I’m delighted to welcome Jo Linsdell for a special guest post on the subject of Virtual Book Marketing Tours. Jo Linsdell is the author and illustrator of the rhyming children’s picture book OUT AND ABOUT AT THE ZOO. Find out more about her at www.JoLinsdell.com. Take it away Jo …

Virtual tours are an excellent way to drum up interest in both you and your work. It’s a marketing strategy that I often use and find that the results aren’t just linked to better book sales. I’m currently touring to promote the release of my children’s picture book ‘Out and About at the Zoo’

Benefits of a virtual tour:

• You sell more books. This is obviously one of the biggest goals of the tour. If you’re a multi published author, not necessarily just the title you are touring either.
• It’s a great way to collect reviews for your book.
• It helps build your online reputation.
• It increases traffic to your sites. You’ll notice a rise in visits to your website, blog and social media pages during and just after a tour.
• You can find new clients if you do freelance writing.

 Here’s a few tips to help you to tour success:

1. Think about your tour goals. Knowing what you want to achieve with your tour will give you focus both for content and where you need to be hosted.
2. Think about types of content. To keep a tour interesting you need to make the content of your posts varied. From my own experience I find that a few interviews, a couple of reviews and a lot of guest posts is the best combination. Why mainly guest posts? They create more discussion, appeal to a wider audience and normally get more attention.
3. Create a banner for your tour. Not only does it make you look more professional, it also serves as an immediate publicity for you, your book, your website and your tour. Even if people don’t read all the post they will have seen the most important information just by clicking on the page.

My tour banner:

As you can see, this is a very simple banner. It includes; my book cover (the item I am promoting with the tour), My photo (an ‘on theme’ shot of me at my computer. Putting your face allows people to feel more connected to you), Virtual tour and the dates (what I am doing and when) and lastly my website url (so people can find out more about the tour, me and my work). 

This banner took me about 5 minutes to make using the program ‘paint’.

4. Target hosts. Whilst it’s always good to send out a general appeal for tour hosts you need to hit sites where your target audience are going to be e.g. for this tour I targeted review sites, authors sites, sites for children and parents.

Do some research and find sites that fit in some way with the topic of your book and drop them a message asking to be featured. Highlight why you are a suitable guest.

Also aim for sites with larger numbers of followers. The more traffic they get to their site the greater audience your post will have.

5. ALWAYS comment on your tour stops. A thank you to the host is a must. Checking back regularly can really help to get the conversation going too. Reply to all those who take the time to comment. 

If you have a comment to share about this post, my book or book marketing in general I’d love to hear from you, so just drop a note in the comments section

 

Out and about at the zoo

Written and illustrated by Jo Linsdell 

Rhyming text and colourful pictures accompany this fun day out discovering different animals at the zoo.

About the author:
Jo Linsdell is a freelance writer, author and illustrator. Originally from theUK, she now lives inRome,Italy with her husband and their two young sons.

Author website: www.JoLinsdell.com

Release Date: 1st June 2012

Product details:

ISBN/EAN13: 1477446591 / 9781477446591
Page Count: 32
Binding Type: US Trade Paper
Trim Size: 6″ x 9″
Language: English
Colour: Full Colour with Bleed
Related Categories: Juvenile Fiction / Stories in Verse

Purchasing links:

Amazon.com
Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.it
CreateSpace.com

Contact details:

Email: webmaster@jolinsdell.com

Reviews:

5 Stars

“Out and About at the Zoo by Jo Linsdell is a delightful story set in rhyme about a boy and his mum. The two spend the day at the zoo and meet many animals along the way. Your child will enjoy reading this book time and time again. The colorful illustrations make this book a joy to read. Pick up a copy of this book and share a day at the zoo memory with your little one”.

By Kate Mueller, Author of Bella’s Birthday Surprise

5 Stars 

“Out And About At The Zoo is a cute book that describes a child’s memory filled trip to the zoo. Are you heading to the zoo and you would like to tell your kids what animals they will see there and what they might be doing? Then Out And About At The Zoo would be a great choice. Easy to understand and easy for children to read along with. It is filled with simple yet colorful pictures that even held my one year old’s attention!

Would also make a good gift for young readers who are just beginning to read!”

By Virginia L. Jennings, Author