before receiving the book. Spotted several instances of PR staffers posting reviews on their own sites. Rather than persuade people to buy certain titles, they may be put off because of doubts about the review’s honesty.
This is a great discussion topic because I come at it from the author/self-publisher angle. In my case, I would say that the Blog Tour is _not_ easy, and I think this is because I’ve hit upon the trend after the wave has crested. Perhaps because the wave sapped a lot of bloggers’ goodwill, I’ve found it hard to cultivate those genuine online relationships (except with TripFiction, of course!).
In terms of the payoff, it’s hard to say, and this is one of the things Shanna Mann and I were trying to plumb: how can you can track the effect of any one marketing effort, when the best practice is normally to combine as many as possible at one time? I’ve followed a few books that had blog tours, and Jennifer Roland’s was notably aggressive in its layout, scale, repetition, and variety, which I actually appreciated. I aspire to such heights of organization planning for my next launch!
(Copied from my post on Book Connectors FB group)
I take your point about the value of a long blog tour – I don’t always keep up with other stops on blog tours I’m on though I try! However, I think as bloggers we are more likely to see all the posts from fellow bloggers which might seem like overkill. But people who follow us, whether by Twitter, Facebook or whatever, may not follow other bloggers and therefore will be seeing the publicity for a book for the first time.
I’ve never taken part in a Blog Tour but I’ve been on the receiving end of many posts from other bloggers. I tend to switch off after the first couple if I’m honest. If I’m interested in the book I’ll make a note of it the first time. By the time I’ve seen it 3 or 4 times I just automatically delete. While I’m only new to the world of blogging (I started just to have a dedicated place to post my reviews away from Goodreads and Amazon) I do get the sense that it feels quite incestuous at times. The same bloggers appear frequently and they very often cross post each others blogs which means further duplication of already prolific posts on a blog tour. The idea of a tour, loses it’s relevence if posts are being made to the same people or via the same forums. I also wonder about the impartiality of those involved as by default these tours are going to be positive and promotional.
I think the initial idea of the BT was a good one when blogging was in its infancy. Now there are so many blogs maybe it has lost its impact.