Types of Book Virtual Publicity Tours

Does the thought of having to travel across the country (or further) to deal with interviews and book signings make you cringe as an author? Would you rather be home working on your next book instead? The good news is that virtual publicity tours have been picking up steam for a while now in the book publicity world, meaning authors can do more to promote their books without traveling, forking over the money to help support a traditional book publicity tour, or taking too much time away from writing. The best part is that virtual publicity tours can even give you a broader reach to your target readers, and plenty of opportunities for author-reader interaction.

What is a Virtual Publicity Tour?

A virtual book publicity tour is much like a traditional tour - the author will "visit" various outlets to talk about their book and interact with readers on a more personal level.

The difference between a traditional book publicity tour and a virtual book tour is that an author doesn't participate in person - they do so "virtually" (meaning from home, their office, or wherever they choose).

Types of Virtual Publicity Tours for Authors

While we generally think of virtual publicity tours as online book promotion, such as a virtual blog tour, that's not always the case. Here are some examples of virtual touring options you may want to consider while promoting your next book:

  • Virtual Blog Tours - Interviews - This is exactly what it sounds like. You, or your publicist, will set up virtual interviews with bloggers covering the niche or subject matter of your book. They can work for fiction as well as non-fiction authors, including e-book and self-published authors. Emails may be done over the phone, via email, or in any fashion the author and blogger agree on prior to having the interview write-up completed and published by the blogger.
  • Virtual Blog Tours - Guest Posts - If you're not interested in having bloggers interview you, you may prefer to handle your virtual publicity tour through guest posting. This is article marketing for authors, simply put to a schedule. You'll find related blogs again who would have a reach with your target market. You'll contact them asking if you can submit a guest post to be published on a specific day as a part of your campaign (which may last a week, a month, or any amount of time you choose). You fill in all slots on your schedule, and have your articles published with a brief bio and link to your site or a place where readers can buy your book.
  • Virtual Blog Tours - Reviews - This is similar to guest post virtual blog tours. You contact bloggers asking if they'd like to receive a review copy, with a goal of having all reviews published within a certain time period. This is the type of virtual blog tour I'd least suggest, as you'll have little control over when the books are read or the content of the reviews. You should be soliciting reviews anyway, so there's no real "need" to try to do it on a narrow schedule - they should be ongoing.
  • Phone Interview Publicity Tours - Here's an offline option for you that works well if you're interested in targeting radio or even television interviews. Both can be done live or pre-recorded over the phone (or with remote video for television).
  • Podcast Virtual Book Tours - Doing a virtual publicity tour with podcasters and Internet radio shows can be done in a few ways, such as over the phone or through Web-based services like Skype. They're similar to radio interviews (where podcast interviews are usually pre-recorded, and Internet radio interviews may be pre-recorded or done live). The key for these is identifying podcasts or online radio shows relevant to your target readers.
  • Live Chat Tours - Chat rooms can seem so "old school" these days, but they still work as an author publicity tool, and an excellent series of "stops" for a virtual publicity tour for your book. These chat interfaces will allow you to speak live online to an audience of readers or potential readers about your book or the subject matter, allowing them to ask you questions directly. Chat rooms can be set up by you and your publicist, done at specific time intervals, or can be done through chats hosted on related sites.

Upcoming Virtual Book Tour

On July 7th, All Book Marketing will actually be helping to kick off a virtual blog tour, using the guest post method I've mentioned above.

On that day, I'll be publishing a guest post from author Austin S. Camacho in support of his new book Successfully Marketing Your Novel in the 21st Century. Camacho is doing a sort of hybrid virtual blog tour that serves as a good example: offering bloggers choices of interviews, guest posts, excerpts, etc. with the objective of receiving a steady flow of blog exposure during the tour. Be sure to check that out on the 7th, and keep an eye out for his other virtual appearances to watch a real virtual publicity tour in action.

Authors Weigh In

Have you ever taken part in a virtual publicity tour to promote your book or its launch? What was the experience like for you, and would you do it again?

Profile image for Jennifer Mattern

Jennifer Mattern is a professional blogger, freelance business writer, consultant, and indie author. She runs numerous websites & blogs including All Freelance Writing, Freelance Writing Pros, NakedPR, and Kiss My Biz.

Jenn has 25 years' experience as a professional writer and editor and over 20 years' experience in marketing and PR (working heavily in digital PR, online marketing, social media, SEO, new media, and thought leadership publication). She also has 19 years' professional blogging and web publishing experience (including web development) and around 18 years of experience as an indie author / publisher.

Jenn also writes fiction under multiple pen names and is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association.

Subscribe to the All Freelance Writing newsletter to get freelance writing updates from Jenn in your inbox.

Get More Content Like This in Your Inbox

Did you enjoy this post? If so, please subscribe to the All Freelance Writing newsletter where you'll be notified of new blog articles and receive subscribers-only content.

Subscribe now.


4 thoughts on “Types of Book Virtual Publicity Tours”

  1. An excellent overview of this marketing technique that is still in its infancy. And thanks so much for mentioning my name in your post – although there is no N in my last name, I knew it was me. 😉

    I’m looking forward to sharing a little of what I know and being an example too. Hope I can live up to the hype.

    Reply
  2. Thanks for clearly explaining what a virtual book tour is and the different types. I thought it was just simply being posted on different blogs at different times, now I know they are much more extensive – and possibly effective.

    Reply
  3. A good post raising good points.

    I’ve been interviewed on quite a few blogs, and have interviewed in return. I’m not sure there has been any marked results, but at least it’s been extra publicity all round.

    If anyone would like to be interviewed on my blog, with a return interview for me, please contact me.

    Maybe Jen would like to participate???

    Reply

Leave a Comment