WOW! Tonight I decided to bee-bop around blogs and see what's out there. I like to do that every now and then. Go through the Follow Me Friday list (and not just read the post but actually look at the blog) and I like to go through blogger's blog rolls. Holy smokes there are soooo many dang blogs participating in book blog tours right now. I am SERIOUS. And not just one. You scroll down their page and every post is a blog tour for an author. I myself have never participated in one (FYI). I don't have anything against them it's just I have enough books I need to read. I don't normally mind them either. But I don't really understand though what do people get out of participating in so many? They almost seem like spam to me. Do you get more followers from it? Free books? Get your name out there? Do you really read all those books? Then I'll see that same book on like 5 blogs I follow in the same day!
Maybe I just don't get it... I mean I try to be a good blogger and post stuff that people want to read. Do people want to read these blog tours and I am missing out on this big party happening?
I mean every time I went to a blog tonight and scrolled down the screen and saw multiple blog tours in one week I was like... gotta get out of here NOW!
Anyways.. that's my little rant for the night.. at midnight..... I just couldn't help myself!! Am I the only one?
I'm not a big book tour person myself, I've never done one and I don't particularly like reading them unless the author does something unique for each blog (which is rare). They do definitely feel spammy sometimes.
ReplyDeleteI found this really great blog post by a big author I might add, that I just loved:
Deletehttp://maureenjohnsonbooks.tumblr.com/post/24479018659/blog-tours-and-the-word-no
Someone saw my blog once and sent me to a website where i could book them, but I never did it. like you said, too many books to read already
ReplyDeleteToo many books... too little time!
DeleteLol, I think the point of book blog is to get the book "out there." That is, books that otherwise you wouldn't read? I rarely do them but sometimes I try helping out. I mean, those book blog tour people also gotta eat, right?
ReplyDeleteLOL... yes they do have to eat!
DeleteI just started getting requests to be part of blog tours and I was faced with the decision - do I want to start with this or not? I think not (unless its for the right book). Again, nothing against them but it seems a bit too much like direct commercial advertising and less about fun bookish chats. If it was for an author I followed and wanted to support - I would be all for it but I prefer to hear about books more naturally.
ReplyDeleteI too would probably host one that was an author I really enjoyed. Though I suppose that if a bunch of blogs do have a tour that book will get noticed because people will see the cover over and over in their newsfeed.
DeleteI've participated in a few blog tours. I'm a new blogger and it seems like a great way to get some traffic to your site - especially if there's a giveaway (which there usually is). I have found some really great books through tours, so I don't mind them. I do try to always do a review, though, if that's an option so that I'm adding my own input to the tour.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about the giveaways bringing traffic to your site. That is another thing I haven't done yet is host a bunch of giveaways. Sometimes I feel like that is "buying" my followers. I have had just one giveaway and that was because a studio game me a bunch of stuff to giveaway.. and it was cool stuff!
DeleteI have to admit I tend to avoid Blog tours and blogs that participate constantly in them. They kind of drive me crazy seeing the same stuff over and over again, it almost makes me not want to read the book because I am already sick of it. I have participated in a blog tour or two simply by posting a review of the book during the time frame but like some of you I feel like it is almost spam just posting a cover and a synopsis on all the blogs.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there have been some successful blog tours... but I am curious if it really gets that many people reading the book? It kind of reminds me of those people who stand on the corners with signs like "We buy gold" or "get your taxes done here". Do people say OMG I have to sell my gold right now, MUST pull over!!!! LOL!
DeleteI'm about to participate in my second blog tour. Like Ang, I participate by posting a review during the time frame. I agree that some of the posts can feel more like spam.
ReplyDeleteI really don't totally mind them.. but what I don't like is visiting a blog and I look down their homepage and it is blog tour after blog tour after blog tour. Once or twice a month seems right to me. But several a week??? And if you participate in a blog tour do you get that book for free?
DeleteI host tours often, like a couple times a week, and have been doing so for like a year, maybe more.
ReplyDeleteI only host books I'd want to read, like those I'd be curious to pick up and try out. And I have rules I apply to the content I do host and how I host it. It's not anything goes *insert evil chuckle*
If the book looks like I'd wanna try it out and I would try it out if I'd have time, then I wanna at least mention it. Maybe my readers will have time and would appreciate the mention, right? If I can spotlight it or have the author do a guest post or a fun excerpt then I like that better than never mentioning it all. If through my reviews I'm saying 'I liked this', or 'I didn't like this', then by these appearances (blog tour or not) I'm saying 'this looks interesting to me, might be worth a try'. You know what I mean?
The number of daily views sometimes goes up from my norm, but never down. And they have increased steadily over time, especially since I set up a sort of fixed schedule for what types of post I do on what day of the week.
I would have given up hosting book tours the way I do host them if I'd noticed my readers weren't liking the type of content I okayed.
I got to know about some books & authors I might not have found out about otherwise thanks to the tours. There's just SO much to read out there, I think it's becoming super hard to even find out about so many titles.
The main thing is I like book tours, giveaways, the #FF, that's the reason I do participate in them.
If you don't like the idea of tours then don't feel like you should do them or like them at all. Same goes with giveaways and anything else anyone else might be doing.
The readers of any blog read that blog because of what that blogger is doing, not because of what others are doing. That's how I see things. So you should do exactly what feels right to you and you should do it the way it feels right to you, because that's exactly what your readers want you to do.
It stands for whatever you write, in my opinion.
*looks up* Christ almighty! Someboy stop me from typing any more!! :D
Great response! I agree about all the books out there and not being able to find the diamond in the ruff. I didn't think about the #FF... does the author do the #FF then? It seems that the authors I do enjoy don't do blog tours. I wonder... if you join tours on blogs that host tours are you allowed to pick out the book you want to do? Or are you just assigned a book on the tour?
DeleteWell, the authors we all know very well have big publishing behind them. They don't need to meet us mere mortals book bloggers personally to promote their books, lol. They have people who have people who do that for them, so to speak. Which is why you'll most likely hear from say Entangled's publicist, or one of, or Tor's publicist or whatever bigger publisher about hosting an author sometime, or getting ARC-s for review or such - and that's if you're on their "radar" as influential ie with big following.
DeleteIndie/small-pub or self-pub authors often do their own "leg work" in promoting their work.
Some authors do blog hops and memes, sure thing. They try to connect with bloggers directly, create personal connections with future readers. They do giveaway hops too, sometimes. Of course, it's a case by case basis for sure. But I know some who do these things.
Yeah, you pick what titles you wanna be a host on the tour for! Generally, once you've signed up to be a host for a tour organizer, the organizer sends out an email to all hosts giving the book details for a particular tour. You reply to that invite if you're interested in participating in that tour. You let the organizer know which dates you're offering as possible stops and what kind of content you're willing to host, and then after they put together the schedule they let you know if you're a part of it or not and on what date and what you'll host, from the choices you gave them! It's always up to you, from start to end.
God, I'm a wordy person. Sowwy... :)
You should really do a blog post on how to do book blog tours and what to expect. Really you are very knowledgeable and helpful... I had no idea about half of this information. I might actually participate in a tour now (yes you read that right!!)
DeleteI've found this topic cropping up over a few different blogs recently and I've had questions too. While I enjoy reading about them on other blogs on occasion, I'm a mood reader. I try not to commit to certain dates and times for reviews because I'm never sure if I'll be in the mood to read it. If I force it, its almost always a bad review. If I wait until I'm ready that changes things.
ReplyDeleteI have even heard authors complaining that people who are reviewing their books aren't doing a very good job. I myself am not the best at wording my reviews. I do my best of course... but I would be so embarrassed if an author didn't like it. Also.. what if I don't like the book? Can I write a bad review about it? So confusing!
DeleteI firmly believe you can write a bad review or a DNF review. Not every book can be finished and not every book can be liked. If we never give bad reviews or DNF reviews then we mislead the readers. People want honest reviews? Well sometimes the books sucked for us and if we hide it then we are not upholding our honesty agreement.
DeleteI have just signed up for a blog tour for a book I really wanted to read. I don't plan on doing many (maybe 1 every couple of months) and only where the book really grabs my attention. It will be interesting to see how it goes! I agree too many seems spamy but then again I pick and choose posts to read from my reader so it doesn't really bother me how many someone does. The main reason I don't want to do too many is I have too many other bookish things that I want to post about :-)
ReplyDeleteHow do you find out what books are up for tours? Where would I go to look through the books to see if I am interested in any of them?
DeleteYou know, I'm also not a huge fan of blog tours. Especially so many. I actually tend to not read posts if they are a blog tour post. Unless it is a book that I CANNOT wait to read. I do like when the characters from the book answers questions, because that's pretty funny. But otherwise, I'm just not a fan.
ReplyDeleteI like the character interviews too. Those are really interesting. The only other tour I like it the cover reveals. I love those if the art is fun and interesting.
DeleteNo you are not! I found myself, during my slump, accepting so many blog tours my blog was starting to look like everybody else's... I LOST HITS. I didn't even realise what I was doing until I took a step back, looked at my blog and asked myself: what is the appeal of my blog? Honestly? I didn't see it. So I screeched to a halt and stopped. I now accept tours from a friend's company because they are lovely and I genuinely want to promote for them. The odd publishers IF I really like the sound of the book, same goes for indie authors if it's an author I love, sure. BUT. The content needs to stand out. It can't be another stream of "where did you get your inspiration from? if you were in your book, what powers would you have? what's coming up next?" or a guest post detailing heaven knows what because I know nobody reads them. How? Nobody ever commented. And when I see guest posts for blog tours, more often then not, I skip them.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe I let myself get to that point.. I really was in a slump.. Couldn't tell you why everybody else takes part in so many though. Every now and then they can be cool to find new authors. But.. overkill. I just won't follow those kinds of blogs. :)
I agree... when I go to a blog and there are 5 in a row.. with giveaways of course to gain followers ... I am like "don't you ever read what you want to read?"
DeleteAs a reader, I only like blog tours for the giveaways - not the recommendation. It seems like the quality of the book reviews for them are not as good as "regular" reviews on a lot of book blogs. I probably wouldn't read the blog tour book, unless I won a copy or I was already planning to read it.
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it - I am much more likely to add the book to my TBR (and get a copy myself) if it is not part of a massive tour. Go figure.
Agreed. It just depends on if it feels spammy to me. I run a young adult book club on goodreads and I have to set up a whole section for "goodreads authors" otherwise they spam the group to death!!!
DeleteI admit that I've been reviewing too many books for blog tours lately and honestly I don't see how it's worth it. I'm not going to be doing many more after this and after while I'm stopping it completely. I rather read books that don't have deadlines. Initially the books for blog tours look like they would be fun to read but the deadline always gets me. I like reading when I like to read. I'm always posting the last minute and lately I have been missing them completely. I feel bad about that... it's just too much stress. Not worth it...
ReplyDeleteWhat happens if you don't do a blog tour if you committed to it? Do you not get to do anymore for that publisher?
Delete