Blog Tours for Authors – are they worth it?

Hello, fellow readers, writers and bloggers!

As any writer will tell you, there’s nothing better for inspiration and motivation than a bloody good, heart-warming review. And I’ve had several lately, thanks to the ‘blog tour’ journey that my novel, Infinite Stranger, recently underwent.

For the unenlightened, a blog tour is when passionate readers who are constantly on the lookout for new material sign up to receive a free copy of a book, in exchange for writing an honest, objective review. These readers, or book bloggers, are typically found on platforms such as Instagram. The organiser of the tour will arrange a schedule of fixed dates for the bloggers who have signed up for a particular book, and they will be sent hard copies about three months before their scheduled review date. This is in order to give them plenty of time to read the novel (duh). Some bloggers also accept e-books, but the majority prefer paperback versions. When their given date arrives, they will post their review on Instagram, and soon afterwards, on Amazon and/or Goodreads, though some of the bloggers might need a gentle reminder of the latter. 🙂

Be warned – if a blogger doesn’t like your book, they’re not obliged to finish or review it and you can’t force them to, because this is a service that they offer for free. So there’s nothing you can do about that! Obviously the organiser of the blog tour will try to match your novel’s genre and blurb to individual bloggers’ tastes in literature, but there’s still no guarantee at the end of the day that they will love your book.

Moving on, all the author has to do is is contact the organiser of the blog tour, send them info about your book, agree on US, UK locations for the bloggers (or both, as I did with Infinite Stranger), pay a fee to the organiser (not an outrageous one, don’t worry) and send out copies of your book to the bloggers. Alternatively, the organiser can do this, negotiated in the fee. In general, only reviews of 3, 4 and 5-stars are posted, or none at all if a blogger doesn’t like your book, as I already explained. Some of the bloggers create a picture to accompany their post, incorporating aspects of the story they’ve reviewed. The image I’ve chosen for this post was created by@bookgrlobsessed, which I think is rather lovely, wouldn’t you agree?

If you’re considering signing up for a blog tour and wondering which one to use, from my personal experience, I can recommend Random Things blog tours, and LoveBooksTours. Both organisers were very professional, and very prompt in replying to emails.

My own novel, Infinite Stranger, has recently finished a 10-day blog tour which I have been overwhelmingly satisfied with. Not only did it generate a fair amount of traction on Instagram and gain me several new followers, it also gave me the confidence to realise, completely objectively (all reviewers are total strangers to me, from both the UK and US) that my book really does seem to be winning readers’ hearts and intriguing their imaginations. And please don’t think I’m being vain here – this assumption is purely based on reviews.

As I’m feeling dead chuffed at the moment, as well as pretty generous, I’m offering a special August promotion in which you can purchase my book for just $1.99 on amazon.com. The promotion lasts until the end of Thursday, 15^th August.

Below are some examples of reviews from my novel’s recent blog tour. I’ve provided each of the blogger’s Instagram handle after each extract, so if you’d like to read the entire review in order to see the quality of the bloggers, then feel free to look them up. 🙂

“Wendy Skorupski has won my heart with this novel. It is immersive, heart wrenching, spell binding and beautiful. Complicated romance and drama at its best. 10/10 would recommend for a book club.”  @fullybookedinkentucky

“This is one of the best examples of “love hurts” I think I’ve ever seen. I’d almost throw #domesticthriller into the mix.”  @amorina.carlton

“How, oh, how do we recognize the love that will last a lifetime? How do we differentiate it from a “youthful, naïve love” versus a “peripheral” or “toxic longing”? These are the questions that plagued me as I read this author’s cathartic journey.”  @readingonthebrink

“I was shocked by this read and couldn’t put this down. I just can’t stop thinking about this book!!!” @afelton6212

“It’s a story that once you start you won’t want to stop.” @bookgrlobsessed

“An intense portrayal of romance, desire, forbidden love and toxic relationships.” @victoriasbooknook

“Sometimes a book grabs you from the first page and this was one of those books for me. I was completely engrossed!”  @finding_joyathome

“Wow, this book was such an incredible heartwarming read and beautifully written. I couldn’t put it down.”  @book.lover1486

“I don’t think I’ve ever read a book like this. The story is honestly so captivating. Incredible writing.”  @sky._.readz

“I was gripped right from the beginning. A brilliant read which took me on a real journey.” @bluefairybugsbooks

“The writing of this book was fantastic. I was wondering how the story would end right up until the last page.”  @pagesandpieces

“Do we ever know the truth about the stories we are told? This is a love story filled with obsession and forbidden relationships.”  @marbooks88

“I was completely immersed in this book. All three of the main characters have their dreams and demons and the story unfolds perfectly as their lives intertwine.”  @daisyhollands Tea Leave & Book Leaves

“To care and feel invested in the plot, compelled to know the ending, is a sign of a successful book.”  @readabookandlearnanewword

…..

And so, getting back to the question I asked in the title of this post – are blog tours worth it? – the answer is a big resounding YES, though you’d probably already guess that, if you’ve read this far!