Blog, Blog, Blog ... Does It Really Help Sales?

So, my book blog tour has been in action for six days now, with eight more to go. I've had a couple of nice reviews, displays on blog sites, and interviews and more reviews to come. The purpose? Well, I hoped to promote sales of my latest mystery, Dying to Dream. I think it's probably too soon to tell if it will pan out and be worth the money I shelled out for the tour. Until then ... Let's discuss it.

Do you think blog tours work? Do blogs even work anymore, period? Or have they faded away, disappeared into the shadows while Twitter and Facebook have become the giants of social media? I did read a recent survey results about the various aspects of social media and consumer habits. Facebook seems to be what readers look at more than anything ... more than blogs, more than Goodreads, more than author websites, even more than online retailers such as Amazon ... when it comes to news about books, authors, and such. So, back to my question: do blog tours work?

First off, any type of network publicity needs multiple efforts. If I don't promote the promotion, then it doesn't spread to a wider audience. Lost opportunity there. Second, (and this isn't me whining or making excuses; it's me just stating an obvious fact) the amount of books being published every year, every day tends to put one in that proverbial sea of millions of fish. Write a great novel, and then pray for the best. That's the motto. Of course, unless you land the big one, that literary house -- one of only a few existing and surviving -- that sits atop the thrown who publishes you. Then you're golden, right? Wrong. I site the case of J.K.Rowling, otherwise known for a very short while as Robert Whats-his-name. She had a big house publishing her. Yet, until the "real" name was revealed, Robert"s book wasn't selling all that much, the publisher didn't put anything of substantial value into marketing the book (that's the norm with newbies -- take a chance on publishing them, see if they sink or swim on their own merit, and if not swimming, get rid of them ASAP). After the true identity came out? Bingo, sales soared.

But back once again to my original question: do blog tours work? Well, write a great novel, climb aboard the blogging gravy train, and then pray for the best!

To be continued in about eight days or so ...

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