By Chester Campbell
I'm getting ready to do a Blog Book Tour for my new Sid Chance mystery, The Surest Poison. My Musings colleague Jean Henry Mead knows all about it. She's done one. In my case, I'll be doing guest posts at a variety of blogs for fifteen days, between April 15 and May 1. I'm skipping Sundays to give everybody (including me) a rest.
It's become more of a challenge than I thought it would before starting this venture. I think most writers, when they've finished a book and have the printed copy in hand, move on to the next project and only rarely open the pages to read any of it. I know some mystery authors who say they never crack a book once it's finished.
With a Blog Book Tour, it's quite different. Not only do you find yourself going back to read passages, you do an awful lot of thinking about what's in the book and how it came about. I'm working on short articles dealing with book promotion, the setting of the story, how the plot came about, thoughts on writing about Private Eyes, dialogue, how to use electronic rights, is the mystery really about murder, writing about social issues, using sub-plots, multiple points of view, plus interviews with me and my main characters.
So far I have only four out of fifteen completed. If I wasn't the type of guy who works better under deadlines, I would be thinking panic time. It doesn't take me long to write a piece. My problem is getting past all the chaff that clutters up my daily schedule. And I use that term loosely. A schedule implies you have a list of things lined up to do.
I'm encouraged by those who've been there and done that saying the tour will help spread the word about your book. If all goes well, it should encourage people to get the book who otherwise wouldn't have known about it.
So if you happen to spot me wandering around in cyberspace over the next few weeks, looking a wee bit lost and unsure where I'm headed, give me a kindly nod and a cheery "Hi, there!" And if you spot one of my guest blogs, post a comment and get your name in the hat for free books I'll give away during the tour.
To find where I'll be, when, and what I'll be writing about, check out my Mystery Mania blog for a complete schedule of the tour. I'm looking forward to it. It should be a lot of fun.
Chester, best of luck. As usual, I'll most likely be following your lead, and I'll be watching and tracking your progress. I think Jean is in the vanguard here, as she often is, and this idea may well be the right track for the future. You are, indeed, going to be very busy for a while, but I look forward to your tour.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ben. It would be nice to set a good example. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, Chester, I hope you have a blast!
ReplyDeleteWith authors moving from blog to blog -- have I got a treat for Murderous Musings. My regular Saturday blog, plus an extra one on Sunday, will be turned over to my friend Rob Walker, who has some extremely helpful things to say about synopses and outlines.
He's written about 40 novels and has a new one coming out this summer from Five Star, so he knows whereof he speaks.
Go get 'em, Chester. (-:
Pat Browning
Thanks, Pat. I'm looking forward to Rob's articles. I don't know how he finds time to write so much on DorothyL, plus all the blogs.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with the blog tour, Chester. I was worn out for weeks after all that frantic writing, coordinating and praying that people would actually show up. I was pleasantly surprised and hopefully it helped with book sales.
ReplyDeleteGlad your tour did well, Jean. I know what you mean about the frantic writing, coordinating and what not. Between working on my Mystery Mania blogs, Murderous Musings and Make Mine Mystery, I'm fighting to get my tour posts done. Just hope my surprise is as pleasant as yours.
ReplyDelete