Virtual Blog Book Tours ... Do They Really Help Promote Sales?

Since I recently decided to give this a try ... sort of a booster shot for my latest book, I felt compelled to research what others had to say about the benefits of such venues as virtual blog tours. I was curious whether or not they found it really increased sales. Well, the overwhelming response has been positive.

It makes sense that in order to have your book sell, or any other product for that matter, it needs to reach its market of consumers. The problem is with so many products out there in cyberspace being advertised twenty-four seven, how does one get noticed or at least rise above the rest to have a fighting chance? The more you expose yourself -- no pun intended ;-) -- the more likely people will start to notice, maybe get curious, go check your product or service and buy.

Almost everything I read about a virtual blog tour falls in the plus category, exposure being the main one to find more buyers. The other benefit is creating that platform people talk about. If you sell yourself first, then consumers may become more comfortable with buying the products you offer. And in the world of authors and books, readers do tend to want to know more about the authors and their interests, maybe details on how their story ideas are developed, things like that. Being a guest on various blogs, providing answers to an interview, choosing to write a blog post, etc. helps create that platform.

The downside? Well, unless you plan on a ton of work putting together your own virtual tour where you have to find various bloggers who will agree to having you as a guest, then making sure they have enough followers, that the blog matches with your product idea, coordinating the schedule, etc, you have to consider another option. That option is to find a business site that does this whole thing for you. And that costs money. So, you start comparing, see who gives the most bang for your buck, so to speak.

I am trying Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours to hopefully get that platform moving and promote sales of Dying to Dream. It's a two week blog tour where I make 10 virtual stops the first two weeks of August. The price was reasonable compared to other sites, at least it fits my modest budget. I'm excited to see what it can do. And once it's over, I will be sure to come back here and post the results!

In the meantime, speaking of guest appearances, why not go over and check out my guest spot on Emerging Novelists ? This is Michael Murphy's site creation to help promote authors like myself. Kudos to him for being such an altruistic guy!

Happy reading!