Survey Question: “What Do You Know about Virtual Book Tours?”

Thanks to those who answered my survey. (If you haven’t done so yet, please take just one minute to do so now .)

Since I do not have contact info for those who ask questions, I will answer any questions on this blog.

Here’s one: “What do you know about Virtual Book Tours?”

There are different ways to think of a “virtual book tour.”

Any time an author gets to talk about his or her book without being physically present, but doing it via phone or webcast, can be considered a “virtual book tour.” An author can be intereviewed one or more podcasts, for instance, and that can be considered a “virtual book tour.” A radio blitz campaign can be considered a virtual book tour. Some PR companies set these up for authors, often at launch time, when the book first comes out.The idea is to hit as many places as possible in a short period of time to create “buzz.”

There is another kind of “virtual book tour” that was created by Alex Mandossian. This is a specific kind of campaign in which an “ask the author” page is set up on a web site, the author is interviewed by a host who asks the submitted questions, the book is offered for sale (sometimes with extra bonuses). You have to sign up and ask a question to gain access to the live call and/or recording that is usually made available afterward.

The beauty of this latter kind of VBT, from an author’s point of view, is that not only are you selling books–you are able to gather names so that you can begin a relationship with your readers. In most other kinds of “virtual book tours,” such as radio interviews, the author just explains the book, the listener buys the book (or not), but still there is no way to start an ongoing relationship with readers.

Of course, if the author is smart, on the podcast or radio interview he or she will have some kind of free offer so that the all-important relationship with the reader–or prospective reader–can begin.

The number one weakness of the way books have traditionally been marketed is there was no way for readers and authors to connect. Any marketing tactic, including virtual book tours, should have as a main goal building a list–i.e. obtaining contact information of people who are exposed to your message and want that continuing relationship with you.

There are other great benefits to an “ask”-type VBT. If you would like to see this kind of virtual book tour in action, I encourage you to sign up for the one I’ll be doing with former acquisitions editor Terry Whalin next Tuesday evening. Signing up will allow you to experience first-hand the various aspects of this kind of VBT, and observe all the steps. Plus you’ll get to ask Terry Whalin your most pressing question about getting published.

I’ll be talking more about VBTs in the future, as this will be a big part of my own book marketing and service to my coaching clients. So stay tuned! (And if you haven’t signed up to be on my list, please do so now.)