Book tours - what are they and are they worth the hype?

 


Have you ever been scrolling through Instagram and saw a post from someone claiming to be taking part in a book tour and wondered what on earth that is? Well if you have don't worry, I'm here to explain it all for you!

What are book tours?

Book tours are free events where you can sign up to receive a free copy of a book - either physical or ebook - from an author or publisher, with the agreement that you will post about it on a set day. The post is most often a review but there are some other options out there such as author interviews/profiles, cover reveals and spotlight posts, all to help promote the release of the book.

Most commonly the agreement is just for an Instagram post but sometimes it can branch out into other channels such as your own blog (sometimes called a blog tour) and Twitter. Typically on the day you post the organiser will promote your content through the publisher and their own social media.

What's the benefit to me though?

There are a couple of benefits here one of the biggest for me personally is getting to hear about authors you might not have otherwise as well as receiving a free copy to review.

The organiser advertising your content is another great thing which although I don't have any hard and fast analytics I can share with you definitely makes a difference as they will have access to an audience you most likely don't and every view is a potential new follower or contact.

If you're struggling for ideas of what to post tours can be a great way for helping you plan out your content either weeks or months ahead, handy if you think a wee bit more structure might be helpful for you. 

Are there any disadvantages to it?

I've done several book tours and haven't come across any disadvantages to them however there are a few things to consider.

Don't take take on more than you can handle. When you first start being invited to tours and cover reveals it can be very easy to sign up to everything going and you don't want to let yourself become overwhelmed or run out of time to do your reading.

I've never experienced any criticism myself for receiving gifted books but I know that it does happen, so make sure you're reviews are always honest, and if you end up really hating the book, let the organisers know rather than trying to struggle through and feeling like you're risking your integrity. Most organisers are really understanding and will either let you back out of your spot or switch your review for something like cover reveal or author profile. 

What organisers do you use?

The organiser I've used the most has been lovebookstours. If you sign up to their email list you'll receive at least a couple of emails a week for the opportunity to apply for review posts and things like publication day blitz's, these spots fill up fast so I would recommend you check at least once a day if you're serious about using them. I've only received e-books from them but I am usually pretty late in replying to their emails as they usually only have a limited number of spots. They're always really good at publicising their tours on Instagram and they're really active on twitter to. 

The second organiser I've used is Kaleidoscopic Tours although I haven't used them as often I would definitely recommend signing up to their email list also as they seem to get some really interesting books coming through, for example When I Come Home Again by Caroline Scott I was lucky enough to receive a hardback copy of and review for them back in November 2020.

Why are you recommending book tours when you haven't taken part in one for months?

I love doing book tours and I check my email from them regularly but I just haven't seen anything that's piqued my interest lately. I decided to take a bit of a break from them and review requests at the start of 2021 as I could feel my TBR sitting staring at me from my book trolley, and I've found that now that I've made some progress with it and got to read some of the books I was really anticipating I might decide to dip back into tours again.

Have you taken part in a a book tour or are you now considering it? Let me know! 

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