A friend forwarded a link to this blog post from June 20th about virtual book tours. Romance author Michele Gorman asked the question, "Are Blog Tour Coordinators Writer Advocates or Exploiters?" In the article, Gorman explains she sent a request to several historical fiction blogs looking for a review of one of her books. She received a response not from one of the bloggers she contacted, but from a virtual book tour (VBT) coordinator who also happens to review books for one of the blogs she emailed. This VBT coordinator then proceeded to outline her services. This led Gorman to wonder how many VBT coordinators use their book blogs as a front for their businesses.
Gorman has a valid point. She requested a review and the person not only didn't have time to review her book, but tried to sell her something. She didn't know the person she was contacting also coordinated virtual book tours. That said, are coordinators truly out to exploit authors?
Gorman's first concern is that many new writers may think they have to pay to get their books noticed. She feels because VBTs have become so popular and new coordinators are popping up all the time, inexperienced writers might assume paying for a VBT is the norm. I don't agree.
Type "coordinating a virtual book tour" into Google and the first four results are about coordinating your own VBT--three of them happen to be a workshop I gave at this year's PROMO DAY and two articles I wrote, but the information is there. Type in "coordinating your own virtual book tour" and you'll come up with a bunch of results too. There's really no reason any author should think they must pay someone to coordinate a virtual book tour.
Gorman also asks if your book is getting on the right blogs. My philosophy might be different from some others, but it's based upon years of experience blogging and promoting books. While I feel it's definitely important to be featured on blogs in your genre, there is something to be said for being featured at a book blog that covers multiple genres. Readers have their own tastes. I read primarily mysteries, Christian fiction, nonfiction, true crime, and poetry at this blog. You don't always know, however, how a book will touch you until you've read it. I once read a narrative about a man who survived an airplane disaster. I don't like airplane disaster stories (I'm afraid of flying), but because this book was authored by the man's son, I felt it would have a more human element, than other stories in that genre. It's one of my favorite books. If the author had never queried me about it just because I didn't read much in his genre, he would have missed out on a five-star review and I wouldn't still be talking about his book years after I read it.
Yes, it's important to be featured on a blog that has a healthy following, but there is no indication that an author's direct email to a well-trafficked blog will be more successful than one from a VBT company. Most bloggers are dedicated to the VBT companies they work with. A relationship is already in place. The more time I spent coordinating virtual book tours, the larger my database of dedicated bloggers grew. That's an advantage over an author going it alone. Once an author has coordinated her own VBT, however, it should be easier to do the next time.
The last two questions Gorman posed perplexed me. "How do they handle bad reviews? Is there any promise, implied or overt, that a blogger will be favourably disposed toward your book?"
I'm hoping the answer to the last question is no, because if not, I wouldn't want to do business with that company. There is no way any form of marketing can guarantee a favorable review. To do so would be highly unethical.
As for the question about what a VBT company does about a bad review, I can only share how I've handled them. If a client's book received a less than favorable review, I would email her and ask if she wanted me to promote it using our regular methods. Sometimes the answer is yes and other times it is no. I'm not certain why VBT companies would be held responsible for a bad review. If you work with a publicist or even contact bloggers on your own, there is no control over bad reviews. Reading remains subjective and being able to accept all kinds of reviews is part of being an author. Even though I had many contacts by the time Little Shepherd came out, I still had to accept reviews that were less than 100% positive. Just because an author pays to promote her book doesn't mean she should expect more favorable reviews.
I've always seen VBT companies as similar to that of any contractor. My husband and I hired a lawn service last year. Could we buy the chemicals and spend some weekends tending to the lawn? Sure. We did it for years. We opted to pay a lawn care service so that we could spend that time relaxing and enjoying our kids. Some authors want to learn how to coordinate a virtual book tour. Others prefer to use that time in another way, so they hire VBT companies.
We must never forget that while writing is a creative business, it's still a business. Writers are consumers. They need to consider all their options and choose what works best for them. You don't stop calling a plumber when you need one just because of a bad experience. You find a new plumber. It's unfortunate that one bad experience tainted how this author sees all virtual book tour coordinators. Hopefully that will change. There are many wonderful people in the business who work hard for their clients and got into online book promotion because of their love of books.
What do you think about virtual book tours? If you are an author, have you coordinated one or hired a company to put one together for you? What was your experience like? If you're a reader and blogger, do you host authors on virtual book tour? What have you enjoyed most about hosting authors? What would you like to change about hosting authors?
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