March 12, 2009

First Virtual Book Tour-Postmortem

My first Virtual Book Tour appearance was an interesting learning experience. Even though my book isn’t out yet, I can definitely see the appeal of it. It allowed me to connect with other people regardless of their location and to reach a larger audience since different blogs have different readers, all this without leaving my keyboard, sweet huh?

It’s also nice to meet other writers. Writing is a lonely business, so it’s great to meet others who have similar interests and have them share the tricks of the trade. It’s also great to know that you’re not the only one willing to toil away long hours without ever knowing if anything will ever come of it.

I didn’t quite know what to expect but it all went quite smoothly. For my guest spot, all I needed to do was conduct a fresh interview and provide a picture. Kathy Stemke took care of the rest. For my hosting duties, I spent a little time beforehand preparing all the material to post. Then it was just a matter of posting everything and advertising it everywhere I could. Then I basically made sure I showed up at both sites to answer any questions and to keep things humming along. I think that it’s all a matter of being both a gracious host and a gracious guest. All in all, I have to say that it was a positive experience.

If you happen to be a published author or soon to be published author with a book to promote, my virtual book tour group is taking on new members and I am happy to pass on the following message:

Get your book visible with the yahoo group Virtual Book Tours – the ONGOING
tour. We're a group of authors who promote each other through tours and other
marketing strategies. To find out more contact: Karen at: karenrcfv@yahoo.com. Please put VBT-KM in the subject box.


Who knows? Maybe I’ll be hosting you here.

2 comments:

Karen Cioffi said...

Hey, Kevin,

Great Post!

I'm glad your first tour was a positive experience. The name of the game is visibility and VBT helps with that.

Thanks,
Karen

Donna McDine said...

Kevin...happy to hear your virst virtual book tour went well. I'm involved with VBT also, but under Virginia Grenier of Stories for Children Magazine. I am their Marketing Manager.

Thanks for visiting my guest spot at cwim.blogspot.com - much appreciated.

Best wishes,
Donna McDine
www.donna-mcdine.blogspot.com