Saturday, February 3, 2018

Advice for Authors Doing Blog Tours by @KayelleAllen #MFRWauthor #Author

I host over 350 authors a year on Romance Lives Forever, and I have hosted many blog tours. I currently have about 2k viewers a day on RLF, and to get them, I use good content, good formatting, and consistent posting. I also amplify my blog's reach with Triberr (more about that in an upcoming post).

Purpose of Blog Tours

Blog tours are primarily used to get your book in front of readers. When you launch a new title, it's an efficient way to show off the cover and the blurb and tease readers into pre-ordering or buying.

Blog tours should allow readers to see how original you are as a writer. Having different subjects for each post can help. If you have 10-12 posts, each with an identical title, it's a bit boring. Change it up by using new titles on each site.

Use solid hashtags in the title. Yes, in the title. Why? Hashtags are search programs. When you click one on social media, it shows you other tweets or posts that used the same topic. When people share your post on social media, that title becomes a tweet or a Facebook title. If it has a hashtag, your chances of being seen shoot up exponentially. Even more if your Twitter name is in the title. Search Twitter for the hashtag #RLFblog to see this in action. To know if a hashtag is worth using, search it on Twitter or for faster results, try a site like RiteTag.

However, do not use your Twitter name as a hashtag (#yourname). If you're the one sending the tweet, your name is right there in the sent info. If you're a guest somewhere, give them your Twitter name to use as a mention (@yourname). Readers on social media can click the @name and easily follow you. The hashtag is going to take them to a search program. Use your name to get followers and pull them to your homepage, not to send people on a search.

A bonus of the @name versus a hashtag is that Twitter will pull those mentions into your notifications page. They will not show you who used the hashtag. You're on your own finding those.

I've seen something lately that I hope dies a quick death. People are writing "Book Promo" or "Book Blitz" somewhere in the title. This is a big red flag that screams "Advertisement" or "Commercial". Readers don't want to be bludgeoned with ads and commercials. Please don't do this, especially on blog tours where you will be producing multiple posts. Please put those old fashioned words away and let them die in peace. They will kill your sales. I do not permit this type of wording on RLF.
 

When you use blog tours properly by setting out new posts, good hashtags, and snappy titles that draw attention, you are well on your way to a successful book launch.

New from Kayelle Allen

Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire
When the immortal Pietas is marooned on a barren world with no food and few survival tools, he knows it could be worse. He could be alone. But that's the problem. He's not.
Half a million of his people sleep in cryostasis, trapped in their pods and it's up to Pietas to rescue them. Before he can save his people, he must take back command from a ruthless enemy he's fought for centuries. His brutal, merciless father. Immortals may heal, but a wound of the heart lasts forever... 
Amazon and in print. Free on Kindle Unlimited
http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI

Kayelle Allen is the founder of Marketing for Romance Writers. She writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal gamers, and warriors who purr. She's a US Navy veteran and has been married so long she's tenured.

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