The One Thing Book Bloggers Hate Most

As I mentioned in another post, when I decided to coordinate my own blog tours I first spent some time thinking about what book bloggers might value, understanding what they do and the effort involved, and how to create great relationships with them.

I strive to make sure the bloggers I work with feel valued, and that idea is at the root of my blog touring process. At some point I realized, what better way to understand what they value than to ask? So I put out a survey, and 70 bloggers responded.

I asked bloggers to list some things authors or publishers have done that really turned them off and made them NOT want to work with those authors/publishers.

The overwhelming common thread in the answers, repeated over and over in various ways, was this:

Disregarding the blogger's review policy.

Here are some quotes from the survey:

“Authors who don’t read my review policy and send review requests anyway.”
“Spam me with requests to review books that clearly go against my guidelines…."
“My policy says I don’t review ebooks, and yet I get a ton of offers for them.”
"Asking me to review without looking at what type of books I accept.”

You get the idea.

Yes, it takes time to read each review policy and tailor each query. But you know what takes a lot MORE time? Reading your book (10-15 hours), writing up and formatting a review post (30 min? 1 hour? 2 hours?), promoting the post, and cross-posting the review on AmazonB&NGoodreads. Respect the review policy, and you help ALL authors stay in good standing with the bloggers who do so much for us.

Want To Put Together a Kick-A$& Blog Tour, But Not Sure How?
You're in luck - I'm co-teaching a webinar, 10 Steps to a Successful Blog Tour, on Feb 1. I'll be sharing more of what I've learned from the survey, plus my process for planning and conducting blog tours. A blog tour company may charge $100-$1000 to do your tour. This webinar is 50 bucks, and you'll learn all the essentials for creating your own successful blog tour, plus tips for building relationships with book bloggers and making your tour stand out from all the rest.

Space is limited - register for the StoneHouse University webinar 10 Steps to a Successful Blog Tour.

More On Blog Tours
This is the third post in my series about blog tours and working with book bloggers. Read the other posts:
Why Do a Book Blog Tour?
How I Went from DREADING Marketing to Loving It

Author K.C. Neal :: Pyxis Series :: YA Paranormal

Why Do a Book Blog Tour?

I've gained a bit of a reputation about book blog tours - I've coordinated five of them (the fifth starts in a week) and well over 200 blog appearances, just in the past 4 months - and I hear this a lot: "You're always touring!"

I get a ton of questions from author friends about all aspects of book blog tours - what they are, how to find bloggers, how to approach bloggers, how to get bloggers to review a book, how to structure giveaways, how to manage all of the details of a book blog tour. Book blog tours are kind of my thing. :) And for reals, I LOVE talking about this stuff!

So... Why Do a Book Blog Tour?

Targeting: Reach your target reader audience by getting featured on genre-specific blogs

Exposure: Many blogs have hundreds or thousands of followers

Reviews: Book bloggers review books; reviews are important for buyer confidence

Efficiency: You’ll reach many more people than you could with a bookstore signing tour… without even leaving your home.

Who Should Do a Book Blog Tour?

Anyone who's trying to sell a book. It doesn't matter whether your book will be released soon or has been out for years, whether it's fiction or non-fiction. There are blogs out there for all topics and genres.

Learn How To Do Your Own Blog Tour

 I'm co-teaching a webinar on February 1st, 10 Steps to a Successful Blog Tour. If you want to do a blog tour and you're not sure about where to start or how to do it, this is the course for you. You'll learn the essential steps to planning and executing your own successful blog tour, plus tips for building relationships with book bloggers and creating a tour that stands out from the rest. The webinar is $50, 2 hours long. I have a system that's worked extremely well for me, and I will teach you everything I know in this course, and in Part 2: Advanced Tips and Techniques for Blog Tours (in March).

StoneHouse University Webinar: 10 Steps to a Successful Blog Tour

Author K.C. Neal :: Pyxis Series :: YA Paranormal

Getting the Most From Twitter (Part 3: Why You Need to Be Yourself)

If you're active on Twitter, you've probably noticed how people's personalities come through. I'm always amazed by this, that 140 little characters can be so revealing. I think the short posts force tweeps to distill their thoughts, which means they're often left with the essence of their message... and of themselves.

It's not easy to articulate how it works, but I'm convinced that in order to successfully connect with people online, you must be yourself. This isn't about being un-boring, although that's important, too. It's about letting who YOU are shine though.

I'm not recommending you tweet every passing thought. Complaints, especially, get old reeeaaally quickly. My next post will have suggestions for the types of things to tweet. In this post, I want to emphasize that your tweets should be uniquely you.

"But It's 'Unprofessional'"
Some people think it's more "professional" to present a high-gloss slice of themselves on social media. But really, it's boring. BORING. Yep, I said it. Not only is it boring to read your professional persona, I believe that people who present themselves this way ultimately are less engaged because it's simply less enjoyable to utilize only a narrow part of themselves in their online interactions.

Generic Marketing Messages Are Not YOU
Most likely, you're on Twitter at least in part to market something--your blog posts, your books, your services, whatever--but no one wants to read a bunch of markety-sounding updates. You know how you get up for a snack during commercials, or fast-forward through the ads on TiVo? Don't be the tweeter other tweeps want to tune out. Marketing messages are fine. Just don't become a non-stop infomercial for yourself. And please, find a way to be YOU in your marketing messages.

If you're presenting a facade online... why? Just be yourself! :)


Missed previous posts?
Part 1: Why I LOVE Twitter
Part 2: How to Find People to Follow

Next up in Getting the Most From Twitter is Part 4: How to Gain Followers


Author K.C. Neal:: Pyxis Series :: YA Paranormal

Getting the Most From Twitter (Part 2: How to Find People to Follow)

Over about 6 months, my Twitter followers increased more than 12-fold (from 60ish to over 750), and I gain new followers every day. Plenty of other people have done it faster or gained a lot more followers in that timeframe. But my approach is all about making connections and having fun, and I don't use any aggressive tactics (or any "tactics" at all, really) to try to grow my list of followers. I'm happy with the way it's evolving, so I don't worry about the numbers.

The first thing to know is that if you want to gain followers on Twitter, you must follow others. Unless you're already famous, of course. :) If you're an author, you should be on Twitter trying to connect with readers (current and potential), book bloggers, other writers, people in publishing, etc.

But I know it can be tough, especially at first, to find people to follow. Here are some tips:

1. Leverage Your Other Social Networks
You're on Facebook, right? Go to your friends' pages and look for their Twitter links. Maybe post an update asking for your friends' Twitter handles. If you belong to FB groups, tell them you're trying to get more active on Twitter and ask for their Twitter handles.

Go to the blogs you frequent, look for bloggers' Twitter links, and follow them.

If you spend time on message boards, in Goodreads groups, etc, look for a thread where people have posted their Twitter handles. If there isn't a Twitter thread, start one.

2. Look at Who Your Friends Follow and Talk to
In the stream of updates from the people you follow on Twitter, pay attention to who they're talking to, take a peek at their profiles, and follow some of them; I do this all the time because it's so easy. You can also comb your Twitter friends' follow lists.

Look at your Twitter friends' Follow Friday (#FF) or Writer Wednesday (#WW) tweets. Ask your friends for recommendations. If you have a couple of Twitter friends who are pretty well-established, ask them to tweet a shoutout for you. I've done this a number of times for others, I'll say something along the lines of "Hey friends, book blogger so-and-so is new to Twitter - please follow and say hello!" Plenty of people are willing to help, just ask. And when they do help, don't forget to send out a thank-you tweet.

3. Look for Established Authors, Gurus, and Industry Leaders
If you read about writing, books, and the publishing industry - you are doing that, right? - find the Twitter accounts for people who write about writing, books, and publishing. Follow some of your favorite authors. Twitter is interesting in that it's one of the few platforms where there's a decent chance that someone relatively well-known could see your tweet and respond to you. It's happened to me a few times - nearly always in conversations that have nothing to do with writing or publishing, interestingly - and it's pretty cool.

Missed Part 1: Why I LOVE Twitter? Read it here.

Watch for the next post in the series, Part 3: Why You Need to Be Yourself


Author K.C. Neal:: Pyxis Series :: YA Paranormal

Getting the Most From Twitter (Part 1: Why I LOVE Twitter)

This is the first in a series of posts about Twitter. And I'm gonna be honest with you: in this post, I'm basically going on about how much I love Twitter and why. Practical info will come later. :)

How It All Started....
I created my Twitter account in 2009, not totally understanding what I was supposed to do with it. I mostly followed famous people. It was mildly entertaining, but not very engaging because I wasn't interacting with anyone. I found a few interesting non-famous people to follow, but still, it didn't really take off for me. No one I knew IRL was on Twitter.

Fast-forward to February of this year.... I decided I needed to ramp up my Twitter activity because I wanted to publish a novel, and it seemed like I was reading everywhere about how authors needed to be on Twitter, Facebook, etc, for marketing purposes. I had about 60 followers at the end of February 2011, and I knew I needed to change that. So I started finding writers and book bloggers to follow. I talked to them, and some of them talked back. A bunch of them started following me.

Hey, suddenly Twitter was kinda fun!

Followers Became Friends

In the months after I got more involved with Twitter, I became FB friends with many of my Twitter friends, and that just gave us one more way to get to know each other. We followed each other's blogs and reposted or retweeted each other's updates. I've gotten to know some of my online friends well enough that if I'm quiet for a day or two, they wonder where I am and ask if everything is okay. It's pretty cool. :)

Apart from connecting with other writerly and bookish people, I started following some local tweeters - turns out Boise is one of the most active U.S. cities on Twitter - and I've met maybe 20 or so IRL. For someone who normally hates talking to strangers (*raises hand*) and trying to make smalltalk (*raises hand again*), Twitter has been a great prelude because in most cases I've already had some online conversations with tweeps before I meet them for reals. So they're not really strangers.

It's not easy to explain to people who aren't on Twitter, but tweeps' personalities shine through remarkably clearly despite the 140-character limit. A person's sense of humor (or lack of it) somehow gets distilled and focused. And let's face it - you have to be pretty articulate to survive on Twitter.

I Just... Freaking LOVE Twitter
I love every part of the Twitter experience: the pithy updates, fast pace, highly interactive yet low-obligation format... and yeah, the sense of voyeurism you get when "listening in" on a bunch of public conversations.

Back in Feb I had about 60 followers. Now, I have around 700 (I'll talk more about how I gained followers in my next post). I've connected with so many people on Twitter who I'm sure I never would have found otherwise. I started out thinking I'd be using Twitter as a marketing tool, but that's taken a back seat to keeping up with my friends... and just having fun. :)

Read Part 2: How to Find People to Follow on Twitter


Author K.C. Neal:: Pyxis Series :: YA Paranormal