Creating a Virtual Book Tour

To see a video on Creating a Virtual Book Tour watch below. You can
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below the video.

More authors are turning to Virtual Book Tours, which are online
book events around the time of the book launch, as an alternative
to bearing the expense of a live book tour around the country.

Creation of a virtual book tour includes an online promotional
schedule for a month, soon after the book is launched, seeking to
connect with bloggers who will read and tout the book. You can also
attempt to get interviews through radio and podcasts, participate
in on-line prearranged chats and hold teleclasses or web casts. The
aim of these events is to both sell books as well as get a whole
new group of interested people to sign up on your web site for
further communications.

To be effective, a virtual book tour takes some strategic thought
and preparation time, but it can be well worth it in terms of book
sales at minimal expense. The goal of a virtual book tour is to
sell books, but also to draw attention to the author and the
author’s web site so that new names and emails are captured for the
database. There are ten steps to success when you plan a virtual
book tour.

Strategy for Success

1. Brainstorm and research blogs, podcasts, web sites, radio shows
and other interview and connection venues that have already
attracted the same audience as you are attracting with your
book.

Use these links to use to find blogs, podcasts, review sites and
more.

Online Communities

www.Ning.com
www.Gather.com
http://Dir.groups.yahoo.com

Topic Research

www.Google.com
www.StumbleUpon.com

Blog Research

www.Technorati.com

Podcast Research

www.PodcastAlley.com
www.Apple.com/iTunes/podcasts

Internet Radio Stations

www.BlogTalkRadio.com
www.FreeTalkLive.com
www.VoiceAmerica.com

Online Book Review Sites

www.readerville.com
www.bookmuse.com
www.bookreporter.com
www.goodreads.com
www.LibraryThing.com
www.Shelfari.com
www.BookPage.com
www.BookWire.com
www.BookReporter.com
www.BookListOnline.com
www.ArmChairInterviews.com

Book Directories

www.Published.com
www.FiledBy.com

Broadcast Radio Research

www.RadioTower.com

Social Networking Sites

www.Facebook.com
www.Twitter.com
www.LinkedIn.com
www.Squidoo.com
www.YouTube.com

Twitter Directory

www.TweetFind.com

Use the Virtual Book Tour Log or create your own to document what
you find.

2. Make sure the book/author web site or pages are all they can be,
including an online media kit with interview questions and
news-relevant press releases. You want your home page to list your
other virtual book tour stops or have a special page that will do
this.

Campaign Prep

3. The campaign should be set for the 30 (or 60) days following the
publication date. You can make the greatest impact if you set the
publication date at a time when the book is most newsworthy (such
as a holiday or national week of X) and that is relevant to your
book.

Also, make sure you have a lot of free time during that same period
of time so you can book interviews.

4. Besides getting notice by bloggers, podcasters, radio
interviewers and others, it is great to do your own events during
this same period – teleclasses, contests, etc. –anything that makes
your site more interactive and interesting to readers.

The Two Months Before the Campaign

5. Create a book trailer, which is a short video advertisement for
the author and/or the book. The simplest book trailers are still
photos with captions set to music. Book trailers can also be
produced with video and professional voice-overs and can cost
thousands of dollars to produce.

6. Create the pitch letter and send it out . The most important
thing you need to do in the pitch letter is to tell the reader how
much you enjoy/appreciate his or her work. The more specific you
can be, the better. The pitch letter should also off er a copy of
the book and other freebies for the bloger/poscaster or his or her
readers/listeners. Insisting that you (or worse, your book) are
perfect for the reader’s audience/listeners is not your best
approach. Everyone does that. Provide easy links to your site in
the letter.

During the Campaign

7. Send out confirmations of your participation on shows/blogs and
make sure you know what they want and expect of you. Do what you
say you will, when you promise it will be delivered.

8. Enjoy the process, even with the glitches that inevitably
happen. If you get bumped or canceled, don’t react negatively with
the show producer/ podcaster/blogger. Try to reschedule as soon as
you can. Be fun and interesting on and off the air.

After the Tour

9. Send personal specific thank yous (emails are fine, regular mail
is better) to everyone who interviewed you or linked to your site.
Offer to help them as they have helped you.

10. Follow up and pursue the additional opportunities that you
learned about during the virtual book tour. This is one of the most
valuable parts of the tour is the new connections you make.

Book promotion is a long-term process and takes a very winding
road, so be happy with the connections you made. Sales may happen
as a result of the mp3s and blog links you now have on the author’s
site as a result of the tour, so a virtual book tour is worth a lot
in the long run, regardless of the success of the tour for
immediate book sales.

Next Steps

Download a PDF of the slides from the slidecast (3 slides per
page)

Download a PDF of the slides from the slidecast (1 slide per
page)

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