How I Write: 10 Steps to Plan Your Book Blog Tour

For the purposes of this post, I am assuming that you are organising your own tour, rather than paying a company to run it for you. As such, there are ten key steps to follow.

At least 6 weeks prior
1) Plan your tour dates, including a cover reveal day if required.
2) Organise how you will collect sign-ups (e.g. create a Google form or spreadsheet).

4-6 weeks prior
3) Advertise the tour and call for bloggers to sign up (e.g. Post in social media/contact any bloggers you know).
4) If you are offering exclusive blog posts, start to prepare them.

3 weeks prior
5) Assess responses and continue the call if you still need more sign-ups.
6) Prepare a document with all the info for the posts (e.g. blurb, buy links, author bio etc.).
7) Decide on any excerpts (following publisher guidelines where applicable).
8) Create any images/graphics to advertise the tour, both for blog posts and social media. (Ensure you have the rights to use any stock images etc.)

1-2 weeks prior
9) Send all the necessary info to your bloggers and complete any author interview requests.

During the tour
10) Remember to like and share posts from your bloggers and respond to any reader comments on the posts. Don’t forget to draw a winner at the end if you are hosting a giveaway. (NB: Never give away the book you are promoting. Give away an older title, swag, or a gift card.)